Funding program

IEEE R10 Young Professionals UpSkill

Purpose

The objective of IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals UpSkill is to kickstart opportunities for professional growth and transition from student to young professional by organizing activities at the Section/Council level. This program is designed for students and young professionals to hone their skills and create a pathway to a thriving career. It also offers a platform to bolster their capabilities and improve their prospects.

Who Can Submit a Proposal?

The proposal can be submitted by any Section YP AG, Section, Councils, or Student Branches with the respective YP AG in the OU as the Lead. The proposal should be submitted only by the project lead. The project lead should be the focal volunteer till the completion of the project.

Qualification Criteria

Submissions must fulfill all the criteria in order to be eligible for the collaboration and a fund will be provided by the IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals Committee for the selected proposals.

  1. The fund can only be obtained once a year by each Young Professionals Affinity Group/Council of Region 10.
  2. The project leader, who can be any IEEE Young Professional member of the relevant Young Professionals Affinity Group/Council, is responsible for submitting the proposal and acting as the main volunteer throughout the project’s completion. If the submitter is not the Chair of the Young Professionals Affinity Group/Council, the proposal must be endorsed by the YPAG Chair.
    • The IEEE Officer Position of the endorser should be reported via IEEE vTools, for the endorsement to be considered valid.
  3. The proposal format should STRICTLY follow the template provided. Please download the proposal template at this link.
  4. The proposed activity should be an independent program (the proposed activity should not be a sub activity under another program).
    • The title of each chosen activity will follow the format of “IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals UpSkill – X 2023” where X represents the name of the section/council. Additional information regarding this naming convention will be communicated to the winners.
  5. YPAGs must adopt the Region 10 Young Professionals UpSkill program structure (The program structure is stated in the proposal template) provided by the IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals committee.
  6. The activity is advised to be organized in Face-to-Face or hybrid modes and alternatively, virtual.
    • Face-to-Face activities must adhere to the provided Standard Operating Procedures set by the country where the activities will be carried out.
    • The virtual activities shall be hosted via any online platform (e.g. Webex, Zoom, Youtube or Google Meet). Virtual activities should be recorded, and the links to access the recorded clips should be stated in the activity report that will be submitted for reimbursement claims (please read the “Reimbursement Claims” section/council below for more details).
  7. The activity must deliver two or more tracks that are listed below. The tracks recommended, but not only limited to the following:
    • Code Of Ethics for Engineers
    • Leadership and Entrepreneurship
    • Soft Skills
    • Sustainable Development
    • Engineer In Society
    • Basic Management for Engineers
    • Students to Young Professionals Transition
  8. The program should comprise at least three talks/keynotes, at least one panel discussion, at least one workshop session, and at least one networking session. In addition, hands-on demonstrations and other program elements are encouraged.
  9. Make sure the duration of each session (talk/workshop/panel discussion) is no more than 90 minutes. A full-day event should comprise at least 4 sessions and a half-day event should comprise at least 2 sessions.
  10. The attendee/participant registration rates should reflect discounts for IEEE and Region 10 Young Professional members if any.

Proposal Judging Criteria

The proposal will be judged according to the following:

  • The quality of the proposed program and its speakers. The inclusion of speakers from IEEE, industry, and government as well as collaborations with industry and other organizations will be an added advantage.
  • The reason for your appeal, in what way the project will address your affinity group’s needs, and the importance of conducting the project in your section/council.
  • Impact – A description of how the planned activity can benefit the professional development of Young Professional members.
  • Metrics to measure its success (Number of Young Professionals members, participants, and collaborators).
  • Financial support requested from Region 10 Young Professionals. Financial support requested, should strictly follow the Region 10 Matching Fund policy.

Funding Limits

Each selected proposal can be funded with a maximum of US$ 400 – 750 depending on the mode of event and  in accordance with Region 10 Matching Fund Policy as indicated below.

Mode of Event:

  •  Face-to-Face or Hybrid Activities: A maximum of USD 750
  •  Virtual Activities: A maximum of USD 400.

Policy of Region 10 Matching Fund: 

IEEE Region 10 follows a standard policy when funding regional projects coordinated by its organizational units. This policy is only applicable for organizational units under IEEE Region 10.

  • A Large Section’s project (1501 members or more) may be eligible to receive support up to 50% of the total approved fund.
  • A Medium Section’s project (501 to 1501 members) may be eligible to receive support up to 70% of the total approved fund.
  • A Small Section’s project (less than 500 members) may be eligible to receive support up to 90% of the total approved fund.
  • A Council’s project may be eligible to receive support up to 90% of the total fund.

Please note that:

  • The Section grouping (Small, Medium, Large) is based on the IEEE membership statistics as of 31 December prior year. The Region 10 Section classification guide can be found in here (Click), in case the section classification is not known.
  • For example, if the proposed project budget for face-to-face event is US$ 900, then in case of a large Section project, the Region 10 contribution would be US$ 450 (50%) and for Medium Section project it will be US$ 675 (75%) and for small section it will be US$ 750  (maximum limit) and not US$ 900 (100%).
  • The remaining funds will have to be supported by the section/council and/or any other source of funding .
  • It is advisable that the YPAG Chair and/or Project leader keep the Section/Council and/or any other source of funding informed about the exact funding support required before the proposal is submitted to the Region 10 Young Professionals Committee (refer to Selection Process for more details) .
  • The following will not be funded under the IEEE Region 10 matching fund policy unless prior approval is received from the Region Director and the Vice Chair:  (in reference to IEEE New Initiatives Operations Manual, amended January 2018)
    • Overhead (general & administrative or indirect costs)
    • Construction or building renovations (unless it is an extraordinary strategic initiative)
    • Lobbying or electioneering
    • Personal or commercial loans
    • Grants with an individual as the sole beneficiary
    • Scholarships to individuals or institutes
    • Endowments
    • Participation of specific/individual teams at competitions or conferences
    • Extensive travel, accommodation, and visa applications
    • Gifts and honorarium

Please refer further to the Policy of Region 10 Matching Fund.

Submission Procedure

The proposals submitted should include a brief overview of the activity to be conducted along with the impact of the activity. A proposed date, program, and expected outcome should be included in the proposal. The proposal format should follow the template provided.

The proposals should be submitted via the Region 10 Young Professionals Submission Portal with the following steps:

  • Step 1: Access the Young Professionals Submission Portal
  • Step 2: Register as a “user” or Login with your IEEE/Google account
  • Step 3: Select the funding category from the drop-down menu (Region 10 Young Professionals UpSkill)
  • Step 4: Complete the questionnaires
  • Step 5: Upload the proposal (The proposal format should follow the template provided. Please download the proposal template at this link)
  • Please skip Step 6, if the YP Affinity Group Chair is the project leader (submitter).
  • Step 6: Request & receive endorsement.
  • (Step 6 is only applicable if the project leader (submitter) is NOT the YPAG chair. The endorsement should be requested via the Region 10 Young Professionals Submission Portal. Submit a request for endorsement by providing the endorser’s contact information. The endorser should be the YPAG Chair or Council Chair/YP Rep (For Council Submission). Once the project leader has submitted a request for endorsement, the endorser will be receiving an automated email from the system to provide the endorsement at a dedicated webpage)

The endorsement should be submitted before the proposal submission deadline. Once the endorsement is received, the proposal gets automatically completed in the system. No further action is needed.

Timeline

Round 2 (June 2023 – November 2023)

4 June 2023
Call for proposal submission
2 July 2023
Deadline for proposal submission
10 July 2023
Result Announcement
12 July 2023 – 20 Oct 2023
Duration given to organize projects
30 October 2023
Deadline for report submissions

Within a maximum of one month from the date of event completion. Final date to submit all reports is 30th October 2023

30 Oct 2023 – 5 Nov 2023
Report evaluation period
End of December 2023
Fund Transfer

Reimbursement Claims

Reimbursement claims are only applicable for proposals that are selected for funding. A detailed report should be submitted within the specified period to IEEE Region 10 Young Professionals Committee. A brief flow of the activities accompanied by pictures must be in the report. The report should include the attended number of participants (specifying IEEE members attendees). The report format should strictly follow the templates provided. The report templates will be provided to all fund recipients during the results notification stage.

The funds will be transferred only upon receiving and approval of the following items:

  • Activity Report
  • Finance/expense Report
  • All Receipts
  • Event Recordings (only applicable for virtual activities)

Please note that:

  • The reimbursement claims reports, and all receipts should be submitted by the project leader.
  • The initial funding grant does not guarantee the receipt of funding. The approved funding is granted upon the completion of the proposed activity and required reports are received by the Region 10 Committee.
  • The final funding amount is subjected to the actual expenses (validated through the post-event reports and receipts) and may differ from the initial requested amount.
  • The Region 10 Committee reserves the right to request additional documentation to validate the costing of events/projects.
  • Upon reviewing and verifying the follow-up reports/ documentations, the approved funding will be transferred to the parent Council / Section of the applicable organizational units.

Contact

For enquiries please contact: r10yp@ieee.org