Program Organizer Information

The Simons Center follows a strict timeline in order to have efficient and successful programs. Please see below the chart for a general timeline for organizing a program.

 

SCGP Program Organizer Timeline
Activity	Deadline
Submit program proposal to the Simons Center Scientific Advisory Committee. For complete instructions on how to apply to organize a program at SCGP, please see our Call for Proposals webpage.	Proposals for programs in a given academic year are due by September 30 of the previous academic year. Proposals submitted earlier are welcomed, and can be approved earlier.
Send the list of first round invitees (first name, last name, email) to SCGP program coordinator, and approve the invitation email template.First round of invitations are sent out.	9 months prior to program start date, or as soon as possible after your program proposal is approved.
Organizers contact directly the first round participants that have not responded to the invitation.	7 months prior to program start date.
Deadline for the first round of invited participants to respond to the invitation. Online web applications to participate in the program are now open. Poster created with list of first round participants.	6 months prior to program start date.
Provide list of second round of invitations to be sent out.	5 months prior to program start date.
Program organizers monitor invitee responses in the SCGP Online Portal and contact individuals directly who have not responded, as needed. Invite more participants if there is space remaining.	Ongoing
Deadline for all participants’ visit dates to be finalized (reminder email sent to all by SCGP; visit date changes cannot be guaranteed after this date).	3 months prior to program start date.
If there is space remaining, postdocs and PhD Students can be invited as last-minute participants, to be confirmed by organizers. Approve/decline online applicants.	3 months prior to program start date.
Organizers finalize program speakers, talk titles, abstracts. Submit final schedule one month prior to start of program.	2 months prior to program start date.

 
PROGRAM QUICK FACTS

By default the Center invites people for a 4-week stay and discourages short-term visits (visits of less than 2 weeks).

• A visitor is allowed to split their 4-week stay into two visits (if travel support is requested and confirmed, only one trip is reimbursed).
• Any stay longer than 28 days or shorter than 12 days will need to be approved by the program organizers, and the Program and Workshop Coordinator.
• SCGP expects all proposed program organizers to visit for at least 2 weeks and especially welcomes those who stay longer or for the entire duration of the program.

As an organizer, you decide who you want to invite to the program. Your priority is to maximize program occupancy as stated below.

• You will be informed of the SCGP housing capacity (normally 15-20 people in residence at any given time, including organizers, excluding locals) for the duration of your program, and your goal is to fully utilize this in order to create the maximal amount of research activity. Thus if below the maximum number of people are expected to be in residence at any give time, you should invite more.
  • By default, invitees will only be offered housing (no travel), but if they cannot attend without travel support, they will have the option to ask for financial aid. The deadline to ask for financial aid and to respond to the invitation will be the same.  Participants can respond to their original invitation with a request for additional funds.
  • After the web application deadline, the list of all applicants will be sent to the organizers for discussion. Based on the space in the program, you can potentially invite more people among these applicants.
  • The visit dates are on the first-come first-serve basis based on the SCGP housing capacity limitation for the program.

Program Attendee Offer (including for organizers)

The typical offer for a program participant includes the following:

• Lodging expenses in SCGP shared faculty housing (1 bedroom) or equivalent for 2-4 weeks
• Discount for breakfast and lunch at SCGP café
• By default, program invitees are asked to support their own travel expenses, but they can ask individually for financial aid for travel support from SCGP (one round-trip ticket, with price capped depending on the region they are coming from)
• For program participants staying for 4 weeks or longer, it may sometimes be possible for SCGP to provide them with a rental car, if applicable.

Online Web Applications/Travel Financial Aid

• The Simons Center accepts applications to participate in our programs via the webpage here. There is a section in this application for requesting travel/housing financial aid.
• The deadline to apply is three months before the program. At that time, the application will be closed and the list of applicants will be forwarded to the organizers. The organizers can choose to invite (or decline) any of these people with or without support, subject to space and budget limitations. The list of participants visit dates and support will then be finalized.

Draft Invitation

Coordinator will discuss program invitation language with organizers before inviting participants. See sample HERE.

Mini Courses & Program Talks

Our programs have regular talks, normally 4-5 per week, centered around pedagogical talks, mini-courses, or research talks. Two months before the start of the program, organizers will receive a Program Talk Structure email indicating available time slots. Talk speakers, titles, and abstracts need to be submitted a month before the start of program in order to update program webpage and calendars and send pertinent information to participants.

All official program talks will be video-recorded and posted on SCGP video portal immediately after the talk concludes.

• Program participants are encouraged to have scheduled or unscheduled informal discussion, and will have access to SCGP common room, their own offices, and (most of the time) to the SCGP seminar room, for such discussions.