Home > BENEFITS > YMCA grant

The former IONS grant, used to support IONS conferences, has now evolved into the Young Minds Conference Award (YMCA).

This award provides EPS Young Minds Sections support for the organization of conferences for students and early career researchers like IONS, and for the organization of sessions dedicated to young professionals within larger conferences.

Application for the YMCA opens twice a year, with the same deadlines of the Activity Grant application (January 15 and July 15), plus two other intermediate deadlines on April 15 and October 15. A maximum of 1000EUR per year per section can be awarded.

Sections cannot apply for the YMCA and the Activity Grant to support the same conference. Applying for a conference via the Activity Grant means that the latter is automatically rejected. Normally, YMCA will not be awarded for conferences already sponsored by EPS via Europhysics Conference Grant or Invited Speaker Grant, but exceptions can be made.

If you have doubts regarding your application, you can contact the YM Action Committee.

Download the YMCA application form
Submit your YMCA application

Eligibility

To be eligible for YM grants every section needs to fill two forms before the grants deadline:

  • the Section CENSUS form, to confirm the Section members list (they should be members of EPS or one of its national societies);
  • the Activities REPORT and teh YMCA REPORT form, in order to report previous granted YM activities. The report consists of a title, a 250-500 words text and at list a picture. The submitted data will be uploaded from the YM webmaster as post on this website.

Once the YM Action Committee receives the application, there are three possible outcomes:

  1. Approved: This is a straightforward outcome meaning that you receive the grant for the event.
  2. Rejected: Again, a straightforward outcome, but unfortunately not so successful. Some of the requirements are likely not to be met.
  3. On Condition: If we believe that the event is good and can definitely be supported with a YMCA but still there is some lack of details in the description. You will be requested to discuss these details with the AC and eventually will see your grant approved or rejected. You should communicate these details in a short time, so that we can take the final decision within the following YMCA deadline.
Section CENSUS YMCA REPORT

Deadlines

EPS Young Minds Sections can apply for the Young Minds Conference Award up to 1000€ per year.
The deadlines for the application are four: January 15, April 15, July 15 and October 15.

Checklist & Tips

Sponsorship are in high demand and not all requests can be accepted. To increase your chances of acceptance, it is important to provide a clear and detailed application that emphasizes the goals and objectives of your program and distinguishes it from other applications.

  • Start preparing your application early. Allow plenty of time to gather required information and submit well before the deadline.
  • Consult with all the Section members, the organization of a conference must be felt like a group activity, and not the hard work of few members or either you alone.
  • Keep your audience in mind. Reviewers will use only the information contained in the application form. Do not assume that reviewers are familiar with your section, and your section activities. Keep that in mind when writing the application.
  • Be brief, concise, and clear. Make your points understandable. Provide accurate and honest information. If any required information or data is omitted, explain why.
  • Impact per Euro. We expect our members to work hard to maximize the effect that money spent has, issue that a young scientist will always have to face in the world of research.
  • Scientific and professional relevance. We expect YM members applying for this grant to be part of the scientific and the organizing committee of the conference
  • Visibility and communication. Does this activity bring visibility to you, your community, your National Society and EPS?

Before submitting your application, make sure it answers the following questions:

  1. Is it an academic event addressed also to participants outside your university/city?
  2. Will you provide a slot to present YM and/or will you distribute YM advertisement material?
  3. Will you put YM logo on the conference material and list it as an official sponsor?
  4. Do you have other sponsors?
  5. For applications for events taking place in less than three months, do you have a programme and a list of confirmed speakers?
  6. For applications for events taking place in less than three months, do you have a website available (with at least the main/programme page available in English)?