Young African Researcher Travel Awards
The ACM Multimedia Systems Conference 2025 is pleased to announce travel awards specifically designed to support
young African researchers in attending the conference and its co-located workshops in Stellenbosch, South Africa. These
awards aim to foster diversity, promote knowledge exchange, and strengthen the multimedia systems research community
across Africa.
Award Details
- Award Amount: Up to 1,500 USD per recipient
- Coverage: International/domestic travel expenses and accommodation
- Number of Awards: Multiple awards available
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Be actively engaged in multimedia systems research or related fields
- Be affiliated with an African institution
-
Meet ONE of the following conditions:
- Be currently enrolled as a PhD student at an African institute of higher learning
- Be a researcher or faculty member who completed their PhD within the last 5 years
While SIGMM membership is not mandatory for applying, successful awardees must
become SIGMM members
prior to receiving their reimbursement.
Application Process
Required Documents
- Completed Application Form
- Current CV (maximum 2 pages)
-
Research Statement (maximum 2 pages) describing:
- Your current research focus and achievements
- Relevance of your work to the MMSys community
- How attending MMSys 2025 will benefit your research
- Letter of Recommendation from your supervisor or department head
- Proof of Student Status or PhD completion date
Submission Details
- Deadline: February 21st, 2025, 23:59:00 UTC
- Submission Method: All documents must be submitted through the online application form combined into one PDF file.
Selection Criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on:
- Research Profile: including quality and impact of current research, publications and academic achievements, and future research potential
- Relevance to MMSys: including alignment with conference themes, potential for meaningful contribution to the community, and opportunities for collaboration
- Need-based Factors: including travel distance and associated costs, access to alternative funding sources, and geographic representation
Award Reimbursement Process
-
Pre-Conference:
- Selected candidates will receive an official award letter
- Winners must confirm acceptance within one week
- Winners must register for the conference
-
During Conference:
- Mandatory attendance at conference
- Collection of all necessary receipts and documentation
-
Post-Conference Reimbursement:
- Submit all original receipts and boarding passes
- Complete the ACM reimbursement form
- Submit a brief report about your conference experience
Important Dates
- Application Deadline: February 21st, 2025
- Notification of Results: March 1st, 2025
- Conference Dates: March 31st - April 3rd, 2025
Contact Information
For questions, please contact the Awards Chair, Wei Tsang Ooi, by sending an
email to ooiwt [at] comp.nus.edu.sg
Sponsors
The travel awards are supported by
SIGMM EU Chapter
The ACM Special Interest Group on Multimedia provides a forum for researchers, engineers, and practitioners in all
aspects of multimedia computing, communication, storage, and applications. SIGMM sponsors the conference series and ad
hoc workshops on emerging areas of multimedia, including the flagship ACM Multimedia Conference (MM), ACM Multimedia
Systems Conference (MMSys), and ACM International Conference on Multimedia Retrieval (ICMR). In addition, SIGMM supports
the journal ACM Transactions on Multimedia, Applications, and Computing. All SIGMM publications are available through
the ACM Digital Library. More information about SIGMM and membership benefits can be found
here.