DIMACS Workshop Organizer's Guide: Proposal

Workshop proposals should be developed about 6 to 8 months before the intended workshop. They are evaluated by the DIMACS Projects Committee; the approval process often involves suggestions for the organizers.

Proposal Form:

The proposal should include the following:
  1. The topic of the workshop
  2. The organizers (name, institutional affiliation, and email). We generally seek to have one or more DIMACS members as organizers to assure "local" interest in planning.
  3. The scientific theme and its content in one or two pages. In particular, indicate why the topic is appropriate to DIMACS interests in discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science or to the affiliated special year focus.
  4. How does the workshop have a "national scope" in both the organizing committee and the expected participation.
  5. Explain why this topic is not adequately served by existing conference and journal venues.
  6. List possible participants (and principal speakers if that has been decided).
  7. Give the preferred dates.
  8. How will results of the workshop be disseminated? Note: DIMACS has an existing agreement with AMS to publish the AMS-DIMACS series. Workshop that do not have other prior experience with other publishers are expected to to publish proceedings there. Exceptions such as smaller special issues of journals are possible.
  9. Provide an approximate budget. Typical funding for workshops ranges from 1 day "mini-workshops" funded with $2,000 to $3,000 to 3 to 5 day "full workshops" with budgets in the $10,000 to $15,000 range.

Evaluation Criteria:

Proposals are evaluated for their match to DIMACS core science interests (discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science), and for contributing to the NSF's Science and Technology Center's program goals of research excellence, education and human resources, and outreach to other constituencies such as other disciplines or industry.

Proposals should be emailed to ATTN: PROJECTS COMMITTEE CHAIR, center@dimacs.rutgers.edu.

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Document last modified on April 29, 1998.