[Foundation-l] Call for Wikimania Scholarship Applications

[Cary Bass]

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Isabell Long wrote:
> On 24 March 2010 22:41, Cary Bass <cary at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> The call for applications for Wikimania Scholarships to attend
>> Wikimania 2010 <https://wm10schols.wikimedia.org/>in Gdansk,
>> Poland (July 9-11) is now open. The Wikimedia Foundation offers
>> Scholarships to pay for selected individuals' round trip travel,
>> accommodations, and registration at the conference.
>
> I just noticed that! Wow! Is there any lower age limit for
> Wikimania? I mean, do you have to be a certain age to attend? I
> might well apply if that's not the case or I'm old enough (16) - it
> is in Poland after all and I have never been to Poland, fascinating
> country and for a Wikimedia conference as well - wow!
>
> Thanks,
There is not an age limit set for Wikimania as a whole. Essentially,
anyone who is eligible for attendance is eligible for scholarship.
People who are not of the age of majority in the country of
citizenship will undoubtedly require their guardians' permission to
travel, and if those people are considered by the scholarship
committee, the committee will want to see that proof.

As far as the minimum age for attendance, the local team has not set
any criteria. It should be considered that this criteria may be
different for citizens of the host country to travel in the country
than it is for non-Polish citizens. I don't know if being a citizen
of an EU country makes a difference for minors traveling across borders.

Past Wikimanias have seen scholarship recipients as young as 15 years
of age; but the one I remember specifically also traveled with a
guardian, who attended the conference as well. There may be other
considerations involved in the host country with regards to liability
that have to be taken into account when granting a scholarship to
someone of that age.

Ultimately, there are no restrictions on /applying/ for scholarship so
you should feel free to apply. However, the application was designed
to allow only for years that start with "19", so people born 2000 or
later will have to contact us separately to apply.

- --

Cary Bass
Volunteer Coordinator, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
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