MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference/Scholarships

One of the goals of the MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference (MUDCon) is to attract attendees from all MediaWiki communities. The MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group (MWStake) and MUDCon organizers recognize that everybody comes from different backgrounds. We wish to enable those who may not be otherwise able to afford a conference ticket to come and participate in the conference.

The first scholarships will be awarded for the Spring 2025 conference. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2025.

The application link is available at https://mwstake.org/wiki/Scholarships.

Types of scholarships

In-person conference scholarship: only available to people who are able to attend the conference in-person. Requires right of abode or proper visa authorizations for the location in which the conference is taking place. Also, the scholarship recipient is responsible for getting to the conference venue from their residence and for procuring appropriate lodging. If they do not live in the area, they must be able to arrange their own long-distance transportation and lodging.
Remote access scholarship: available to anyone who is unduly burdened by the high cost to access mobile data due to a lack of stable internet connection at their area of residence, but would like to watch the conference livestream on YouTube.

Eligibility

Anyone who is interested and who is otherwise unable to pay for themselves to attend may apply.

This may include if you are a student, if you are active in roles in the MediaWiki community that typically do not pay enough to cover the cost of the conference, and/or if you are a corporate attendee whose company is unable to fund your trip.

For the in-person conference scholarship, please note, the scholarship recipient is responsible for getting to the conference venue from their residence and for procuring appropriate lodging. If they do not live in the area, they must be able to arrange long-distance transportation and lodging.

Also, only for the Spring 2025 conference, applicants who are not U.S. citizens must first apply for a background check with NASA before applying for a scholarship.

Lastly, no member of the Scholarships Committee or the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group Board of Directors, nor any of their relatives or close friends, will be eligible for a scholarship.

Factors which will be considered

Unless otherwise specified, the below factors will not necessarily benefit someone one way or another, but will be considered as a whole among all applicants to decide who will be awarded the scholarships.

Degree of participation in any part of the MediaWiki community, even if it is not related to the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group or MediaWiki.org
Prior attendance at the conference
Whether the recipient of the scholarship will be, or would consider, giving a talk
- Applicants who offer to give talks will be prioritized over those who don't
Whether the recipient is eligible for funding from any other sources (e.g. their employer, the Wikimedia Foundation, etc.)
- The scholarships committee reserves the right to work with applicants who have other funding sources to ascertain a fair amount to provide them, so that we may provide as many scholarships as possible to other applicants
Employment status/student status
Amount requested (i.e. full or partial?)
- Depending on the applications we get and the amount of funding we have, the committee may decide to award multiple partial scholarships instead of one full scholarship

What the scholarship would be comprised of

Applicants can apply for varying levels of financial support, depending on their specific situation.

In-person conference scholarships will cover a portion of or all of the conference ticket cost. This represents a savings of around $250 (as the freelancers' rate costs that much as of 2024). However, the scholarship does not cover airfare or hotel.

Remote access scholarships will cover a reasonable amount of money needed to purchase 7 GB of mobile data.

Who makes the decisions?

The Scholarships Committee, comprised of members appointed by the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group board of directors, will first decide the criteria based on consensus. The committee will then review the applications and make the decisions.

For the Spring 2025 conference, the committee is comprised of:

How many scholarships will be awarded?

This all depends on the funding from the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group. The more funding we have, the more scholarships will be issued. If there is sufficient funding, the Scholarships Committee will fund all valid applications. However, in case there are more applicants than available funds, the scholarships committee will rank applicants and grant scholarships for the highest ranked applicants until the budget is exhausted.

We encourage companies to sponsor the conference and MWStake, as this money can be allocated to scholarships for the current and future conferences.

For 2025, we guarantee at least one scholarship will be awarded, so if you are interested and eligible, please apply!

Can companies or organizations establish scholarships of their own?

It would be fantastic if a company would like to contribute enough funding for a scholarship. This scholarship would then be offered in the company's name. For instance, the "Acme Company MUDCon Scholarship".

Please contact Jeffrey Wang if you are interested in sponsoring a scholarship.

If companies pay for their own employees or contractors to attend the conference, that is not considered a scholarship. As that is solely a decision which rests on the sponsoring company, it is outside of the area of concern of the Scholarships Committee.

Background

Scholarships were first proposed for the Spring 2024 conference to promote fair and equitable access to the conference. This process ensures that fee waivers are granted based on objective criteria. Since scholarships are funded by the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group, a multi-person committee appointed by, and which represents the interests of, the MediaWiki Stakeholders' Group is making the decisions on funding attendees, rather than the conference chairs.