2020:Scholarships

Wikimania 2020, the 16th annual international conference of the Wikimedia movement, will be held on 5–9 August 2020 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Wikimedia Foundation Scholarships Program is offering a limited number of scholarships to cover the cost of selected individuals' travel, conference registration fee, and accommodation to attend Wikimania using funding provided by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF).

The following page describes the process for Wikimedia Foundation's scholarships. Some other chapters and organizations offer scholarships as well.

Important dates

The anticipated timeline for the WMF Scholarship Program is as follows:

• Scholarship applications open: 10 February 2020
• Deadline for applying for scholarships: 9 March 2020 23:59:59 UTC.
• Phase 1 eligibility assessment by the WMF: March (no notification about the outcome)
• Phase 2 in-depth evaluations by the Scholarship Committee: April
• Applicants are notified about final decisions: by early May
• The final list of recipients is announced May/June.

Scholarship details

This year, the WMF will be offering two types of Scholarships to attend Wikimania:

• Full scholarships, which will cover the following expenses:
  • Round trip travel
  • Shared accommodation
  • Conference registration fee
• Partial scholarships, which will only cover:
  • Shared accommodation
  • Conference registration fee

For scholarships offered by the Wikimedia Foundation (in conjunction with some chapters), the total number of scholarships awarded is dependent on the total budget available for scholarships in the current year. However, an estimated % of the final budget will be awarded to full scholarships, and an estimated % will be awarded to partial scholarships. The final number of scholarships will be determined in Phase 3 when final scholars are be selected. From previous years, this is estimated to be between 70–90 full scholarships and 20–30 partial scholarships, depending on final costs.

Full scholarships are subject to quotas, while there is usually no geographical or linguistic limit to partial scholarships; see below for details for more information of the estimated number of scholarships offered by both the WMF and Wikimedia organizations.

In the scholarship application, each applicant must indicate which type of scholarship they are applying for. However, an applicant may choose the option "I am applying for a full scholarship, but would be able to attend if awarded a partial scholarship". For applicants who choose "I am applying for a full scholarship, but would be able to attend if awarded a partial scholarship", they will be considered for a full scholarship first, and then a partial scholarship if full scholarships have all been awarded.

Please see the FAQ for more information on what expenses are covered by scholarships, and which expenses recipients are expected to cover at their own expense.

Scholarships offered by Wikimedia organizations

The WMF is not the only organization offering scholarships for the current Wikimania; other Wikimedia organizations such as chapters and thematic organizations may also be offering their own scholarships. We will list them below as we get confirmation about their program.

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Selection Process

For the eligibility to apply, the selection process and the selection criteria please have a look at the inter-year description of the Wikimania Scholarship Selection Process and the Reviewer's guide. In 2020, the Scholarship Committee will have a deeper look into outreach activities of the applicants.

Questions?

For more information about the Wikimedia Foundation Scholarships Program, please visit the frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.

If you have any questions, please contact: wikimania-scholarships@wikimedia.org or leave a message at 2020 talk:Scholarships.

Apply

To apply for a scholarship to attend Wikimania 2020, please submit a completed multi-language application form by tbd. It is highly recommended that applicants review all the material on this page and in the FAQ before submitting an application.