Skemp Fund Support

Purpose

The Richard Skemp Memorial Support Fund was established to provide financial support to prospective PME participants from underrepresented countries or countries where financial support is insufficient, and who do not have personal means to self-finance, so they can attend the conference.

The spirit of the fund is to make participation possible for those who might not be able to attend due to financial constraints. Where applicants are from, where they live, where they work, where they are currently studying, as well as the conditions of their employment and studies, are important factors in decision-making on applications.

The funding amount spent each year should be made up of donations from that year and some of the Skemp reserve fund. The IC aims to maintain the Skemp fund to ensure support in years when fewer or smaller donations are received. Donations to the Skemp Fund other than those from conference participants are much welcome.

Eligibility

Applicants for a grant from the Fund will be considered from those who are (or who become) members of PME and who submit a proposal to be the presenting author of one of the following:

  • an Oral Communication (OC),
  • a Poster Presentation (PP),
  • a Research Report (RR) included in a Colloquium,
  • a Publication Report (PR),
  • a presentation at a Research Forum (RF) on the invitation of its coordinators, or
  • coordination of a Working Group (WG) or an RF.

In general

  • only one of the presenting authors of a particular proposal will be eligible to apply for a grant, and
  • those who have already received a grant on a prior occasion will not normally receive an additional grant.

How to apply

Applications for a Skemp Fund grant should be submitted at the same time as proposals for conference presentation. Please see the First Announcement for details on how to submit – they vary depending on the type of proposal. Only applicants whose presentation proposal has been accepted by the Conference Program Committee are eligible for a grant. No applications will be considered after March 1st of the year of the conference. You can apply via the Skemp-Fund Online system (the system opens once conference registration is possible, typically Nov/Dez of each year and ends on March 1 in the year of the conference).

Once you have submitted your application form, you will receive a confirmation email that we have received it and that your application will be considered. If you do not receive such an email, please contact the Administrative Manager of PME (info@igpme.org).

Please note that you must become a member of PME to apply for a Skemp Fund grant; this is done when you preregister for the conference, before you can submit. This pre-registration fee consists of the conference deposit plus the membership fee.

Grants will normally cover conference fees (excluding membership) and may also contribute towards the costs of accommodation, visas, and travel, depending on the decision of the Skemp Fund committee (recent awards have ranged between 500 Euros and 2500 Euros).

Before applying for the Skemp grant, be aware that some or all of your travel costs may need to be paid for by you or your institution initially. You will be reimbursed at the conference site up to a maximum of the total grant amount awarded, once you have justified the expenses incurred as a result of attending the conference at the location of the conference. If your expenses have been less than the total grant amount awarded, you will be reimbursed for the amount paid. If your expenses exceed the total agreed grant amount, you will be reimbursed the full amount awarded.

Administration of the Skemp fund

The Richard Skemp Memorial Support Fund Committee meets during the second meeting of the International Program Committee (usually in March, before the conference) and makes its recommendations once decisions on proposal acceptance or rejection have been made.

The PME Administrative Manager will contact applicants to inform them about the decision on their grant application and the maximum grant amount awarded. This will usually take place before the end of April each year. Please note that grants cannot be carried over to future conferences. A new application will have to be made for the new conference.

Criteria on which a grant may be awarded

A. Conditions for support to be given

  1. Applicants need to reside in a country where financial support is difficult to obtain. Some explanation or justification is required. If the applicant is studying in a more affluent country that is normally expected to provide support, this will also be taken into account.
  2. The applicant’s institution is unable to provide sufficient funding for the conference.
  3. The applicant is unable to provide funding using personal means and declares that it is not possible to cover the costs from other sources.
  4. The applicant has pre-registered and paid the conference deposit.
  5. The applicant has submitted a proposal for a contribution of one of the kinds listed above.
  6. If the proposal has more than one author, only the presenting author can apply for funding.
  7. The proposal is accepted.

B. Priorities

  1. Applicants from countries that have recently had few PME participants would be prioritized, provided all other conditions in A are met.
  2. Newcomers and early-career researchers/lecturers are prioritized over members who have participated in prior conferences or who are established researchers/lecturers.
  3. Applicants with an RR accepted are prioritized over others.
  4. Contributions that are considered outstanding by the reviewers, the IPC, and/or the Skemp Fund selection committee are prioritized.
  5. Under normal circumstances, an applicant will be eligible for a grant from the Skemp Fund only for one PME conference; in rare cases, funding might be given twice – for example, if the applicant can demonstrate that an outcome of the first grant was a substantial development of the work presented at the first participation.

C. Funding amount

  1. The number and sizes of grants made in any year will depend on the amount of money available to the Skemp Fund in that particular year, as well as the number and size of applications the same year.
  2. Grants will normally only cover conference fees (excluding membership), but may also contribute to accommodation, visa, and travel expenses in exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Skemp Fund Committee. The maximum possible amount will be the conference fee (excluding the conference deposit), travel, visa, and accommodation in student accommodation, hostel, or similar low-cost accommodation.
  3. The funding must be used for the conference for which it is given. Applicants need to justify the expenses by providing relevant documents, such as travel and accommodation receipts. Only the amounts on these documents will be reimbursed up to the grant amount awarded.
  4. The applicant will need to raise all funding temporarily, as the Skemp grant will be paid at the conference location. In justified cases, the conference deposit can be reimbursed to help pay for travel expenses before travel.

Skemp Fund ambassadors

PME wishes to attract more participants from underrepresented countries, especially those where funding is difficult to obtain. We ask our Skemp Fund recipients to become ‘ambassadors’ for PME: to make PME, including the possibility of Skemp Fund support, better known in such countries. If you are requesting a grant, please briefly explain how you might use your personal knowledge of potential new members in underrepresented countries and non-affluent areas if you are a successful recipient.