pyhf development and community proposals for NumFOCUS Small Development Grants
Applications should be submitted via the Small Development Grants Proposal Submission Form. A doc with the application questions can be downloaded here.
Available program funding is determined and approved annually by the NumFOCUS Board of Directors. A portion of the total funding may be allocated for Off-cycle Grants with the remainder divided equally between the three grant cycles. Up to $10,000 can be awarded for each proposal.
Each proposal should include clear and concise objectives and deliverables. Whenever possible specific timelines should be included. The impact of the proposed work on the project and/or overall scientific computing community should be clearly illustrated.
Each proposal must include a detailed budget justification stating how grant funding will be allocated. As applicable, the following should be included:
- Hourly rates and number of work hours for contractors
- Equipment and/or supply costs if applicable
- Cost of any services
- Travel costs
Suggested guidelines for word count can be found in the proposal application. Enough detail should be provided to give reviewers a clear understanding of the proposal’s objective but should not be so lengthy that it puts an undue burden on the evaluation process.
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked from most impactful to least impactful. If possible, the maximum allocation of funding for each round will be awarded.
- Preference should be given to projects that did not receive funding in previous rounds.
- Preference should be given to proposals that have broader effects i.e. benefit the scientific computing community as a whole.
- Projects may resubmit the same proposal if it was not funded or was partially funded in a previous round and resubmissions are given preference.
Funding will be dispersed by the finance team directly following the notification to applicants according to established financial procedures and guidelines:
- For fiscally sponsored projects only, NumFOCUS will deposit the grant funding directly into the project’s account. The project will then submit invoices through the normal channels (i.e. Open Collective) to pay for grant expenses.
- Funding dispersement requests must be submitted through the applicable project’s financial request page. Links to request pages can be found here.
- Anyone invoicing for work done in excess of $600.00 for a ALL projects must sign an independent contractor agreement with NumFOCUS before billing. Contracts can be initiated by submitting via our independent contractor registration form.
- NumFOCUS can award the money as a grant or subcontract to a student or postdoc at a university as required (depending on the rules of the university).
- NumFOCUS can directly pay for expenses associated with the grant as required (e.g. booking flights on behalf of project leaders to attend a workshop, per diems for travel days)
Projects to whom grants have been awarded will be required to submit a report to NumFOCUS describing the work that was performed under the grant and detailing any grant deliverables and outcomes. Reports will be due no later than three months after the close of the one-year period following the award of funds. Reports must be submitted on the Small Development Grants Report Back Form.
Off-cycle Grants may be awarded to projects outside the established grant cycles if:
- There is a time-sensitive aspect to the proposal which precludes it from being submitted and/or awarded during one of the established grant cycles
- The project has not already received the maximum amount of grant funding allowed per project within the calendar year