Hi Members,
As you surely have heard by now, #ICA20 has been transitioned to a virtual conference in response to COVID-19 concerns. This is a dynamic situation and a lot of things still need to be figured out. We encourage you to read ICA’s formal statement on the issue, and updated statement regarding planning decisions. Both contain relevant and important information and are worth a close read.
One concern is that ECRs, who often have little to no financial support for conference travel, are now stuck holding expensive flight tickets that cannot be canceled. The ICA leadership, with financial support from ICA Divisions and Interest Groups (including CSaB) and ICA members (including CSaB officers), is developing a Hardship Fund designed to provide some financial relief for ECRs. The exact details of this fund are still in the planning stages, and we encourage you to check back as we’ll continue to update this page as new information becomes available.
At this point, what can you do? We encourage you to read this statement from ICA (below), forward it to trainees in your department and lab, and if possible, consider a donation to the ICA Hardship Fund, either as a one-time donation, or as part of your conference registration refund (more details below). Thank you for your continued support during this difficult and dynamic time.
The CSaB Officers
Statement from ICA on the Formation of a Hardship Fund
Thanks to many of you for your supportive responses to the Executive Committee’s decision to move #ica20 to a virtual conference. (To read about this again please click here).
This was as you know not an easy decision and in many ways we have created a lot of extra work for all of us compared to outright cancelling. But we are committed to making #ica20 a success, despite everything being new.
As ICA we are cognizant of the individual hardship some of our members will find themselves in. We have therefore launched a fundraising campaign for the ICA 2020 Hardship Fund, for PhD students and early career scholars finding themselves with no insurance, support, and non-lenient airlines. The application link and exact eligibility criteria will be available later and will be in part depending on large the fund is.
We have reached out to a number of institutions, our divisions and interest groups, and Fellows. But we are also calling on you. As an ICA Member, please consider making a donation.
The link to make a donation is here: https://www.icahdq.org/donations/donate.asp?id=19570
If you registered for the 70th Annual ICA Conference, you also have the option to donate your registration refund to the Hardship Fund. To do so, please follow this link.
If your institution is in a position to also make a contribution (due to savings on travels, lodging, social events etc), please let us know and we can set up a direct contact with your administration and HDQ.
THANK YOU!
Meanwhile, rest assured we will be back as soon as possible with more info on the virtual conference, the business meetings, Fellow programming, the board meeting etc etc. If you have or get requests about details from participants, please ask for patience while we develop all of this.
Thanks again for your continued support,
Terry Flew
ICA President
Claes de Vreese
2020 Conference Planner
ICA President Elect