Who can submit a proposal?
Anyone holding a faculty position at any research and educational institution can submit a proposal for organizing a program at the ICTS. A typical proposal for organizing a program is expected to have two or more organizers. All successful Program Proposals will eventually be organized in the ICTS campus, which will come up in North Bangalore in the next 2-3 years . However, until that happens, ICTS programs must be organized at other places in India. For this reason, at present, it is preferable to have at least one of the organizers from an existing institution in India.

What are the possible research areas of a program?
Program proposals can be submitted in any of the traditional areas of the physical and mathematical sciences,   as well as in overlapping areas, which include the interface between cosmology, particle physics and string theory; new emergent areas of mathematics with applications to statistical physics, string theory, biology, finance and so on; computational science; complex systems like climate, fluids etc.

Where does one submit a proposal?
Proposals for organizing programs can be submitted on the ICTS website http://www.icts.res.in by following the link “ORGANIZE A PROGRAM”.

How are successful programs proposals selected?
All program proposals are scrutinized by a Program Committee of the ICTS. It consists of acknowledged leaders in different areas of science. Successful program proposals must have a positive recommendation from this Committee.

What does the Program Committee look for in a proposal?
To receive a positive recommendation from the Program Committee, a program proposal must have the following:

1. A description of the theme and objectives, explaining the scientific case and its timeliness and a list of specific topics to be covered in the program.

2. Duration of the program and its justification in terms of expected research benefits and human resource development. Proposals with a strong human resource development component are encouraged.

3. A list of possible speakers and participants (preferably after consultations with a few of them). ICTS program Committee looks for quality participants and researchers in this list. It also tends to encourage strong participation by students.

4. A budget consisting of itemized estimate of expenses (travel, board and lodge, organizational expenses, etc).

What should be the duration of a program?

1. Full length proposals usually run for 6-12 weeks or longer. Examples of past full length program are:

(a) Monsoon Workshop in String Theory http://icts.tifr.res.in/sites/strings

(b) Cosmology with cosmic microwave background http://icts.tifr.res.in/sites/cmb/index

2. Short duration proposals, covering important developments in an area that requires a focused response, run for 2 weeks or more, but less than 6 weeks. A scientific case for the appropriateness of the duration needs to be made in the proposal. Examples of short duration programs are:

(a) Frontiers of Cosmology and Gravitation http://www.icts.res.in/program/focg2011

(b) Indian Condensed Matter Program http://www.icts.res.in/program/icmp09

(c) School and conference on Multi scale Modeling and Simulations of Hard and Soft Materials http://www.icts.res.in/program/mmsm2009

(d) International Program on Quantum Information http://www.icts.res.in/program/IPQI

3. Mini program proposals covering exciting new developments which require timely response can be submitted as very short duration programs. These are usually of  more than 1 but less than 2 weeks  duration. Proposals for even shorter duration programs may also be submitted. In all these cases, however, a strong scientific justification has be provided for the duration and timeliness of the proposed program and its benefits to the scientific community. Examples of mini programs are:

(a) Scientific Discovery through Intensive Data Exploration http://www.icts.res.in/program/Datasci2011

(b) Unifying Concepts in Materials: JA Krumhansl School & Symposium 2012 http://www.icts.res.in/program/JAKS2012

A short conference in which recent results in the topics which are planned to be covered in the program can be included as a part of a full length (6-12 weeks) or short duration (2-4 weeks) program proposal.

What is not covered by the ICTS mandate?

ICTS is not a conference funding agency. Proposals for organizing conferences and workshops, as well as requests for partial funding of these, are outside the mandate of ICTS. All programs supported by ICTS must be organized entirely as ICTS programs, including preparation of a webpage for the program on the ICTS website, uploading instructional material generated by the program on the webpage, etc.