Call for proposals - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion session at EQTC 2023

We are calling for proposals for the central session on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at EQTC 2023

The European Quantum Technologies Conference (EQTC) 2023 is a major interdisciplinary, international conference held on 16 - 20 October 2023 in Hanover, Germany. The conference program will reflect the scope and impact of the European Quantum Flagship with a shared focus on the emerging quantum industry and ongoing quantum research and development. The event will feature at least one central session on diversity as well as different networking opportunities and exhibition space.

Based on their experience and best practices, applicants are called to make a proposal for an engaging session on the topic of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the participants of EQTC 2023.

The selected team will be entitled to organise the proposed session. The QUCATS project can support the session organisation with a sum of up to €3,000 from its EC funding that has been allocated for this purpose. Eligible expenses could be the travel costs and production costs for video, or other materials for the event organisation.

Along with the session proposal, we will evaluate the applicant's commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in their institutions or networks with the scope to give recognition and visibility to such efforts.

Proposal guidelines:

We welcome applicants to propose the format of the session and we encourage creative and innovative proposals and suggest the following guidelines: 

• Duration: 1.5 hours (90 minutes)
• Target audience: attendees of the EQTC 2023 will represent the Quantum Technology ecosystem in Europe consisting of members from both academia and industry.
• Possible funded activities: might include but are not limited to video projections, presentations, role games, interactive experiments, and theatre pieces.

Potential goals of the session could be but are not limited to:

• Inform about diversity dimensions and issues in academic and industry environments,
• Raise awareness of the barriers and challenges to inclusion in science and industry, which are documented in peer-reviewed literature,
• Demonstrate examples of effective strategies and actions at both cultural and systemic levels toward equity, diversity, and inclusion.  

Eligibility:

Each member of the applicant's team must be affiliated with a European institution.

How to apply:

The application shall be sent to the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group (EDI-WG) of the Quantum Flagship (equality@qt.eu) and shall contain: 

• Description of the session organising team: names, affiliations, short bio. 
• Summary of previous actions carried out towards equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Future commitments of your organisation. In alternative to writing them in the application, we invite you to share them directly at the European Quantum Readiness Center: https://quantumready.eu/.  To do so, you must first sign up as an organisation and then create an “accord” for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The accord will award recognition on the platform. 
• EDI session proposal for EQTC 2023  (max 5 pages) containing:
  • session title
  • short abstract (to be published in the conference program),
  • main goals,
  • a detailed description of the event,
  • agenda of activities,
  • expected impact,
  • proposed budget,
  • description of the speakers (short bio),
  • requirements for the space and equipment.

Proposals should be submitted electronically by 18 June 2023 to equality@qt.eu.

Selection process:

A committee of at least 3 members of the EDI-WG and EQTC organising committee will evaluate a proposal on:

• summary of actions:
  • Track record of past actions (5 points)
  • Impact of actions (5 points)
  • Future commitments (5 points)
• session proposal:
  • Interactivity/novelty (5 points)
  • Goals and Impact of the session (5 points)
  • Speakers bio (5 points)

The maximum score that can be obtained is 30 points.

Notification of the selected organiser of the EDI session will be made by 30 June 2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact Oxana Mishina by sending an email to oxana.mishina@ino.cnr.it. Please note that proposals must be sent to equality@qt.eu.