The program values are:
Diversity:
Junior Fellows are talented women and men from anywhere in the world working on AI for media & society.
Visibility:
AI4Media will hold a yearly Junior Fellow Day, in which the program will be composed of talks by the Junior Fellows, and thus showcase joint work by partners. Partial travel support will be provided for physical meetings.
Impact:
For publications in top venues (A* rank), where the first author is a Junior Fellow presenting joint work between partners, AI4Media will provide partial support for conference travel.
Rules for participation in the Junior Fellows Exchange Program
An exchange involves one Junior Fellow, one Sender institution, and one Host institution.
Either the Sender or the Host has to be an AI4Media’s full member.
Exchanges can be physical, virtual, and hybrid (a combination of physical and virtual).
The Sender covers the Junior Fellow’s labour expenses, according to the sender’s own rates. If the sender is an AI4Media partner, it can use its own AI4Media funds (labour costs).
The Host provides additional support according to its own rules, e.g., assistance to find housing or any other benefits that can be provided. The host decides on the formal requirements and status of the visitor (e.g., whether certain formalities are needed, visas, etc.).
AI4Media coordinator supports some costs associated with physical exchanges:
a) If the Sender is an AI4Media full partner, then the coordinator transfers the funds to the sender.
b) If the Host is an AI4Media full partner, then the coordinator transfers the funds to the host, and the host is in charge of transferring them to the Fellow.
c) In case both are AI4Media full partners, only the Sender is supported.
Physical exchanges (or the physical part of a hybrid one) have a minimum duration of 1 month and a maximum duration of 3 months.
Virtual exchanges can occur anytime and do not incur any additional expenses. Virtual exchanges that extend the physical exchange are highly encouraged.
A two-page report is expected to document the results of the exchange (it should be submitted to the AI4Media coordinator via info@ai4media.eu
Application Procedure
The application procedure has three steps.
The joint application form contains:
Details of sender institution and PI, host institution and PI, and Junior Fellow
Objectives and relevance to AI4Media and expected outcomes
Timeline (start date and expected duration) and format (physical, virtual, hybrid)
AI4Media has formed an Approval Committee composed of members of the consortium. Rapid decisions will be made by the Approval Committee and communicated to the partners. There is no limit on the number of exchanges an AI4Media partner can be involved in. If this situation changed (e.g., due to a large number of applications), all project partners will be informed.