Please make sure you read these instructions carefully before applying for a WinterFest scholarship.

A limited number of scholarships (up to 100) are available for Australian-based undergraduate students, PhD students and early career researchers (those who have received their PhDs in the last five years) to attend WinterFest 2010. These scholarships include all costs of attendance at WinterFest for three days, including accommodation, meals and travel costs; precise details are below, but a typical scholarship package is worth around $1000. You can view the schedule here, and find out more about the venue here.

Scholarships will be awarded based on a number of criteria. If you are a student, the most important criterion is a statement of support from your supervisor. If you are an early career researcher, your own statement of what you see as the benefits of attendance will be the main criterion. In the likely circumstance that we have more applications than available scholarships, priority will generally be given to full-time students, and those not awarded a scholarship will be placed on a waiting list in case places subsequently become available.

Student applicants only: Statements of support must be received by the closing date for applications for scholarships. When you complete the scholarship application form, you will be provided with a URL that you should copy and paste into an email to send to your supervisor; your supervisor will then need to visit this URL to provide a supporting statement. It is your responsibility to ensure that your supervisor completes this step; applications that do not have supporting statements will not be considered. The deadline for applications, including supervisor endorsements, is Friday May 14th.

WinterFest takes place over five days, from Friday 18th June to Tuesday 22nd June, but has been structured in such a way that the first three days are likely to be most appealing to those who are interested in music or speech, and the last three days are likely to be most appealing to those who are interested in speech or language (with the day in the middle being of interest to everyone!).

Correspondingly, our scholarship packages are set up to allow attendance on either the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; or the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. You should choose which of the three-day packages is of most interest to you on the basis of the courses on offer; each morning and afternoon time slot offers two separate courses that you can choose from. Study the schedule and course descriptions carefully before making your choice!

Each scholarship covers:

• Sydney--Bowral return train travel;
• air travel to and from Sydney for those coming from outside New South Wales;
• accommodation for two nights at the Craigieburn Resort, plus possibly a third night's accommodation for those with awkward travel connections; and
• all meals.

If you wish to attend WinterFest for more than three days, this may be possible depending on space in the conference rooms; however, you will be responsible for finding any necessary additional accommodation in Bowral (all the rooms at the venue will be occupied by scholarship holders).

If you are awarded a scholarship and accept it, it is essential that you fully commit to attending. If you take up a scholarship place and then don't come to the event, the arrangements we have with the venue mean that we still have to pay for the unused room and uneaten meals. If you need to pull out for medical or other similar reasons, we need to know as far in advance as possible so we can reallocate your place.

All clear? Click here to go to the scholarship application form. If you have any questions, email Chris Cassidy, the HCSNet Administrator.