WWDC Scholarships 2009
Executive Summary
* The Australian Apple University Consortium (AUC) is providing national competitive scholarships for both staff and students to attend Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2009. Dates for the conference ate not yet finalised, but it is expected to be a Monday-to-Friday period in June.
* The University of Melbourne has one "allocated" scholarship for WWDC 2009.
* There are also scholarships for up to 20 staff and 25 students, awarded on a national competitive basis.
* Scholarship details on the AUC website, at <http://www.auc.edu.au/WWDC+Scholarships>.
* Conference details are expected to appear on Apple's Developer website, at <http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/>
Key dates:
* 25 March 2009 - closing date for national competitive scholarship applications
* 25 March 2009 - closing date for allocated scholarship applications at Melbourne
* 20 April 2009 - national scholarship winners announced
* 22 April 2009 - allocated scholarship result announced
* WWDC 2009 - June 2009 (exact dates yet to be confirmed)
If you are in a position to do so, would you please bring this opportunity to the attention of staff and students who might benefit.
The Details
Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC)
WWDC is an annual event, held at the Moscone Conference Center in San
Francisco. This year, it is expected to be held in June, but Apple have not yet announced the dates.
It attracts about 4000 delegates from all over the world, from government, technology and other industries, and from universities. A lot of Apple's softwareengineers attend too; there is usually something like one Apple engineer present for every three or four other delegates. It is the premier event for those who develop software for MacOS X (for Mac, or for iPhone). And, with rare exceptions, it is the only event at which Apple discusses future developments in any detail.
Most of the conference sessions are intensely programmer-oriented - before very long, the slides contain source code. To really benefit from these sessions, you need to be a programmer, preferably with good knowledge of Objective-C and/or Java.
Conference tracks are expected to include Mac, iPhone , and IT.
The Mac track is about developing software for MacOS X - the basic essentials, the software development tools, integrating MacOS X features, handling rich media and graphics, using WebKit to provide web functionality in your app.
The iPhone track is likely to be about developing iPhone applications - applications, not content.
In the main, the iPhone track, like the Mac track, is for programmers.
The IT track has a broader audience - IT professionals, administrators. It's aboiut setting up, integrating, deploying and managing Leaopard, Leopard Server and iPhone (iPod touch) technologies in heterogeneous envirnments.
Further details about WWDC 2009 are expected to appear on the official website:
<http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/>.
The AUC WWDC Scholarships
The AUC has a long history of providing WWDC scholarships. As a general rule, it is expected that the scholarship recipient (or his or her department) will pay up-front, and receive re-imbursement upon presentationof the appropriate receipts and after delivery of the report on the conference.
Further details about the AUC WWDC Scholarships are available at
<http://www.auc.edu.au/WWDC+Scholarships>.
Scholarship recipients are expected to share the benefit by reporting back to their universities after the event, and they are required to provide the AUC with a short publishable report.
It is unusual for a person who has attended WWDC on an AUC scholarship in recent years to win another scholarship, unless they have in the interim developed and shared some useful MacOS X or iPhone software.
For any of the scholarships, I would advise people who have developed MacOS software (or other software for that matter) to include a link to the product, if that is possible. It helps the selection committee quickly appreciate programmer credentials.
National Competitive Scholarships
Competitive scholarships are open to staff and students of any AUC member university, of which one is the University of Melbourne. Staff of affilliates may apply too. The scholarships include WWDC registration (arranged by the AUC), plus up to $3500 for staff, and $3200 for students. The dollar amount is claimable against receipted go towards airfares and accommodation: in all cases the AUC will arrange tickets for the event itself.
The scholarships are on a receipted-reimbursement basis, payable to the person or the University depending on how the expenses were met in the first place. For
staff, claims may be made against seven nights accommodation (room and tax only) and airfare. Students may claim against those items and also against
travel insurance and the cost of Student Membership of the Apple Developer
Connection.
Broadly speaking, the scholarships cover most but not all of the travel and accomodation (twin-share four star) cost. Those who choose not to share a room will require other funding to meet the additional cost, which will be a somewhat more than $1000. Additional AUC funding is possible but only in very special circumstances.
The AUC wishes to encourage AUC-supported delegates to stay at the AUC-recommended hotel, and so the scholarship amounts will be reduced by $400 for those who choose to stay elsewhere.
In awarding the National Competitive Scholarships, the AUC is looking for software developers who are likely to develop and share software of value to many AUC members, not just the person themselves or his of her university. The people most likely to win these scholarships are people who can take full advantage of the Mac and iPhone tracks. The selection process aims to maximise the value of the scholarships to the AUC as a whole.
Up to 20 scholarships will be awarded to staff, and up to 25 scholarshipswill be awarded to students.
For students and staff, applications must be made online, from <http://www.auc.edu.au/WWDC+Scholarships+Apply>. The closing date is 25 March.
Students applying for a competitive scholarship should be prepared to provide a current academic record, and proof of age. Unfortunately, it is not possible for people under the age of 18 to attend WWDC.
Staff applying for the competitive scholarship should have the approval of their Head of Department or appropriate manager to attend.
It would also be useful for me to know who has applied; if you could drop me a line on email after applying, that would be great. If the application is copied to me, it will also be considered for the allocated scholarship.
I would be pleased to advise any staff member or student who is considering applying.
Allocated Scholarships
The University has one allocated scholarship for a staff member to attend WWDC (it is not unheard of for the AUC to grant special dispensation to allocate this to a student). The scholarship provides WWDC registration, and a subsidy of up to $3000 towards airfares and accomodation. Reimbursement and other conditions are the same as outlined above for the competitive scholarships.
In awarding the allocated scholarship, a broader view is taken and it is quite possible for allocated scholarships to go to people who are not programmers but for whom there would be benefit (for them and the University) in the IT track. Staff of affiliates may apply. The selection process will aim to maximise the value to the University of the allocated scholarship.
The allocated scholarship application form is available for download from the AUC WWDC website <http://www.auc.edu.au/WWDC+Scholarships+Apply>, and needs to reach me by 25 March, via email to syoung@unimelb.edu.au.
In addition to the information required on the form, applicants should indicate:
* Whether they would be prepared to a reduced subsidy, to allow two people from the University to attend WWDC 2009 on partial scholarships. In principle, the AUC would meet us half way on the extra cost of sending two people (the "half-way" calculation does take into account the cost of registration as well as the dollar subsidies).
* How they believe attending the conference will help them in their present or foreseeable future role in the University.
It would be to applicants' advantage to include a letter of support from their supervisor, Head of Department, or a similarly appropriate person.
It is possible that the allocated scholarship may be not be used for WWDC, but used instead to send someone to Macworld in January 2010. In that event, applications for scholarships to attend MacWorld 2009 would be called for later in the year. The present process is only for those seeking a scholarship for WWDC 2009.
Conclusion
If you are aware of staff, and especially students, who might be interested in these scholarships, please pass this information on. I will be very happy to
field any queries.
Stephen Young
Apple University Consortium Development Fund Coordinator
University of Melbourne
03 8344 6598; syoung@unimelb.edu.au
------
University of Melbourne AUC people:
AUC Delegate
Andrew Yeoh, 8344 2810, a.yeoh@unimelb.edu.au
AUCDF co-ordinator
Stephen Young, 8344 6598, syoung@unimelb.edu.au
This page, its content and style, are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or opinions of The University of Melbourne.
