You will need to decide what kind of event it is you are trying to propose:
- Workshops, Seminars and Special Events are all something that members can suggest organizing.
- Distinguished Lectures & live@CIRMMT concerts are dealt with by the Centre and follow a specific structure. You can make suggestions for guests to the appropriate Research Axis (RA).
- improv@CIRMMT and the Student Colloquia are organized by the Student Executive Committee, but again, members are welcome to speak to these people to try and arrange something within these categories.
First, you can figure out if the event comes under one or multiple RAs and approach those RA co-leaders. However, you should always try and get CIRMMT’s Events Coordinator in the loop as soon as something is looking to be more solid and is moving forward as this will be the person to help you organize many aspects of the event.
If you think it’s bigger than that or if at any time you are unsure, you can always come to CIRMMT’s Research Centre Administrator or to the Events Coordinator, and we can try and either help you set up your event, or guide you to the right person.
What information should be included in such an event proposal?
A rough estimate of date, description of event, expected participants, expected benefits to the CIRMMT community, estimated budget, the type of room required, any technical help and/or equipment.
Is there a specific budget I should keep in mind?
Not all events require a budget. CIRMMT has a budget available for outreach events, but does not pay anything towards seminars, for example.
Each RA has a set budget for the year as does CIRMMT as a whole. We ask that you be sensible yet realistic when putting forward a budget and provide a breakdown of items:
- For example, consider the estimated number of people you plan to have at your event and calculate food accordingly.
- We strongly suggest buying snacks, milk, cream and other drinks at the grocery store to reduce costs.
- CIRMMT also has its own crockery and cutlery that can be borrowed, which can again reduce costs.
- We try to avoid paying any guest lecturer fees (formerly honoraria), but are happy to pay for travel and accommodation if necessary.
After submitting an event proposal, when should I hear back and from whom?
If you go directly to the RA co-leaders, then most likely you will hear directly from them as to whether they can support a proposal. After that you should be in contact with the Events Coordinator to start arrangements.
If it’s from elsewhere (Directors or CIRMMT Executive Committee), you will most likely hear from the Research Centre Administrator. We do our best to get back to you as quickly as feasible, hopefully in a few days. If a proposal has to go to the Executive Committee, then you will hear back after the next meeting a proposal goes to. The dates of the executive committee meetings are online.
If my proposal is approved, how are the funds disbursed?
CIRMMT wants to avoid people paying out of pocket as much as possible, but sometimes it’s unavoidable: e.g., alcohol purchases (currently), some catering depending on who you want to use, and definitely items purchased from a grocery store, which is often something we ask people to do for things like snacks, milk, cream etc., as mentioned above.
For other things like travel and accommodation we try to organize that directly with the visitor to avoid all parties being out of pocket.