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WIA Calls for Special Purpose Grant Proposals
Date :
27 /
08 /
2015
Author :
Phil Wait - VK2ASD
Until recent years monetary grants were provided by the WIA to Affiliated Clubs, where Clubs submitted their proposals to an independent selection committee. Over the years the Club Grants Scheme ran its course, with fewer submissions received in the later years and sometimes for fairly low-grade project proposals. The last WIA Club Grant was awarded in 2013.
In 2014 the WIA introduced a new WIA Special-Purpose Grant which was designed to be more closely aligned to the Boards strategic policy for the development of amateur radio. WIA Special-Purpose Grants are available to affiliated clubs and individual members. They are also be open to non-members and non-affiliated organisations, so long as the project is for the benefit of amateur radio and the non-member or non-affiliated organisation contributes at least 50% of their own funds, with the WIA contribution paid retrospectively on completion of the project or at an agreed project stage. The WIA will only contribute to projects that are in accordance with the strategic direction set by the WIA Board, and announced yearly, prior to the call for project proposals. Grants may not necessarily be awarded on a yearly basis, though yearly grants are expected to be the norm unless a major development project requires funding over several years.
The first WIA Special-Purpose Grant was awarded in support of the Beacon GPS-Locking Project, which is now complete. The WIA now calls for project proposals to the second round of WIA Special-Purpose Grants. This year’s strategic direction is: The advancement of amateur radio in Australia through innovation, experimentation and education.
The project should be new, realistic, achievable within 12 months from the date of the grant or partly achievable through a staged process, and should broadly benefit amateur radio in Australia. Complex projects with developmental risk can be staged over several years with ongoing funding dependant on meeting staged targets. An example of a staged process may be: concept development and regulatory investigation – proof of concept or prototype – technology roll out - publication in AR Magazine. The WIA Board has allocated up to $6,000 for this round of grants.
Each project will be vetted by an independent committee comprising Peter Freeman (Committee Leader and your AR Editor) VK3PF, Scott Watson VK4CZ, Gary Beech VK2KYP, Drew Diamond VK3XU and Peter Hartfield VK3PH, bringing a diverse range of skills and perspectives. The committee will evaluate proposals based on: benefit to the amateur radio community; not for-profit or non-commercial nature; stage of completion at the time of the application; likelihood of being completed within 12 months; and consistence with the WIA Board’s specific criteria (ie. strategic direction). The Board has not placed a quota on the number of grants per year.
Applicants should refer to the WIA Special-Purpose Grant Rules, and the Flowchart which explains the selection process.
The closing date for Grant submissions the 18th December, 2015. We look forward to some interesting projects in the years ahead. Please send your project proposals to:
Special-Projects Grants Committee
Wireless Institute of Australia
Unit 20, 11-13 Havelock Road
Bayswater, Vic 3153
Or Email your proposal to:
nationaloffice@wia.org.au
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