2024/2025 Graduate School
Application Program

Queer students and scholars are underrepresented and marginalized within STEM fields. Applying to graduate schools typically costs many hundreds of dollars which poses a major barrier to queer students, who are disproportionately affected by economic hardship. Queer students also do not have many sources and role models to turn to for advice when preparing their application materials for graduate school applications. The aim of oSTEM/Queer in AI Graduate School Application Programs is to alleviate the financial burden of queer students and connect them with senior queer scientists for application feedback.

Instructions of Submission

Here is a general walkthrough for the submission process.

For submissions of the Financial Aid track (deadline Nov 1, 2024):

1. Log in to the OpenReview submission portal (https://openreview.net/). If you do not have an account, you can create one for free by clicking Login > Sign Up. We suggest registering with a university/work email if possible: according to OpenReview’s moderation policy,

• New profiles created without an institutional email will go through a moderation process that can take up to two weeks.

• New profiles created with an institutional email will be activated automatically.

2. Go to the webpage for “oSTEM Queer in AI Graduate Application Program 2024” (https://openreview.net/group?id=QueerInAI.com/2024/Grad_App) and click “Add: Queer in AI 2024 Grad App Aid Submission”.

3. In the submission, please provide the required materials and answer the demographic questions.

4. Your application will be reviewed after our submission deadline (Nov 1, 2024). Expect to get a decision approximately one week after the deadline.

For submissions of the Application Review track:

1. Log in to the OpenReview submission portal (https://openreview.net/). If you do not have an account, you can create one for free by clicking Login > Sign Up. We suggest registering with a university/work email if possible: according to OpenReview’s moderation policy,

• New profiles created without an institutional email will go through a moderation process that can take up to two weeks.

• New profiles created with an institutional email will be activated automatically.

2. Go to the webpage for “oSTEM Queer in AI Graduate Mentorship Program 2024” (https://openreview.net/group?id=QueerInAI.com/2024/Grad_Mentor) and click “Add: Queer in AI 2024 Grad Mentor Submission”.

3. In the submission, please provide the required materials and answer the demographic questions.

4. The chair will match you with a senior mentor in your closely related field.

5. The mentor will give full feedback on your application materials.

6. Mentors are also encouraged to set up one 30-minutes long meeting with the applicant.  But the meeting can go longer or shorter based on the availability and the needs of the mentor and the applicant.

FAQ:

Here are some frequently asked questions and the answers from our past communication. We hope this will help address your questions. 

1. “Who should I contact with questions about the program?”

• Please send your inquiry to queerinai-ostem-grad-app-program@googlegroups.com with the subject “[Inquiry] QinAI Graduate School Application Program”.

2. “How many people can apply?” 

• This year, we aim to cover as many as possible applicants.

3. “Do I need to upload all the receipts at once or one by one?” 

• Please upload your receipts all at once. Remember that the chairs and reviewers are volunteers and they have their own work.