The first Sino-USA Summer School in Vision, Learning and Pattern Recognition (VLPR 2009) is open to all qualified master and Ph.D. students, post-docs, researchers from academic and industry. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds.

A limited number of travel fellowships will be awarded to US applicants. For US students, please read about US student eligibility, selection criterion, and fellowship before you apply.


Registration fee

Registration is FREE for all students. For all other attendents, the registration fee is 1500RMB (220USD) for faculty and academic research scientists, 3000RMB (440USD) for industry, and 1000RMB (150USD) for post-docs.
In addition, 1000RMB (150USD) will be charged for reception, banquet, and 1 day-trip outside of Beijing, including students.


Application

The school has a limit on the number of attendees. Currently only 90 spaces are available. Please follow the following instructions to apply to VLPR 2009.
Please look at FAQ before you apply. Here are some screenshots to show different steps in the application process. If you have any other questions, please contact suvlpr2009@gmail.com.

1) Visit: https://cmt.research.microsoft.com:443/SUVLPR09/Public/SignUp.aspx
    Sign up for a new account using your email address.

2) After signing up, you will be redirected to: https://cmt.research.microsoft.com/SUVLPR09
    Login; once you have logged in, click on "Create a new Paper Submission". Follow the instructions to submit an application to VLPR 2009.


US Student eligibility, selection criterion, and fellowship

The summer school provides a great platform for US students to learn from distinguished vision and learning professors, participate in and lead group discussions with Chinese students to exchange research perspectives, and experience a different culture. To help with travel expenses, we have a limited number of travel fellowship awards available. Each fellowship award will be approximately 1000 USD, and will be allocated via a competitive process based on the summer school applications. To apply to the summer school, please follow the application instructions.

Eligibility:
- PhD candidate students, postdocotral scholars working in a US university or research lab.

Selection criterion:
- Applicant should have a strong track record in computer vision and/or machine learning research, demonstrated through courses, publications and the recommendation letter.
- We encourage diversity in gender, race, and academic backgrounds.



Application Deadline

For application from China, the application deadline is June 20, 2009 at 5:00PM US Pacific Time. Acceptance decisions will be sent out on June 30, 2009.
For application from US, the application deadline is June 20, 2009 at 5:00PM US Pacific Time. Acceptance decisions will be sent out on June 29, 2009.



FAQ

Q: I am currently an undergraduate, can I apply?

A: The summer school is open to all people. But because the space is limited and the school is intensive and research oriented, we normally do not accept undergraduate applicants. But if you really want to apply to the school, please contact suvlpr2009@gmail.com. Do not forget to attach your CV, a brief description of your research interests, and a recommendation letter from your academic advisor.

Q: Is there anything that I need to submit if I want to apply to VLPR 2009?

A: Every applicant should go through the application website. If you are a student, you should submit 1) CV; 2) letter of recommendation; 3) statement of research, including current/past research projects and future research direction. For other applicants, you need to submit your CV.

Q: It's very late now but I still haven't applied. Does this mean the chance that I got accepted is very low?

A: Not necessarily. The decision of acceptance is made based on a comprehensive evaluation, which includes, but is not limited to, the applicant's research/industrial background, the applicant's contribution to the diversity of the summer school, etc. But once you decide to apply, please apply as soon as possible.

Q: I do not live in Beijing. If I attend the summer school, where can I stay in Beijing?

A: The local arrangement information is coming, including information about travel, hotels, and dining. Please check our website for this information in a few days.

Q: I am a student in the US. Is travel assistance available for the flight between the U.S. and China?

A: If you are a student in US and need financial travel assistance, please indicate this in the application page. Pending NSF support there will be a limited number of travel fellowship to students coming from US.

Q: I am a US student. Can I attend the summer school even if I don't get the travel assistance?

A: Yes. We can only provide the travel fellowship awards to a limited number of students. If you do not need travel assistance or your fellowship application is not approved, you can still attend the summer school given that your application to the summer school is accepted. In the application page you can indicate if you need the travel assistance.

Q: I do not want to participate in the banquet and the 1 day-trip, do I still have to pay the 1000RMB (150USD) for such activities?

A: Social activities are important components of this summer school. We highly encourage everyone attending the summer school to join all the activities. But if you have some financial problems, please indicate this in the application webpage. We will try to resolve your problem given the funding available.

Q: My spouse (or boyfriend/girlfriend) also wants to attend the banquet and the day-trip. Is this possible? Do they have to any pay fee for this?

A: Yes, the attendent's spouse (or boyfriend/girlfriend) can attend the banquet and the day-trip. They only have to pay 500RMB (75USD) for this.

Q: My application was rejected, but I really want to get involved with the summer school. What should I do?

A: In order to maintain a high quality summer school, we can only accept a limited number of attendents. For those who cannot attend the summer school, we will put video records of all talks online. Please check our website for those information.