Deadlines (Anywhere on Earth)

• Mentee Application: August 17th, 2021
• Mentor Application: August 17th, 2021
• Notification: Auguest 24th, 2021

Mentorship track paper submission deadline: October 15th, 2021

Applications

Both Mentee and Mentor application (deadline Aug 17th) are via this google form.

An increasing number of junior researchers have the willing to join the young and dynamic “AI for Science” community, so we launch this mentorship program to pave their ways. The mentorship program aims to encourage exchange between potential workshop submitters (regular paper track, attention track and mentorship track are all Okay) and senior researchers working in related AI and/or Science fields, as well as aims to improve quality and potential impact of submissions.

An increasing number of junior researchers have the willing to join the young and dynamic “AI for Science” community, so we launch this mentorship program to pave their ways. The mentorship program aims to encourage exchange between potential workshop submitters (both regular track or attention track are OK) and senior researchers working in related AI and/or Science fields, as well as aims to improve quality and potential impact of submissions.

Expectations

Mentors are expected to guide mentees during the seven weeks of the mentorship program (Aug 24th - Oct 15th) as mentees prepare submissions for this workshop.

Papers produced from the mentorship program are on a different track from regular papers. Be sure to include ‘\usepackage[mentorship]{neurips_2021}’ so that we know you participate in the mentorship track. Awards and presentation opportunities are provided for winners of the mentorship program. While participating in the mentorship program, if the mentor and mentee agree, you can also submit to the regular paper track or the attention track. But please do note that we have an extended deadline Oct 15th for the mentorship track as opposed to Sep 18th for the regular track. And the mentorship track has its own Best Paper Award and spotlight talks during the workshop.

We do not require any forms of interaction between the mentor and mentee in order to maximize the flexibility, but would require that the mentor expects to commit 2-4 hours over the seven-week mentorship program (For example, one-hour discussion every week/two weeks). We suggest the first meeting should take place within the first week (Aug 24th - Aug 31st). We encourage mentees and mentors to have in mind their duties, some of which are listed below.

Mentee duties:

• Have an initial idea
• Initiate the discussion (appoint the first meeting with the mentor)
• Report to the mentor regularly

Mentor duties:

• Make sure the project goes in a reasonable direction and the mentee achieves proper progress
• Provide suggestions on experimental design, paper writing etc.

Travel Award

As the workshop and NeurIPS 2021 conference is being held fully virtual this year, we will do our best to provide free registrations for mentors and mentees to participate in the workshop.

FAQ

• Q: Who are eligible to apply for this program?

• A: While the mentorship program is primarily targeted at students and early-career researchers, we welcome individuals at any level of seniority to apply, which includes but is not limited to high school students, undergraduates, masters, PhD students, etc.

• Q: Are mentors allowed to be authors on the paper for which they provided mentorship?

• A: Yes, mentors can be co-authors but not reviewers.

• Q: I do not plan to submit a regular article or attention abstract to the AI for Science workshop, but I do intend to become a member of the AI for Science community. May I apply for the mentorship program?

• A: Sorry but we discourage it. While providing opportunities for mentor-mentee interaction is our ultimate goal, so far we do not have enough resources to foster collaboration unrelated to this workshop. Said that, our future programs will be less restrictive e.g. summer/winter mentorship programs.

• Q: What happens if the mentor/mentee does not fulfill their duties, or if major issues come up?

• A: Please email us at ai4sciencecommunity@gmail.com and we will do our best to help resolve the situation.

• Q: What happens if I apply to be a mentee but do not get paired with a mentor?

• A: While we will do our best, we cannot guarantee pairings for everyone. Even if you do not get paired with a mentor, we encourage you to submit a paper to the workshop, and our reviewers will provide you with guidance and feedback on how to improve it.

• Q: I have backgrounds only in AI or Science; can I still apply to be a mentor/mentee?

• A: A resounding YES! We encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations in the mentorship program, so we do not expect participants to have strong backgrounds in both AI and Science.

• Q: What happens if my mentor/mentee wants to continue meeting after the workshop?
• A: We welcome and encourage continued interactions after the official mentorship period. That said, neither the mentor nor the mentee should feel obligated to maintain contact.