Wikimedia CH/Micro Grant/Intensive course on research state of the art and Wikipedia for PhD students in Mendrisio 2025

Please provide the following information for your micro-grant request:

Your Username: iopensa, Iolanda Pensa
Your Country of residence: Italy
Amount requested: 1000 chf. The economic support is requested to cover direct costs of the meeting (food, and eventually accommodation); it does not cover any salary at SUPSI.

Planned activity: The microgrant is requested to support the organisation of the Intensive course on research state of the art and Wikipedia for PhD students, planned at SUPSI in Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland, 24-28/02/2025.

The event is organised in the frame of the project Intensive course on research state of the art and Wikipedia for PhD students and it is an essential step to design a replicable format for coursed targeting PhD students in international universities.

People involved
(e.g. How many people can benefit from the micro grant you request):

The course involves few participants (around 10 people, including participants and trainers) but it is designed to create a replicable format which can be implemented in all countries and universities. The replicability of the project is designed by collaborating with the platform WikiLearn managed by Wikimedia Foundation and by involving since the beginning the scholar Matt Vetter, specialised in the pedagogy of Wikipedia and its use in universities.

Please explain what influence your activity will have on Wikimedia Projects
(e.g. quantitative: number of new pictures uploaded to commons, no of new articles created / qualitative: strengthen the community of german-speaking wikipedia authors etc,):

We expect:

documentation about the experience (this is expected to be the major result of the course and the most important and innovative)
- preparatory documents
- test of the format with description of the methods used
- syllabus
- feedback from the participants
specialised articles produced by the PhD students; one article per participant.
PhD students acquire skills related to
- copyright, plagiarism and open science
- references, their use and importance
- technical knowledge of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects (i.e. Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata)

The project also contributes to training (in editing Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects) new Italian-speaking contributors living in Ticino and in Italy. By involving SUPSI and its researchers, collaborators and PhD students and by communicating this initiative to the institution, the projects also contributes to reinforce the Wikimedia community in Italian-speaking Switzerland and its link with Swiss universities and academia.

Please provide links to your contributions after your project or activity ended:
Please provide the links to the categories on Wikimedia Commons, to the articles on Wikipedia or any other contributions on Wikimedia projects:
A detailed report of the course will be published on Intensive course on research state of the art and Wikipedia for PhD students

Discussion

Hi @Iopensa, If I understand you correctly, the 1k will be used to cover food and, if there's anything left over, accommodation for participants, right? --Omnilaika02 (talk) 06:20, 28 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Omnilaika02, I requested an in-kind support to Wikimedia Italia for a certified trainer (it would be wonderful to have Marco Chemello involved, since he did the course at politecnico for many years or Dario Crespi who has a long experience in training); I also requested them a microgrant for accommodation for the trainer, for a PhD student living in Milan (the other PhD students already live in Ticino or near-by) and for myself (since the week will be very intense and for health reason it would be easier for me to stay there). I checked some flats to reduce costs (and already checked if I can share the room with the PhD student) and we can also have a space where we can have dinner together (so it is not too expensive and more social also for other participants). Those expenses (additional experienced trainer and accommodation) are a priority, and at the moment I don't know if Wikimedia Italia will support them. For this reason, I asked Wikimedia CH for coffee breaks and food for the event but I included accommodation in case Wikimedia Italia will not cover it. If I'll be the only trainer for 5 days, having an accommodation near-by will be even more essential, but the costs will be reduced since we will only be 2 people. I remain at your disposal if you need any further information or if you have any suggestion to proceed differently. best regards, iopensa (talk) 06:53, 28 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Vote

This section needs to be filled out by the Microgrants-Committee
Pro

Support explications convaincantes, nécessité démontrée. --Omnilaika02 (talk) 07:02, 7 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Against

…

Abstention

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Result Since the grantee has an ongoing grant agreement for another project with WMCH, we have to question the eligibility of this microgrant application. The Micro-grant committee shall therefore stop their deliberations. However, since we believe in the value of this project for the Italian-speaking Community in Switzerland, we are examining the options of allocating program-specific funds to it. In any case, any allocated funds are not flexible, and it should be clear at all times for what exactly which amount is being asked for. Therefore, any potential changes must be discussed and can be reimbursed only upon agreement. Dorine Barth (WMCH) (talk) 18:06, 07 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Important: AFTER having submitted your request, please write an eMail to info@wikimedia.ch with your contact details (at least: Name, Surname, Email address)