The stipend page for PETS is now up. The deadline is June 4: https://petsymposium.org/2018/stipends.php

PETS is in Barcelona, the third week of July.

Half-ish of the stipend money is for US students / students at US universities, and the other half of the stipend money is for anybody.

PETS is the best conference in the world for anonymous communications research and Tor research in particular. So this is a great opportunity to meet the researchers and see the research.

One of the most important uses for the stipends imo is to get the right activists and developers to PETS, to raise the open problems that matter most to real users around the world.

Do you know something about the Great Firewall of China because you've lived behind it? Do you know about the security needs of journalists in Egypt because you've helped them try to stay safe? Do you understand why building privacy systems for real users is hard, because you built one and/or you tried to help actual people use it? Then you're exactly the sort of interesting not-just-another-academic person that I want to have more of at PETS.

The papers have become more refined over the years as PETS grows up, but the real reason to be there is the ideas and the people. I'm taking a step back from the stipend allocation side of things this year, so I can put more energy into getting the right people to apply (and so I can feel less conflicted when they do apply). I hope to present the stipend allocation volunteers with hard choices because of how many great people apply. :)

Your application will look best if you consider two angles:

* First, what do you bring to PETS? What is special about your background, skillset, experiences, and perspectives that will make it a better (more diverse, more interesting, more successful) gathering because you are there? What are the things you can explain or clarify to researchers so they are more likely to focus on the problems that matter most?

* Second, what can PETS do for you? That is, what amazing things are going to happen in your life, or in your work, because you went to PETS? Is there is a specific topic or area that you want to make progress on, and meeting people and getting ideas will help move that forward?

PETS stipends are an investment in our community, both to make the annual gatherings more successful and also to make the individual people better prepared to carry on the fight.

I'm happy to answer further questions or to provide advice on how to phrase things so your application stands out best.

--Roger