second-stipend.html

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title: Second Stipend Application and Requirements
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          <p>The Second Stipend has been awarded.  Please see our <a href="/stipend/">Stipend</a> page.</p> 
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      <h1 class="h1 mb-3">Second Stipend Application</h1>
      <p class="p-lg">The second MERL Center stipend application will be open from 14 March - 13 June 2022. Find the application requirements and link below. Clarifying questions will be posted on a rolling basis.</p>
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        <h2 class="h6 mb-4">Link to apply</h2>
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          <p><strong><a href="https://forms.gle/zZNwaVLZP7yYiHDDA" target="_blank"> Click here to apply</a></strong></p>
          <p>The application will be open from 14 March - 13 June 2022. Awards are tentatively scheduled for late June 2022. Clarifying questions should be sent to <a href="mailto:themerlcenter@gmail.com">themerlcenter@gmail.com</a>. Answers will be posted below on this page on a rolling basis. Anyone who sends in a question will be notified of new responses.</p>
          <p>Please note it is <strong>NOT</strong> required to complete an application to be a MERL Center member. If you wish to join the MERL Center without applying to a stipend, <a href="https://forms.gle/ULFWYt6y4fkw2FH28" target="_blank">please fill out this form.</a></p>
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        <h2 class="h6 mb-4">Background</h2>
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          <p>Created in September 2019 by the GitHub Social Impact, <a href="https://socialimpact.github.com/tech-for-social-good" target="_blank">Tech for Social Good</a> team and <a href="https://merltech.org" target="_blank">MERL Tech</a>, the monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) Center is a community creating resources about the intersection of MERL and open source, for people of any technology capacity. In February 2022, the MERL Center expanded its original scope to include data science and human-centered design. The MERL Center has 50+ members across sub-Saharan Africa, South/east Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. More than a quarter of MERL Center members are women of color. Most members volunteer their time.
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        <h2 class="h6 mb-4">Second Stipend Requirements</h2>
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          <p>The MERL Center welcomed its first cohort of stipend recipients in late 2020. These recipients drove the content creation on the MERL Center website, participated in conferences and presented their MERL work to the wider community throughout 2020 and 2021. The second stipend cohort will focus on similar functions in the expanded scope, with the aim of growing the community and reach.</p>
          <p><strong>Stipend Amount</strong>
          <p>Stipends are USD 2000 each. Five stipends will be awarded in June or July 2022, after the application period has closed.</p>
          <p><strong>Eligibility and Requirements</strong></p>
          To qualify for a stipend, applicants must:
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            <li>Demonstrate knowledge/expertise in open source, data science or human-centered design as it relates to MERL disciplines</li>
            <li>Have professional proficiency in English</li>
            <li>Demonstrate strong writing and editing skills</li>
            <li>Be able to receive funds from a US bank account or a remittance service</li>
            <li>Current MERL Center members <strong>are eligible</strong> to apply unless they were previous stipend recipient who <strong>did not complete</strong> the requirements</li>
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          <p>1-2 stipends will be allocated for junior-level professionals.</p>
          <p>There are no formal education requirements. Previous knowledge of GitHub is encouraged but not required.</p>
          <p>Stipend recipients agree to complete the following throughout the year:</p>
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            <li>Contribute at least two pieces of content on the MERL Center website</li>
            <li>Serve as an editor to at least one other piece of content</li>
            <li>Participate in monthly standing calls, time zone and schedules permitting</li>
            <li>Communicate on a monthly basis with other MERL Center members through GitHub, Slack and Google Drive.</li>
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          <p>The above commitments should take no more than 3-5 hours per month. Participation is encouraged throughout the year. The MERL Center will make good faith efforts to work around stipend recipients’ work and personal schedules.</p>
          <p>Stipends are financed through the GitHub Social Impact, Tech for Social Good team and will be made in two payments through MERL Tech. Stipend recipients who do not complete the requirements are not eligible to apply for future stipend cohorts.</p>
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