Travel: CIF: Student Travel Support for the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory

IEEE信息理论国际研讨会(ISIT)是主要的信息理论国际会议，是一门研究高效、可靠和安全通信的数学基础的科学学科，在电话、电视、无线、光学和数据存储系统中的应用。信息论提供的性能基准已成功地指导工程师设计更高效的编码系统，以利用技术进步接近基本极限。研讨会的重点是介绍信息理论所有领域以前未发表的贡献，包括大数据分析、通信理论和系统、密码学和安全以及各种新兴应用。2020年至2022年的大流行导致国际会议旅行严重中断。预计ISIT-2023将是大流行后的第一个版本，随着全球旅行限制的取消，它将完全恢复正常。学生研究人员出席研讨会对信息论领域的持续活力尤为关键，如果要以历史为指标，信息论是美国在数据传输、存储、压缩和安全领域竞争力的基础。此外，研讨会的一个突出好处是信息理论方面的高级和初级工作者之间密切的个人互动，这鼓励了思想和批评意见的自由交流。交叉受精的机会是巨大的，至关重要的是，那些新进入该领域并带来新想法的人应该在场，与那些更有经验的人讨论他们的工作。考虑到预计2023年夏季国际旅行的费用高于正常水平，来自NSF的旅行支持将显著减轻在校学生的负担。在过去几年(疫情爆发前)，IEEE iSIT的出席人数在750到925人之间，通常包括300多名学生。其中，40%是在美国注册的研究生或本科生，他们将直接受益于这项旅行支持补助金。在过去的几年里，iSIT有大量的女性工程师参与，约有40%的女性学生参与。学生车船津贴的发放将确保不少于45%的奖项是女性获奖者，这将继续促进健康和多样化的学习参与，这是社区活力的关键。虽然旅行资助将主要提供给将在会议期间提交技术论文的学生作者，但美国国家科学基金会学生旅行补助金的一部分将保留给首次参加会议且可能没有论文/演示/海报/演示的美国研究生/本科生。将优先考虑代表人数不足的群体(如妇女、少数群体和残疾人)的学生。这一新类别的引入将确保更广泛、更多样化的学生参与，并总体上促进学生对广泛的STEM领域的兴趣。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT) is the premier international conference on information theory, the scientific discipline that studies the mathematical foundations of efficient, reliable, and secure communications, with applications in telephony, television, wireless, optical, and data storage systems. The performance benchmark provided by information theory has successfully guided engineers in the design of ever more efficient coding systems that leverage the technological advances to closely approach fundamental limits. The Symposium focuses on the presentation of previously unpublished contributions in all areas of information theory, including big data analytics, communication theory and systems, cryptography and security, and various emerging applications. The pandemic in years 2020 to 2022 resulted in significant disruption to international conference travel. ISIT-2023 is expected to be the first edition after the pandemic that will be fully back to normal with the travel restrictions from around the globe being lifted. Attendance by student researchers to the Symposium is especially crucial to the continued vitality of the field of Information Theory, which, if history is to serve as an indicator, is the basis for US competitiveness in the fields of data transmission, storage, compression and security. In addition, an outstanding benefit of the Symposium is the close personal interaction between senior and junior workers in information theory, which encourages the free exchange of ideas and critical comments. The opportunities for cross-fertilization are immense and it is vital that those who are new to the field and bring fresh ideas be present to discuss their work with those who are more experienced. The travel support from NSF will significantly ease the burden of the attending students, given the expected higher-than-normal cost of international travel in the summer of 2023.In the past few years (pre-pandemic), the attendance at IEEE ISIT has varied between 750 and 925, typically including over 300 students. Among them, 40% are students enrolled in graduate or undergraduate programs in the United States, who will benefit directly from this travel support grant. In the last few years, ISIT has had significant participation from women engineers, with about 40% female student participation. The student travel grant will be administered to ensure that no less than 45% of the awards are women recipients, which will continue promoting a healthy and diverse study participation that is key to the vitality of the community. While the travel support will be given mostly to student authors who will present technical papers during the conference, a portion of the US NSF Student Travel Grant will be reserved for US graduate/undergraduate students who will attend the conference for the first time and may not have a paper/ presentation/poster/demo at the conference. Preference will be given to students from under-represented groups (e.g., women, minorities and people with disabilities). The introduction of this new category will ensure a broader, more diverse student participation and also promote student interest in the broad STEM areas in general.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.