Yazhini Travel Scholarship: November 2007

Yazhini Travel Scholarship 2007/8

Yazhini Travel Scholarship encourages students of architecture at NITT to travel. Here are some info on the 2007/8 version of the scholarship.

2007/8 Award ceremony pics and winners are listed here
2007/8 YTS winning entries: First Place; Second place
Links to the YTS 2007/8 entries are below.

List of Entries:

YTS - Information - 2007

Yazhini Traveling Scholarship 2007
1639 Hurstborough Manor Dr, St Louis, 63042 USA. Phone: +1 314 770 0141
http://www.nichitecture.com/yts.htm ● nicholas@nichitecture.com

Purpose: One of the main purposes of the Yazhini Traveling Scholarship is to encourage NITT students to travel. Based on the interest generated by the students and the availability of funds in the future, the scholarship will be embellished. The scholarship consists of two stages. The total award of the scholarship is INR 10, 000 (Ten thousand rupees).

Eligibility: All current students of the NITT Architecture Department are eligible. Each eligible student can make one proposal per scholarship period.

First Stage: Eligible students submit the completed entry form regarding their travel plans along with two samples of their architectural photographs. The first installment of the Scholarship (INR 5000) is awarded based on this proposal. The student is not expected / obligated to anything else during this stage. Requirements for the proposal to be emailed:

1. Completed Form
2. Two digital photographs minimum one mega pixel size.

Second Stage: The second stage involves actually traveling per the travel plans proposed in the first stage and submitting a CD of around 100 digital photos taken during the travel. A copy of this CD will be kept with the Department of Architecture, NITT for archival purposes. The Scholarship organizer will keep another copy of this CD. The student will retain full copyright over the photos. However, the student is expected to sign an agreement allowing The Scholarship to use the photos for educational and for non commercial uses like hosting it on a website or exhibiting the photos at a School of Architecture, etc. Without the consent of the student these photographs will not be used for any commercial purposes. More info on this and the requirements for the second stage will be made available when the first installment is awarded. The second stage should be completed within six months from the receipt of the first installment. Upon successful completion of the second stage, the final installment (INR 5000) is disbursed by the Scholarship. Requirement for this stage includes:
1. A CD of around 100 digital photos (JPG minimum 4 mega pixel size) taken during the travel.

What's Next: Some selected photographs may be exhibited at the School of Architecture, Washington University, St Louis Gallery. (http://www.arch.wustl.edu/) The Pulitzer Foundation for Arts and Architecture (http://www.pulitzerarts.org/) is also interested in helping to host some of these pictures online.

The Jury:
S Rajendra Babu, Professor, Department of Architecture, NITT, Trichy
TSODC, Chennai - Satta / Sivakumar, Batch of 1993
Hids Samsudeen, Batch of 1994
Maheswari Karthikeyan, Batch of 1998
Nicholas Iyadurai, Batch of 1993 (non voting juror - will vote to decide on a tie)

Dispute:
If any dispute arises, all decision by Nicholas Iyadurai will be final.

Deadlines:
1. Proposal Deadline: 31 October 2007
2. Jury Decision: 15 November 2007
3. First stage award: 1 December 2007
4. Second stage award: Two weeks after the receipt of the CD from the student.

More information and downloads from http://www.nichitecture.com/yts.htm
Questions / Comments: nicholas@nichitecture.com

YTS - FAQ - 2007

What are the selection criteria?
Like any other ‘design’ oriented competition, your entry will be judged ‘subjectively’. The subjective factor could vary from juror to juror. However, here are some common tips that might be helpful.
1. Stating a clear and concise ‘Focus Area’ in your Entry Form makes it easy for the jurors to understand your plans and interests.
2. Your attached photos should demonstrate your ability to record architecture in digital format.
What is the selection / evaluation procedure?
1. Your entries are received by the scholarship by email.
2. The entries are posted on a website.
3. The Jurors go over the entries and grade them on a scale of 1 to 100.
4. Grades from individual jurors are compiled and added. The entry receiving the highest grade is the winner.
5. If there is a tie, Nicholas Iyadurai will decide the winner.
Can I send any two digital photographs along with the entry form?
Yes, you can send any two photos on architecture. However, you must have taken these photographs yourself and you should have full copyright over these photos. You should not submit photographs taken by others.
Is there any entry fee?
No. As long as you are a registered student, you can participate.
Where do I send my entry?
Please email your completed entry form along with the photos to Nicholas@nichitecture.com
How do I know, my entry form has been received?
You will receive an email indicating that your entry form has been received and accepted.
Can I see entries by other students?
Yes. After the deadline, you will be sent a weblink, which will allow you to see entries by other students.
Can I share the scholarship award with others?
Yes. The scholarship award can be shared with a fellow student. You can even take your brother / sister or parents along with you on the tour.
What if I win the award but then decide not to accept it?
Please send an email about this to us. We will redistribute the award to the next best entry.
Can I sell the pictures that I photographed during the scholarship tour?
Yes. You retain full copyrights of these pictures and you can sell them. However, you would have to allow to The Scholarship to use these pictures for non-commercial purposes free of cost.

More information and downloads from http://www.nichitecture.com/yts.htm
Questions / Comments: nicholas@nichitecture.com

If you win...

If you are selected as the winner:

You have to confirm that the pictures you sent as your entry are indeed photographed by you and have to agree to the following:

You will complete the second stage of the scholarship and all necessary requirements by the date proposed by you.
You will submit to the Scholarship and the NITT - Department of Architecture coordinator Prof. Rajendra Babu a compact disc that contains:
100 digital pictures (not less than 4 mega pixels each) taken during your travel.
These pictures should be named per the requirements based on the Wikipedia Architecture project “http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:CommonsProject_Architecture#Naming_of_Files” (For eg. “YTS photo TajMahal Front side Agra India 20071225.jpg”). All other information (your contact, architect name, year of construction, etc.) should be placed in the summary field.
One A4 size information page about the places your covered, general description of the architecture, where and how to get more information, etc.
Your contact information.
You will allow the Scholarship to display / exhibit the photos (online as well as in physical structures) for academic purposes or use it in any other way for NON commercial uses. You will be credited appropriately for all of your pictures.
You will grant the “Attribution + Noncommercial (by-nc)” licence for all the pictures submitted based on “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_licenses”. In a nutshell, this license means that anyone using your photos will attribute credits to you & they cannot use them for commercial purposes.
You will give a slide presentation on your travel at the Department of Architecture, NITT after you complete the second stage. The exact date and time of the presentation should be finalized with the Department of Architecture coordinator Prof. Rajendra Babu.
You agree to give your feedback on the Scholarship program.

Award Ceremony

The Jury:
S Rajendra Babu, Professor, Department of Architecture, NITT, Trichy
TSODC Architects, Chennai - Satta / Sivakumar, Batch of 1993
Hids Samsudeen, Batch of 1994
Maheswari Karthikeyan, Batch of 1998

Winners:
1st Place: Vasuki Subbu, Final Year - Temple Architecture of TamilNadu
2nd Place: K. Suresh Kumar, Final Year - Rajasthan Traditional Architecture

The Award Ceremony was organized by Prof Rajendra Babu (with help from some current students). I thank the participants, the jurors and everybody else who helped / suggested / supported during the scholarship. Prof Rajendra Babu has been vital in the Scholarship program with his advice, suggestions, coordination and help. Without his efforts, this would not have happened.