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Childcare — the Interspeech Kids

With the advancement of information society, more and more young scientists face the challenge of moving ahead their careers while sharing their parenting duties with an equally active partner. Participation in international conferences is a cornerstone of science, fostering the international and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, insights, positive and negative experiences, and knowledge gained. For a recent discussion and set of recommendations, see How to tackle the childcare-conference conundrum.

These things considered, INTERSPEECH 2019 will make a special effort to provide support for parents who want to participate in the scientific program of the conference while bringing along their kids on their trip to Graz and Austria. This support will be organized in three different ways, first by offering a flexible childcare facility, second by organizing an INTERSPEECH 2019 parenting community, and third by implementing an INTERSPEECH 2019 policy for babywearing and breastfeeding. In the following, the three services are presented in more detail:

  1. Kids of INTERSPEECH 2019 participants are welcome at the “flexible childcare” program of Graz University of Technology (see Fleki — Flexible Childcare at TU Graz) under the following conditions:
    • Kids of all nationalities, ages 0 to 12 years, are welcome.
    • Childcare provided by professional staff which speaks German and English.
    • Location: “nanoversity” – the international childcare facility of Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 136 (see Site Plan)– a 20 minute walk from the conference centre.
    • Service hours: Mon Sep 16, 2019 to Thu Sep 19, 2019, daily from 8:00 to 16:30 hrs.
    • At least one parent must be a registered participant at INTERSPEECH 2019.
    • The program only allows for a limited number of children, so please get in touch with us at childcare@interspeech2019.org as early as possible, specifying the age of your kids and the expected time periods for which childcare is requested.
    • Firm applications for childcare must be filed together with the conference registration by July 1, 2019.
    • Final decisions about available places will be communicated by July 10, 2019.
    • This offer is generously sponsored by Graz University of Technology through its Program for Work/Studies-Life Balance within the Office for Gender Equality and Equal Opportunity. Therefore, we are able to provide this service to INTERSPEECH 2019 participants free of charge!

  2. Furthermore, an INTERSPEECH 2019 parenting communicty has been set up on the collaboration platform Slack. This is the perfect place to network with other INTERSPEECH 2019 parents and to plan joint activities for the kids and other family-oriented outings. If you want to join this community, please send email to childcare@interspeech2019.org.

  3. And for those of you who prefer to bring their kids right to the conference rooms, you will appreciate that babywearing and breastfeeding are actively encouraged as an INTERSPEECH 2019 policy. If you anticipate specific needs in this respect, please let us know via childcare@interspeech2019.org.