UbiComp 2013 Doctoral School: Call for Participation
The UbiComp organizing Committee is excited to announce the UbiComp 2013 Doctoral School, which extends previous UbiComp conferences’ successful Doctoral Colloquium event to offer a more in-depth and comprehensive experience to PhD students at different stages in their PhD research.
The doctoral school (DS) will provide a friendly, supportive, and constructive forum in which PhD students can learn about UbiComp research and methods from internationally recognized leaders in the community, and present their research-in-progress to get feedback peers and experts in the field. The DS offers PhD students the valuable opportunity to engage in in-depth discussion on their work and gain exposure to a variety of perspectives that can help to strengthen and shape their work as they progress towards their degrees.
Target Participants
The Doctoral School welcomes candidates at different stages of their PhDs. Interested PhD students should apply in one of the following two categories:
Senior PhD student - Applicants in this category should be far enough into their PhDs to have identified the salient issues and appropriate research methodology, as well as achieved some results. The research questions and proposed contributions of the dissertation research should be defined. Preference will be given to applicants who are at a stage where a substantial portion of the research has been completed but are still far enough from completion that feedback received at the doctoral school can influence the remaining steps of the research. Submissions for senior PhD students should be 2-4 pages long in the appropriate template. Applicants accepted at the Senior PhD level will be required and given the opportunity to give a presentation on their PhD research during the DS. Senior PhD students will be offered free registration for UbiComp / ISWC 2013 for both the Doctoral School and the main UbiComp / ISWC 2013 conferences. Also, Senior PhD students will be given priority in the assignment of student travel grants for attending UbiComp / ISWC 2013. Please note that applications for student travel grants are now closed.
Junior PhD student - Applicants in this category should be at an early stage of their PhD research. The general topic should be defined, but students should be at a stage at which they are open to perspectives and feedback that will help them to define their research questions, approach, and contributions. Submissions for junior PhD students should be 2-4 pages long in the appropriate template. Applicants accepted at the Junior PhD level will participate in a poster session on their early stage research during the DS. Junior PhD students will be given free registration for the Doctoral School and be given priority in the assignment of student travel grants for attending UbiComp / ISWC 2013.Please note that applications for student travel grants are now closed.
Format
The Doctoral School will take place over the course of two days prior to the main conference, i.e., September 8-9, 2013. Accepted students are expected to attend both days of the DS.
Students who are accepted to the Doctoral School are expected to attend the entire event. There are only a limited number of spaces available so we encourage students to apply only if they are able to participate fully.
The first day will be devoted to a set of research talks and tutorials given by invited experts in the field. The first day will conclude with a question-and-answer session on UbiComp research with the experts.
The second day will be devoted to presentations by the Senior PhD students and a poster session by the Junior PhD students, with extensive feedback given by an invited panel of experts. The program will also include a question-and-answer session during which the experts will address PhD students’ questions regarding completing the PhD, the job market, academia versus industry career paths, post-doc positions, and other topics of relevance.
Submission
Interested applicants should apply either in the Senior PhD category, or the Junior PhD category. Junior PhD student submissions should be 2-4 pages long while Senior PhD student submissions should be 4-6 pages long. For both appropriate template should be used.
Senior PhD students
Submissions (min. 4 pages, max. 6 pages) should include:
-
Research summary describing the work in progress, and including a ~100 word abstract. Things to consider for inclusion in the research summary are:
- the expected contribution to the field;
- the original idea or thesis statement;
- the problem domain and the specific problem addressed;
- a brief overview of related work;
- the methodological approach;
- research carried out and results so far
- outline of what work remains to be done for the dissertation and a plan for completion.
- Objective for attending the DS. Briefly (1 paragraph) describe your objectives for attending the DS and how you think the DS will help you in your PhD.
- Brief biographical sketch including the names and affiliations of the research advisor(s), the date that the student began the PhD program, and the expected date of completion.
Accepted submissions from Senior PhD students will be included in the Adjunct Proceedings of UbiComp 2013 and will be included in the ACM Digital Library. Furthermore, Senior PhD students will be invited to present a poster during the main conference.
Junior PhD students
Submissions (min. 2 pages, max. 4 pages) should include:
- Description of planned research topic describing the work in progress. This should describe what part of the research has already been completed (if any) and what research activities are planned for the dissertation.
- Objective for attending the DS. Briefly (1 paragraph) describe your objectives for attending the DS and how you think the DS will help you in your PhD.
- Brief biographical sketch including the names and affiliations of the research advisors, the date that the student began the PhD program, and the expected date of completion.
Applications should be submitted as a PDF file to doctoral.school2013@ubicomp.org.
Applications will be reviewed by the Chairs and an expert committee. In the event that an applicant in the Senior PhD committee is deemed to be at too early a stage to benefit optimally from participation at the senior level s/he may be invited to participate at the Junior PhD level instead. Interested applicants who are not sure whether to apply at the Junior or Senior level are encouraged to consult with the chairs prior to applying.
cdAccepted submissions from Junior PhD students will be included in the Adjunct Proceedings of UbiComp 2013 and links to the corresponding camera ready copies will be made available on the UbiComp website.
Invited Speakers and Panelists
TBA
Important dates
June 21, 2013: Submission deadlineJune 25, 2013: Notification of acceptanceJuly 7, 2013:Camera-ready version of extended abstracts- September 8-9, 2013: Doctoral school
Doctoral School Chairs
Elaine Huang, University of Zurich, CH
Timo Ojala, University of Oulu, FI