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Call for doctoral consortium

The ITiCSE 2024 doctoral consortium (DC) provides an opportunity for doctoral candidates studying computing education to explore and develop their research interests in a workshop environment with a panel of established researchers in the field. 

We invite doctoral candidates to apply for this opportunity to share their work with a community of candidates in a similar situation. This is an excellent opportunity to get feedback on a research topic, or ideas on future direction, from senior researchers in the field.

Contact the DC chairs, iticse2024dc@easychair.org for further information.

What is the doctoral consortium?

The DC has the following objectives:

  • to provide a supportive setting for feedback on doctoral research and research direction;
  • to offer each candidate comments and fresh perspectives on their work from researchers and other candidates outside their own institution;
  • to promote the development of a supportive community of scholars;
  • to support a new generation of researchers with information and advice on research and academic career paths;
  • to have candidates contribute to the conference goals through interaction with other researchers and conference events.

Candidates attending the DC will be required to make a presentation to the DC group and at the main conference, and to present a poster at the main conference, allowing them to start networking with the wider ITiCSE community. Further details on this will be given following acceptance. The poster is part of the DC process and is not submitted in the Posters track.

Application for DC participation

An application for doctoral consortium should be a single PDF consisting of two sections:

1. A two-page research description (the extended abstract) covering central aspects of your PhD work, which must use the ACM Template. Only one author should be named on this description: the candidate applying for participation in the DC. If accepted, this research description will be published in the conference proceedings, and should therefore be written to a high standard.

For more detail on the formatting of this part, see Formatting requirements on the Call for Participation page.

Key points include the following, with the recommended section headings in italics:

  • an abstract of approximately 50 words which gives readers a preview of your work;
  • context and motivation that drive your dissertation research;
  • A brief background / literature review of key works that frame your research;
  • a hypothesis and/or problem statement;
  • research goals;
  • research methods;
  • current and expected contributions;
  • a list of references.

2. The following appendices. While these will not be published, they will be used by the selection committee to identify suitable participants for the DC. These do not need to conform to any particular template:

  • Appendix A: a letter of nomination from your primary dissertation advisor, indicating support for your participation in the DC, an explanation of how your work connects with the ITiCSE community, and the expected timeline for the completion of your doctorate.
  • Appendix B: your concise current curriculum vitae (1-2 pages).

Submitting a DC proposal

Once you have assembled – and checked – your PDF file, follow the instructions on the Submission process at the foot of the Call for Participation page, being sure to choose the Doctoral consortium submission category. The deadline for submissions is Sunday 10 March 2024.

Doctoral consortium review process

The review and decision of acceptance will consider the quality of your proposal, and where you are within your doctoral education program. However, it will also consider external factors, so that the group of accepted candidates will exhibit a diversity of backgrounds and topics. Your institution will also be considered: we are unlikely to accept more than two candidates from the same institution. Confidentiality of submissions is maintained during the review process. All submissions not accepted will be kept confidential in perpetuity.

Authors of accepted submissions will receive instructions on how to submit publication-ready copy (your two-page extended abstract only). You will also  receive information about attending the DC, about preparing a presentation and a poster, and about registering for the conference.

Before the conference

Since the goals of the doctoral consortium include building scholarship and community, participants will be expected to read the extended abstracts of all accepted participants: being accepted into the consortium involves a commitment to giving and receiving thoughtful commentary.

At the conference

All participants are expected to attend all components of the doctoral consortium. This year’s DC will be held on-site, like the rest of the conference.

Within the DC, all candidates will present their work to the group, with substantial time allowed for discussion and questions by participating researchers and other candidates. 

Following the DC, all accepted candidates are required to present their work in a session and as a poster at the main conference.

After the conference

Accepted doctoral consortium abstracts will be published with the conference proceedings in the ACM digital library, where they will remain accessible to thousands of researchers and practitioners worldwide.

Questions

If you have questions about anything discussed above, please contact the doctoral consortium chairs, iticse2024dc@easychair.org.