The annual SIGIR conference is the major international forum for the presentation of new research results, and the demonstration of new systems and techniques, in the broad field of information retrieval (IR). The 45th ACM SIGIR conference will be run as a hybrid conference – in person in Madrid, Spain, with support for remote participation, from July 11th to 15th, 2022. The SIGIR 2022 Doctoral Consortium will provide doctoral students with a unique opportunity to have substantive interaction with other distinguished researchers from both academia and industry on their proposed dissertation research.
Important dates
Time zone: Anywhere on Earth (AoE)
Doctoral Consortium papers due: Mon, Mar 7, 2022
Doctoral Consortium papers notification: Mon, Apr 4, 2022
Doctoral Consortium camera ready submission of invited extended abstract: Wed, Apr 13, 2022
Doctoral Consortium day: Mon, Jul 11, 2022
Consortium scope and format
The objectives of the Doctoral Consortium are:
- To provide a forum where doctoral students can present and discuss their research with experienced IR researchers: the members of the Doctoral Consortium Program Committee.
- To provide students with an opportunity to establish a supportive community, including other doctoral students at a similar stage of their dissertation research.
The Consortium will take place the day before the main conference (on Monday, July 11, 2022), with the format including: student presentations with plenary discussions, individual 1:1 meetings with experienced researchers, interactive networking sessions, and panel sessions with a special emphasis on gaining insights regarding career paths after the PhD. Note that due to the hybrid nature of the SIGIR 2022 conference, the final format is subject to change to accommodate remote presentations and 1:1 mentoring meetings.
Prospective attendees should have written, or be close to completing, a dissertation proposal (or equivalent). It is desirable that students submitting their contributions are not so close to completing their PhD that the event would have little impact on their work, or so early that a topic has not been chosen. Before submitting, students should discuss this criterion with their advisor or supervisor.
To apply for a place at the Doctoral Consortium, candidates should submit a paper up to 5+1 pages in length (5 pages including references, plus a 1-page appendix), solely authored by the student - see submission guidelines below. Candidates will be selected based on the potential of their research for future impact on the field of information retrieval, as well as for the likely benefit to the student from participating in the Consortium. We note that SIGIR 2022 Doctoral Consortium is deeply committed to improving the field of IR by making it more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. We highly encourage women and students from other underrepresented groups to apply.
Students accepted to the Doctoral Consortium will be asked to submit a one page extended abstract, which will be published in the SIGIR 2022 conference proceedings. Extended abstracts will be invited after selection, and should not be submitted with the proposal.
Doctoral students who submit to the Consortium are allowed to have previously published their research, and are encouraged to submit full, short, or demo papers of their work to the SIGIR 2022 conference and associated workshops.
Priority is given to students chosen to attend the Consortium when travel grants are determined for the conference, and generally grants will be awarded to chosen students. Application details for travel grants will be available on the SIGIR 2022 website (you must apply for the grant to be considered).
Submission guidelines
Papers should be submitted through easychair in the following link (Doctoral Consortium track): https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sigir22.
The submitted paper, solely authored by the student, will be the basis for selection to participate in the Doctoral Consortium and subsequent detailed discussions at the Consortium. Therefore, the submitted paper should include:
- Motivation for the proposed research.
- Background and related work (including key references).
- Description of proposed research, including main research questions.
- Research methodology and proposed experiments (where appropriate).
- Specific research issues for discussion at the Doctoral Consortium.
In addition, a one page appendix to the paper (placed after the references) must include the following:
- A detailed statement by the student explaining why they want to participate in the SIGIR 2022 Doctoral Consortium at this point in their doctoral studies, and how they hope it will contribute to the development of their work and potential future career.
- A statement by the student’s advisor/supervisor saying how the student would benefit by attending the Consortium. Advisors should also specifically state whether the student has written, or is close to completing, a thesis proposal (or equivalent), and when they expect the student would defend their dissertation if they progress at a typical rate.
Format requirements
Submissions must be written in English, in PDF format, in the current ACM two-column conference format. Suitable LaTeX, Word, and Overleaf templates are available from the ACM Website (use the “sigconf” proceedings template).
The paper should be no more than 5 pages in length including all figures and references, but excluding the one page appendix. The first page must contain the title of the paper, full author name, affiliation and contact details, an abstract of up to 250 words, ACM Computing Classification System (CCS) categories, and up to 3 keywords describing the topic areas. Information about categories and keywords can be found in ACM Web pages on the computing classification system.
It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their submissions use no unusual format features and are printable on a standard printer. Submissions will be reviewed by the members of the Doctoral Consortium Program Committee.
Doctoral Consortium submissions should be submitted in PDF through the EasyChair system (Doctoral Consortium track): https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=sigir22.
Doctoral Consortium Chairs
- Sole Pera, Boise State University
- Hiroaki Ohshima, University of Hyogo
Contact
For further information, please contact the SIGIR 2022 Doctoral Consortium Co-chairs by email to sigir22-dc AT easychair DOT org.