IEEE BigData 2014 Call for Doctoral Consortium

IEEE BigData 2014 Call for Doctoral Consortium

Overview

The IEEE International Conference on Big Data (IEEE BigData) provides a leading forum for disseminating the latest research, development, and applications in big data. The IEEE BigData 2014 Doctoral Consortium will provide doctoral students with the opportunity to have substantive interaction with other researchers in this demanding field regarding their proposed dissertation research.

The objectives of the Doctoral Consortium are:

●     To give doctoral students a forum for presenting and discussing their research with experienced researchers in the field of big data.

●     To provide students with an opportunity to establish a supportive community, including other doctoral students at a similar stage of their dissertation research.

Mentoring

Each student participating in the Doctoral Consortium will be assigned a senior researcher, a leader in the diverse specialties that make up the big data field, to serve as a mentor who will provide advice not only on the substance of the research but also on career-related issues. The day of the Doctoral Consortium will feature student presentations with plenary discussions, individual meetings with experienced researchers, and interactive networking sessions over meals and breaks.

Financial Support

Thanks to generous funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), we will be able to support all the accepted students. Funds are requested for student travel awards to defray the cost of participation and will be granted to Ph.D. students at U.S. Universities who attend the consortium.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

The doctoral student symposium is aimed at Ph.D. students who are either in the early stages of formulating a topic for their doctoral dissertations or are close to completing a thesis proposal (or equivalent). The goal of the symposium is to provide early feedback that will improve the quality of their work. We will give preference to students who are far enough from completing their thesis that the feedback they receive at the event can impact their work. Before submitting, students should discuss this criterion with their advisor or supervisor, who must write a short letter of support as part of the application. Those accepted are required to attend the event in person.

Selection will be based upon the expected potential of both the student and their proposed work, as well as the expected benefit to the student from participation. Priority will be given to students whose research goes beyond locally available expertise at their home institutions. Special consideration will be given to women and under-represented minorities.

Submission Guidelines

Required Materials. The application to participate in the doctoral student symposium must include:

1.    A solely-authored written paper (5 pages max) that will consist of:

a.  An extended abstract summarizing the applicant's Ph.D. research, including: Problem description, background, and significance;

novelty relative to the state of the art (related work and their    

shortcomings);

approach, data, methods;

current results and future plans.

b.     Applicant Curriculum Vitae.

2.    A one page appendix to the paper (placed after the references) that should include the following:

●      A statement by the student (half a page or less) explaining why they want to participate in the IEEE BigData 2014 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 their advisor / supervisor saying how the student would benefit by attending the Consortium and explaining what particular expertise areas essential to the student's studies are not available locally at the student's home institution. 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. Submitted papers must be written in English, formatted according to IEEE Format guidelines, and submitted as a single PDF file (embedding all required fonts). The paper should be no more than 6 pages in length (including 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, and up to 3 keywords describing the topic areas.

Doctoral Consortium submissions must be submitted via the conference submission site. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their submissions use no unusual format features and are printable on a standard printer.

Schedule

25 August 2014: Submissions due
15 September 2014: Acceptance notifications
27 October 2014: Doctoral Consortium

Doctoral Consortium Co-Chairs

●     Jingrui He (Stevens Institute of Technology)

●     Dimitrios Tsoumakos (Ionian University)