Doctoral Consortium Call for Participation

List of Doctoral Consortium Participants

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM DEADLINE EXTENSION

In order to meet NSF set requirements for distribution of participants in the VR Doctoral Consortium program, the deadline for applications from STUDENTS AT INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES has been extended until midnight, Friday, January 31.

Due to the later submission deadline, notifications of acceptance will be delayed until February 3, 2014.

The second annual Virtual Reality Doctoral Consortium (VRDC) will take place in conjunction with IEEE VR 2014 and the IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces. The VRDC will provide a valuable mentoring and community-building opportunity for the next generation of VR researchers at a formative time in their development. The VRDC will help prepare participants to succeed in their research careers and strengthen their ability to help effectively lead the VR community in the future.

Format

On Sunday March 30th there will be morning and afternoon sessions during which participants will present their research plans and have feedback discussions with VRDC participants and mentors. On March 31st and/or Tuesday April 1st participants will engage in small group mentoring/networking lunches with VIP researchers. Participants can also present their work in the VR 2014 poster program.

Who should apply?

The VRDC is designed to offer the most value to PhD students who are still formulating their research plans—either before or soon after having their proposals accepted. It is during this time that work is well enough defined so mentors can make specific suggestions, but not so well defined that it is difficult to modify. The VRDC welcomes applications from students pursuing research in a broad range of disciplines that contribute to the field of VR, including augmented reality, wearable computing, HCI, social informatics, information technology, cognitive science, and related fields. International students and members of underrepresented populations are encouraged to apply. Contingent upon pending requests for external sponsorship of the VRDC, the organizers anticipate offering accepted students a free full-week registration to the VR and 3DUI conferences along with support for travel and lodging.

Submissions

Applicants must submit a document that is much like a PhD proposal: It must clearly motivate and summarize the proposed PhD research and describe how the research fits into and advances research in VR and/or related fields. The maximum length is four pages and formatting guidelines are described at http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~vis/Track/vr-menu.html. Applicants must also include the following information in their submission email:

• Name
• College or university
• Department/program
• Year/status in the program
• Advisor’s name
• Committee members (if known)
• Proposal status (when approved/when planned)

Submission materials should be e-mailed to: doctoralconsortium@ieeevr.org. All submissions will be acknowledged by email.

Review and Selection

The VRDC co-chairs will review submissions and select participants. Written feedback will be provided to all applicants. Applicants who are selected to participate in the VRDC will be invited to submit a 2-page poster abstract for publication in the IEEE Digital Library and to participate in the VR poster session if they wish. Participants will be chosen based upon where they are in their program, the quality of their research, and their potential to contribute to the long-term advancement of the field of VR. The review committee will also select participants so as to achieve a diversity of topics, backgrounds, and approaches.

Important Dates

• Submissions due: January 21, 2014
• Notification: February 3, 2014

For more information, please see: http://ieeevr.org/2014/dc

A PDF version of this call for participation suitable for printed distribution can be found here.

Jian Chen, Bret Jackson, and Mary Whitton
2014 VRDC Co-Chairs
doctoralconsortium@ieeevr.org