We solicit submissions to the doctoral colloquium (DC) for IEEE VIS 2014. The DC is a single-day invitation-only event taking place the day before IEEE VIS where Ph.D. students in any visualization field---preferably those at the proposal defense stage or equivalent---present their proposed dissertation work and receive feedback from leading senior visualization researchers. We invite contributions from the scientific visualization, information visualization, and visual analytics student communities.

The colloquium will allow students to discuss their research directions in a supportive atmosphere with a panel of distinguished leaders and with their peers. Students can expect helpful feedback and fresh perspectives on their research topics and possible career paths, and will have the opportunity to interact closely with expert researchers in their field. The colloquium will support community-building by connecting beginning and advanced researchers.

The DC is open to Ph.D. students in all stages of their studies, regardless of whether they are presenting research work at the main conference or not. Only selected applicants will be allowed to participate in the colloquium, and will be expected to attend the full day of events. Preference will be given to students who have formulated a dissertation topic but are still a year or more away from graduating. In North American terms, this corresponds to students that will or have recently defended their thesis proposal. Students who are in the process of formulating their research topic are particularly encouraged to apply, as this is the time where external feedback can have most impact. It is our experience that students who participate in the DC too early in their studies will not be able to get focused and useful feedback, whereas participating too late means that any significant feedback received will not be possible to incorporate in the student's dissertation due to time constraints.

All research topics suitable for the IEEE SciVis, IEEE InfoVis, and IEEE VAST main programs as well as associated workshops and symposia are appropriate for the Doctoral Colloquium.

FORMAT

The colloquium will likely consist of both parallel sessions of student presentations as well as common discussions with the expert panelists. A lunch is also planned that will give student participants the opportunity to interact more informally with panelists.

FUNDING

Contingent upon pending requests for external sponsorship of the VIS DC, we might be able to partially fund the travel, conference registration, and lodging for some accepted DC student participants.

DEADLINE

The deadline for DC submissions is May 10, 2014.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Applicants to the Doctoral Colloquium should submit:

• A four-page summary of their thesis research, including the problem being addressed, methodology and plan of research, a description of the progress to date, and the type of input expected from DC panelists. Please distinguish between work that has been accomplished and that which remains to be completed. The writing should be in a proposal format to facilitate feedback from the panelists as to validity of your problem and the efficacy of your approach.
• An email from the student's advisor supporting the student's attendance at the colloquium and confirming that the student is in a good position to benefit from participating. Note that this should NOT be a letter of recommendation; a brief statement of support is sufficient. The e-mail should be sent directly to doctoral_coll@ieeevis.org.
• (Optional) A draft poster in PDF format (see below.)

Student submissions should be emailed to doctoral_coll@ieeevis.org. Formatting guidelines and LaTeX/Word templates can be found at http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~vis/Tasks/camera.html.

Student submissions will be peer-reviewed and selections will be made on the basis of their contribution to the colloquium's goals, strength of research direction, and the advisor's assessment. Accepted submissions will be printed for colloquium participants.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Accepted participants of the Doctoral Colloquium will also be allowed to present their work as a poster that will be displayed together with the regular poster program. Please consider including a draft poster with your DC submission. Participants may be asked to refine their posters and summaries based upon reviewer feedback. The poster session chairs will have a final say in accepting all poster submissions, even for DC participants. Also note that DC posters will NOT appear in the official IEEE VIS poster proceedings.

The posters themselves have no predefined formatting, but dimensions may not exceed A0 paper size (841mm x 1189mm / 33.1" x 46.8"). Participants are responsible for bringing a hardcopy poster for display during VisWeek. They should be available at the poster to discuss their work during the scheduled evening poster session(s).

CHAIRS

Jian Chen, University of Maryland Baltimore County
Christopher Collins, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Margit Pohl, TU / Wien

Contact VIS DC co-chairs: doctoral_coll(at)ieeevis.org