Workshops - Call For Participation

We solicit workshops related to all areas of visualization. They provide an informal setting in IEEE VIS for participants to discuss advanced topics in visualization, involve experts in the field, disseminate work in progress, and promote new ideas. Workshops at IEEE VIS are open to all registered attendees (“invitation only” workshops will not be approved).

Important Dates

  • Proposal Submission February 28, 2021
  • Notification March 16, 2021
  • Final Submission of Summaries August 1, 2021

All deadlines are at 5:00pm Pacific Time (PDT).

Workshops should:

  • emphasize emerging ideas, concepts, or technologies that are currently too nascent or too interdisciplinary for a full symposium;

  • bring together experts on a subject to create a report, white-paper, or proposal that requires interactive work sessions, and that is of potential interest to a substantial segment of the visualization community; and/or

  • encourage information flow not solely from the presenters to the audience, but rather engage the participation of all attendees, for example, through collective or small group discussions.

Possible topics may include emerging or persisting problems, development of research agendas, networking for finding common interests and possibilities for cooperation, interaction with domain experts involving analysis of their domain problems, contests on solving specific visualization problems, etc.

In choosing workshop topics to propose, please consider the list of workshops that will be pre-approved and try to avoid large overlaps. The list of the pre-approved workshops will be published as soon as it becomes available.

Note that workshops remain extremely well attended, but as new associated events and publication formats are introduced to VIS, the number of submitted papers may drop from previous years. So a more interactive format (rather than one based mainly on presentations of submitted papers) is encouraged.

Submission requirements

Workshop proposals should include:

  • a title,
  • the contact details of the organizers,
  • a brief description of the organizers’ background, related publications, and research,
  • the goals, the technical scope, the mission, and the proposed focus,
  • the planned activities, including the schedule during the session,
  • a statement of the organization and the development of the list of participants (intended size, detailed selection procedures and timeline for finalizing workshop presenters),
  • the intended result and impact of the workshop,
  • the plan for publication (see the classes listed below),
  • the number of poster slots requested, if the workshop intends to feature posters,
  • the proposed dates for the call for participation, author notification, and camera-ready deadlines (author notification must be prior to the early registration deadline of September 20, 2021; for inclusion of materials on the USB stick, the camera-ready deadline must be prior to September 1, 2021).

Because the number of workshop time slots is limited, half-day workshop proposals are strongly encouraged. However, well-justified full-day proposals will also be considered. Full-day proposals may optionally state what changes would be implemented to allow the workshop schedule to fit within a half day.

If the proposed workshop is a follow-up of a previous workshop, please include a discussion of the results and the impact of any previous workshops.

The proposal should not exceed four pages. Please visit VGTC website for formatting details and submit via PCS.

Publication strategy

If papers or position papers are foreseen according to the planned workshop, the proposal should state explicitly whether and how the papers or position statements will be published. Some examples of common publication strategies are:

  • Regular publication (similar to small conferences):
    • papers are available online at a central digital library (with DOI) or proceedings published in a different way
    • papers are on the conference USB stick
    • papers are considered archival

    Re-use of the content in a follow-up publication is only allowed in a proper journal (no conference special issue) as an extended version provided that the original paper is extended by at least 30% (subject to the rules of the given journal). Example: BELIV workshop series.

  • Short position statements / work in progress notes (similar to posters):
    • papers may or may not be available at a central digital library (with DOI); proceedings could also be published in a different way
    • papers may be available on the workshop’s webpage
    • papers may or may not be on the conference USB stick
    • papers are not considered archival but could be cited

    Re-use of the content in a follow-up publication is fully allowed, also in form of conference papers. Example: Death of the Desktop workshop 2014.

  • Semi-public notes:
    • papers are not available at a central digital library
    • papers may be available on the workshop’s webpage
    • papers may or may not be on the conference USB stick
    • papers are not considered archival but could be cited

    Re-use of the content in a follow-up publication is fully allowed, also in form of conference papers.

  • Notes only for use at the workshop:
    • papers are not available online at a central location
    • papers are not on the conference USB stick
    • papers are not considered archival and should not be cited

    Re-use of the content in a follow-up publication is fully allowed, also in form of conference papers.

Evaluation criteria

The aim of workshops is to include a variety of topics and a healthy mix of new and recurring events. Repeat submissions will be judged in part by the success of the previous workshop. Workshop success will be judged subjectively, but popularity, research impact, visibility, and attendee feedback will all be taken into account. Specifically, the workshop proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • the potential for inspiring people, being influential, and opening new lines of research,
  • the ability to attract people and make them excited about the workshop,
  • the appropriateness with respect to IEEE VIS topics,
  • the coherence of the proposed topic,
  • if this workshop is a repeat submission, its previous success,
  • if this workshop has special needs, the feasibility of the proposed plan including financial, logistics, scheduling, and coordination impact.

The workshop chairs will balance the proposed topics in order to support the diversity of topics within IEEE VIS and complement the main program.

Organizers should consider what steps they will take to encourage a diversity of participants in their workshop (e.g., a balance of experience, background, gender, etc.) with the aim of making participation as inclusive as possible.

If accepted, workshops are required to prepare a short summary (50–100 words) for the workshops website and the web program.

Workshop Support

The workshop organizers will receive the following support from the VIS conference:

  • one complimentary 1-day registration for an invited speaker,
  • room and AV support suitable for around 100 attendees,
  • food and beverages for attendees: coffee breaks throughout the day, Sunday evening opening reception, space in the poster display area, if requested (from limited pool set aside for standard workshops; available space depends on the specifics of the venue; early requests given priority over late requests),
  • PCS (Precision Conference Solutions) support for managing submissions and the review process,
  • inclusion of the workshop materials or proceedings on the USB stick for dissemination to attendees of the conference, if requested (materials must be provided by September 1, 2021)
  • IEEE Xplore Digital Library publication of the workshop proceedings, if requested (considered archival).

Please check the conference website for upcoming information concerning available funds for special purposes, such as supporting diversity. If the requirements of the workshop exceed this default support, the workshop organizers are expected to coordinate with the workshop chairs and possibly raise funds to support the workshop activities. Fundraising plans must be discussed with the workshop and supporters chairs prior to contacting any potential funder. For more information, see the guidelines for Financial and Coordination Policies for IEEE VIS.

Workshop Chairs

  • Johanna Beyer, Harvard University, USA
  • Filip Sadlo, Heidelberg University, Germany
  • Yingcai Wu, Zhejiang University, China