ECOOP Doctoral Symposium

The Doctoral Symposium is designed to provide a forum for PhD students at any stage in their research to present their topic and get detailed feedback and advice. The main objectives of this event are:

• to allow PhD students to practise writing clearly and to communicate and present their research effectively
• to receive constructive feedback from other researchers and peers
• to offer opportunities to form research collaborations
• to contribute to the conference goals through interaction with other researchers at the main conference

Event Format

The Doctoral Symposium takes the form of a full-day event of interactive presentations. The day will start with a series of lightning talks where each PhD student will give an “elevator pitch” of their research. This will be followed by formal presentations from each PhD student, with time allocated for both the presentation as well as questions and discussions.

Besides the formal presentations and discussions in sessions, there will be plenty of opportunities for informal interactions during breaks, lunch and (possibly) dinner. It is also planned that members of the research community will give talks on a variety of topics related to PhD studies and exploring possibilities beyond your PhD.

Accepted Papers

Call for Papers

We have two distinct submission categories: junior and senior submissions. Junior students may not yet have developed a thesis topic, they will present their research ideas and any progress to date. Senior students are expected to give an outline of their thesis topic and will feedback towards the successful completion of their thesis and defence.

Submissions are done through https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ecoop17ds and are due on April 21, AOE (deadline extended to April 27, AOE).

Junior PhD Students

Submit a 4–8 page research proposal in the Dagstuhl LIPIcs format with:

• a problem description
• a detailed sketch of a proposed approach
• related work

It is not necessary to present concrete results. Instead, try to inform the reader that you have a (well-motivated) problem and present a possible solution. Attempt to provide a clear road map detailing future research efforts.

The research proposal should include the name and email of your PhD advisor.

Senior PhD Students

The experience for senior Students is meant to mimic a “mini-defense” interview. Aside from the actual feedback, this helps the student gain familiarity with the style and mechanics of such an interview (advisors of student presenters will not be allowed in).

The students should be able to present:

• the importance of the problem
• a clear research proposal
• some preliminary work
• an evaluation plan

Please submit a 4–8 page abstract in the Dagstuhl LIPIcs format with the following:

1. Problem Description
   • What is the problem?
   • What is the significance of this problem?
   • Why can the current state of the art not solve this problem?
2. Goal Statement
   • What is the goal of your research?
   • What artifacts (tools, theories, methods) will be produced,
   • How do they address the stated problem?
3. Method
   • What experiments, prototypes, or studies need to be produced/executed?
   • What is the validation strategy? How will it show the goal was reached?

This isn’t a technical paper, don’t focus on technical details, but rather on the research method.

The paper should include the name and email of your PhD advisor.

Participation

Accepted students will give two presentations:

1. A two-minute presentation stating key issues of the research (the “elevator pitch”).
2. A 15 minute presentation followed by 15” of questions, feedback and discussions.
3. An email from the student’s advisor (to ecoop17ds@easychair.org) to confirm the advisor attended at least one presentation rehearsal.

Prior to the symposium, each student will be assigned submissions of two other students. For each submission the student will prepare a short summary, feedback and 2-3 questions for discussion on the submission. The student will also be expected to take active part in all discussions.

Funding and Other Events

The organizers encourage students to apply for funding through the ECOOP student volunteer program, https://2017.ecoop.org/track/ecoop-2017-Student-Volunteers.

Consider applying to the ECOOP Summer School, great speakers with an emphasis towards teaching useful skills for young researchers, https://2017.ecoop.org/track/ecoop-2017-Summer-School