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PhD Forum

PhD Forum Book of Abstracts is available at the link!

* * * Submission deadline extended to September 9, 2022 * * *

About the PhD Forum

The PhD Forum provides an opportunity for doctoral students to present their work (related to the SoftCOM 2022 conference topics) to a wider community of researchers from academia and industry. Its aim is also to encourage interaction and networking among doctoral students from different universities.

How it works

Doctoral students are invited to submit a two-page extended abstract for review and possible inclusion in the PhD Forum program.

The content of the submission should focus on student’s individual research work and doctoral thesis contribution – not the work of research team (or the project they are involved in) as a whole.

Here you can download the Call for Papers (PDF) , and further down on this page you can find the detailed instructions and templates for PhD Forum authors on how to prepare papers (extended-abstracts), posters, and presentations.

The sequence of events related to the PhD Forum is as follows. The prospective authors (doctoral students, together with their advisors) should submit a 2-page extended abstract (formatted according to the instructions) before the submission deadline, via EDAS.

All submissions will be reviewed, and once the review process is complete, the authors will receive a notification containing the reviewers’ comments and the review outcome (acceptance or rejection).

The authors of accepted submissions will be invited to submit the final version of the paper, revised according to the reviewers’ comments, as well as a poster and a pitch talk presentation, to be personally presented by the doctoral student at the PhD Forum event at the SoftCOM 2022 conference.

Review process

To keep within the time limits of PhD Forum as a whole, the number of PhD presentations/posters will be limited to 20. All submissions will be reviewed by the PhD Forum Program & Organizing Committee and/or other TPC members and reviewers involved in the main conference, based on relevance to the conference, innovativeness, and quality of presentation. All accepted and presented submissions will be included in the Book of Abstracts of the SoftCOM 2022 PhD Forum, to be published after the conference.

Registration

For authors of accepted presentations/posters, who already registered for the conference, the PhD Forum registration fee is waived (i. e., they are not required to do pay an extra registration).

For authors of accepted presentations/posters (not registered otherwise), the PhD Forum registration fee is 50 EUR and it includes: 1) PhD Forum participation; 2) Book of Abstracts (printed and electronic version); 3) access to other SoftCOM 2022 conference sessions, coffee breaks and conference luncheons.

For authors of accepted presentations/posters (not registered otherwise), who participate online-only, PhD Forum registration fee is reduced to 30 EUR and it includes: 1) PhD Forum participation; 2) Book of Abstracts (electronic version only); 3) online access to other SoftCOM 2022 conference sessions.

Registration for the PhD Forum will be available after the completion of the review process.

Committees

Steering Committee

Maja Matijašević, University of Zagreb, Chair
Dinko Begušić, University of Split
Tihana Galinac-Grbac, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
Darko Huljenić, Ericsson Nikola Tesla
Drago Žagar, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek

Program & Organizing Committee

Maja Škiljo, University of Split, Chair
Andrej Grgurić, Ericsson Nikola Tesla
Petar Krivić, University of Zagreb
Višnja Križanović, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
Goran Mauša, University of Rijeka
Reinhard Teschl, Graz University of Technology

Previous events

The 2022 PhD Forum is the seventh event in the series. The previous occurences were co-organized and co-located with the following ICT-related conferences taking place in Croatia:

Instructions for PhD Forum authors

Doctoral students are invited to submit a two-page extended abstract (short paper) for review and possible inclusion in the PhD Forum program. The content of the submission should focus on the student’s individual research work and doctoral thesis contribution – not the work of the research team (or the project they are involved in) as a whole.

IMPORTANT DATES:

August 22, 2022: Extended Abstracts, Due
Extended/new deadline: September 6, 2022: Extended Abstracts, Due
September 13, 2022: Notification of Acceptance
September 16, 2022: Final Camera-Ready Abstracts, Due
September 23, 2022: PhD Forum Session within the SoftCOM program

Step-by-step guide for participation

A successful participation at the PhD Forum includes preparing a presentation of one’s doctoral thesis research in three given formats:

  • a 2-page extended abstract (short paper),
  • a 4-slide slide presentation for a 2-minute pitch talk, and,
  • a poster to be displayed and discussed in a poster session at the conference.

Step 1: Extended abstract for review

The extended abstracts should be formatted according to the SoftCOM 2022 regular paper format. The length of the extended abstract is limited to two (2) pages in total.

The extended abstract should contain the title, the name and the affiliations of the student and her/his advisor(s), the short summary of research goals/results (of maximum 150 words), the research topic presentation, graphical illustrations to aid the presentation, and the list of references.

The extended abstract should be submitted electronically before the submission deadline, via EDAS (please select the PhD Forum track from the SoftCOM 2022 main submission page). It is strongly advised to register the extended abstract in EDAS as soon as possible, to enable preliminary assignment of reviewers. The authors will still be able to freely modify all the paper related information, as many times as needed up until the actual start of the review process, after the submission deadline.

If an extended abstract is accepted, the authors will be invited to submit the final version, revised according to the reviewers’ comments, to be published in the SoftCOM 2022 PhD Forum Book of Abstracts after the conference. The final version should be submitted in the same way as the initial version for review, by using EDAS.

Quick links:

Step 2: Poster

The authors of accepted submissions will be asked to prepare a poster, to be personally presented (by the doctoral student) at the PhD Forum.

The poster should be formatted according to the template, allowing it to be printed on standard A1 size paper (594 x 841 mm), portrait orientation), as well as exported to PDF format (using a standard A4 paper size), for virtual/online presentation.

Quick links:

Step 3: Live (or online) presentation

The PhD Forum will be organized as a poster session, preceded by a fast-paced introduction by each student that offers a preview of the posters. Each student will be given a strictly-timed 2-minutes’ slot to present a “pitch talk” about her/his research. The purpose of the pitch talk is to provide a brief outline of one’s doctoral research work, with the goal to raise awareness and generate further discussion over the poster session that follows next.

The slide presentation to accompany the pitch talk may contain at most four (4) slides. The first slide should provide the information on the presenter (title of the abstract, student’s name, advisor’s name, and respective affiliation(s) and contact e-mail addresses. The remaining three slides should cover the research motivation, problem description, methodology, and (preliminary) results.

Quick links:

Step 4: Poster session

The SoftCOM conference program, including the PhD Forum pitch talks and poster session, will take place at the conference venue and location (Radisson Blue, Split), with the option to participate online in case COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

In any case, the audience will have the opportunity to view the posters and informally discuss their content with the PhD student authors. This interaction may take place in the physical or virtual space, depending on the situation at the time of the conference. Instructions on how to attend will be sent to all registered participants once the program will have been finalized.

Best poster and best presentation awards

All posters will enter the competition for the best poster and best presentation. The winners will be elected by popular vote.