Doctoral Consortium – Call for Contributions
The goal of the ICMI Doctoral Consortium (DC) is to provide PhD students with an opportunity to present their work to a group of mentors and peers from a diverse set of academic and industrial institutions to receive feedback on their doctoral research plan and progress, and to build a cohort of young researchers interested in designing and developing multimodal interfaces and interaction. We invite students from all PhD granting institutions who are in the process of forming or carrying out a plan for their PhD research in the area of designing and developing multimodal interfaces.
Important Dates
| Submission deadline | May 6th, 2026 |
| Notifications | June 5th, 2026 |
| Camera-ready | July 1st, 2026 |
Who should apply?
While we encourage applications from students at any stage of doctoral training, the doctoral consortium will benefit most, students who are in the process of forming or developing their doctoral research. These students will have passed their qualifiers or have completed the majority of their coursework, will be planning or developing their dissertation research, and will not be very close to completing their dissertation research. Students from any PhD granting institution whose research falls within designing and developing multimodal interfaces and interactions are encouraged to apply.
Who should attend?
The DC provides an opportunity to build a social network that includes a cohort of DC students, senior students, recent graduates, and senior mentors. Not only is this an opportunity to get feedback on research directions, but also it is an opportunity to learn more about the process and to understand what comes next. We aim to connect you with a mentor who will give specific feedback on your research. We specifically aim to create an informal setting where students feel supported in their professional development.
Submission Guidelines
Graduate students pursuing a PhD degree in a field related to ICMI are eligible to apply for the Doctoral Consortium (DC) and should submit the following materials:
- Extended Abstract: A description of the PhD research plan and progress. Extended abstracts can be a maximum of four pages, although references can extend to a fifth page if needed. They should follow the same outline, details, and format of the ICMI Short Papers (https://icmi.acm.org/2026/guidelines/). However, unlike short papers, DC submissions will not be anonymous. Be sure to include:
- The key research questions and motivation of the student’s research
- Background and related work that informs the student’s research
- A statement of hypotheses or a description of the scope of the technical problem
- The research plan, outlining stages of system development or a series of studies
- The research approach and methodology
- Research results to date (if any) and a description of the remaining work
- A statement of research contributions to date (if any) and expected contributions of the PhD work
- Advisor Letter: A one-page letter of nomination from the student’s PhD advisor, which should focus on the student’s PhD plan and how the Doctoral Consortium event might contribute to the student’s PhD training and research.
- Curriculum Vitae: A two-page CV describing the student’s background and work.
All materials should be prepared in PDF format and submitted through the ICMI submission system.
Process
- Submission format: Four-page extended abstract using the ACM format (https://icmi.acm.org/2026/guidelines/)
- Submission system: Precision Conference System, Track: ICMI2026 Doctoral Consortium
- Selection process: Peer-Reviewed
- Presentation format: Giving a talk on consortium day and participating in the conference poster session
Proceedings: Extended abstracts will be published in conference proceedings and ACM Digital Library
Financial Support
For all students:
The SIGCHI Gary Marsden Travel Awards support undergraduate and graduate students, early-career researchers (such as those who are ≤ 5 years post-graduation), and those suffering from financial hardship or lacking institutional support, in attending ACM SIGCHI conferences. This support is managed directly by SIGCHI and must be arranged by each attendee individually. Deadlines aligned with ICMI’s DC are July and September. Applicants must be members of SIGCHI, but not necessarily of ACM. Please see details here: https://sigchi.org/resources/gary-marsden-travel-awards/
Additionally, the organization is working on internal opportunities for partial financial support for doctoral students participating in the Doctoral Consortium and attending the conference. Only students who apply and are accepted for participation in the Doctoral Consortium can be considered for financial support. The number and size of the offers of financial support are contingent upon the number of invited student participants. More details will be shared about this option before the deadline.
Suggested timeline for your application:
● Gary Marsden 1st round: 9th July, 2026
● Gary Marsden 2nd round: 9th September, 2026
For US students:
The organizing committee is currently investigating the possibility for providing NSF-based support for US students. More info will be available soon.