Doctoral Consortium

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  • Submission deadline: 2025-07-11
  • Notification: 2025-07-18
  • Publication-ready deadline: 2025-07-23

Objectives of the Doctoral Consortium 

What is a Doctoral Consortium (DC), in the first place? It is a full day, closed-group event where doctoral students present about their PhD topic and process, and this is discussed within the group and with academic mentors (the DC chairs, possibly additional invited mentors). It’s a ‘safe space’ without an audience (including no supervisors), where students can get advice and feedback from experienced academics, but also can discuss and exchange with their peers. DC participation can make sense at many stages of a PhD (minimum stage is having an exposé with a first plan ready), as students’ questions will change over time (from initial research planning, refining research questions, finding focus, deciding on the final chunk of things to do to round things off, to putting a red line through the work done in writing up and to career planning). 

The main purpose of the MuC Doctoral Consortium (DC) is to provide a supportive and constructive environment where participants can have in-depth discussions about their research and build a network of mentors and peers. We invite presentations of ongoing doctoral projects to discuss the identified research gap, the clarity of the research questions, the appropriateness of the proposed methodology, and the intended contributions of the doctoral project. In addition to providing feedback, we encourage exchange among doctoral students and opportunities to engage with senior HCI mentors. 

To create a supportive and safe environment, the Doctoral Consortium (DC) will be conducted as a closed event, exclusively accessible to the selected participants and invited attendees. If you are currently engaged in dissertation research within the scope of the Mensch und Computer conference, we invite you to participate. 

The specific organization of the DC will be determined based on the participants selected. All DC participants will receive detailed instructions about the presentation format and the organization of the day upon acceptance..

The primary objectives of the DC are:

  • to provide doctoral students with valuable feedback, suggestions, and guidance from a panel of experts and fellow researchers. This feedback can help to refine research ideas, improve methodologies, and enhance the overall quality of the research.
  • to offer an opportunity for students to network and build connections with other researchers in their field. It encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the exchange of ideas among participants, fostering a sense of community and academic support.
  • to enable students to gain experience in communicating their research effectively. It helps develop essential skills such as presenting to an audience, defending ideas, and responding to questions and critiques.

Submitting Your Doctoral Consortium Proposal

Einreichungsdetails

Einreichungsformat

  • Submissions should be up to four pages long (excluding references).
  • An appendix is not allowed.
  • Submissions should be submitted in English only.

Submission Rules

  • Submissions are NOT allowed to be anonymous. Thus, please indicate your full name and affiliation on the submitted PDF.
  • All submissions must have a clear connection to the MuC conference.
  • Submissions must be single-author submissions.
  • Advisors should not be listed on the submission, but, of course, they can support the submission process.
  • The submitting student must be enrolled in a university or college at the time of the initial submission deadline, not necessarily at the time of the conference.  

Doctoral Consortium Proposal

Each proposal should be two PDFs. The first PDF is the four-page description of your Ph.D. in ACM Manuscript template. The second PDF: (1) Feedback inquiry description, (2) Ph.D. student status proof, and (3) a two-page curriculum vitae. 

Four-page research description (excluding references): Use the ACM Master Article Submission Templates (single column) template and include the following:

  • Your name and the university where you are conducting your doctoral research.
  • The background and motivation for your research, including the main related work that informs your research; explain how your work differs from related work, specific research objectives or questions, research approach, methods, and rationale. 
  • Describe your preliminary results (if available).
  • Describe the expected next steps. 
  • Highlight open questions and challenges that you face in your research that should be discussed in the DC.
  • Note: Upon acceptance, this four-page document will be published in the GI Library as part of the MuC Proceedings.

One combined second PDF with additional information (the second PDF does not have any template specification):

  • Feedback inquiry description (max 500 words), including
    • Outline what kind of feedback you are looking for. 
    • Describe your dissertation’s current status.
    • Outline your general future long-term goals.
  • Ph.D. student status proof
    • This can be either by your school or your advisor.
  • Curriculum Vitae (maximum two pages), including
    • Name(s) and affiliation(s) of your advisor(s).
    • Current year of study and projected completion date (plus information about the regulations of your PhD program regarding length, any part-time study, etc.)
    • Have you ever attended another doctoral consortium? If so, please name it and provide the link to the conference homepage.
    • List of your research publications; please separate published papers from those under review or in press.

Please ensure your submission is complete and conforms to the format and content guidelines above. Because the Doctoral Consortium chairs expect to receive many applications, submissions that do not meet these requirements will be desk rejected.

Barrierefreiheit 

Von den Autoren wird erwartet, dass sie denVon den Autor*innen wird erwartet, dass sie den SIGCHI-Leitfaden für barrierefreie Einreichungenbefolgen. Sollten Sie Fragen oder Bedenken zur Erstellung barrierefreier Einreichungen haben, wenden Sie sich bitte frühzeitig im Schreibprozess an die DEI & Accessibility Chairs unter accessibility@mensch-und-computer.de  – je näher am Abgabetermin, desto weniger Zeit hat das Team, um auf individuelle Anfragen zu reagieren. 

Inklusivität

Submissions should be prepared with active consideration of the respectful use of language, particularly towards marginalized groups, particularly around Geschlecht und Behinderungen.

Auswahlprozess

The Doctoral Consortium is a juried track, and the Chairs will select participants at their discretion. Acceptance decisions will be based on assessing how beneficial the Doctoral Consortium will likely be for the attendees. No reviews or rating scores will be included in the acceptance/rejection notice. 

Upon Acceptance of your Doctoral Consortium

The author of a conditionally accepted submission has to follow the Hinweise für Autoren on preparing and submitting a final version by the Publication-Ready Deadline. If the authors cannot meet these requirements by the Publication-Ready Deadline, the venue chairs will be notified and may be required to remove your contribution from the program. The publication-ready version has to follow the ACM template. Should you need technical assistance, please direct your technical query to publications@mensch-und-computer.de.

Auf der Konferenz

The presenting author must register for the full conference. The Doctoral Consortium will be held in person only.  

Nach der Konferenz

Accepted Doctoral Consortium proposals can be optionally published in the Mensch Und Computer Extended Abstracts Proceedings. They will be placed in the GI-Bibliothek  , where they will remain accessible worldwide.