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The Student Research Competition at ASSETS 2020 is supported by Microsoft Research
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STUDENT RESEARCH COMPETITION

How the Student Research Competition Will Work

The ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) is an event open to undergraduate and graduate students. At the conference, the authors will present their poster to a panel of experts and those who qualify to the next round will present their research to the conference audience. All accepted SRC submissions will be published in the conference proceedings and the best presentations will receive a prize. The SRC is a fantastic opportunity to be introduced to the community and establish networks with fellow scientists.

Testimonials

“...What really caught my eye was how the community fosters growth and how the competition encourages us to learn the methodology behind other projects to improve our own. ”
—Yash Naik, University of Mumbai, SRC undergraduate student participant in 2018
“The SRC was one of the most engaging and intriguing activities of my Ph.D. journey. Besides the ‘eye-opening’ experience the competition offered, I had very insightful feedback on my research, met other student researchers and established relationships I believe would last a lifetime!”
—Andrew A. Bayor, Queensland University of Technology, SRC graduate student participant, 2019

Eligibility

Submissions

For whom?

The ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) is an event open to undergraduate and graduate students.

Is there any support?

Students selected to participate in the SRC will receive partial support from ACM to attend the conference. ACM's SRC program covers expenses up to US$500 for all students invited to an SRC.

What needs to be submitted?

Students wishing to participate submit abstracts of their work. Qualifying research must deal with topics that are relevant to the mission of the ASSETS series, as described by the call for papers. Preference will be given to work that has been completed (or close to completion).

Submissions have a new 4-page limit using templates that can be found in the Submission Templates page. Note that references do not count toward page limits.

Successful entries will be published in the ASSETS 2020 proceedings and the ACM Digital Library. Submissions (in PDF format) should be submitted by the deadline (2 July 2020, Thursday). It is important to note that these are NOT double blind submissions; the authors' names should be on the paper.

In addition, after acceptance, authors will be required to prepare a short audio speech file describing the content of their posters (which this year will be virtual). This feature was introduced last year to make posters more accessible to blind and low vision attendees receiving very positive feedback. More details on this are TBA.

Your PDF file must be accessible. Please refer to the instructions on Creating an Accessible ACM Conference Paper for information on how to accomplish this. If you cannot create an accessible PDF at submission time then you will be given the option to upload either an accessible HTML or Microsoft Word version of your paper in addition to your PDF to facilitate review. If your paper is accepted, the final version will need to be transformed into an accessible PDF document.

Writing Guidelines are available to help authors choose appropriate language for writing about technology and people with disabilities. Finally, please refer to the ACM policy on plagiarism for guidance.

Mentorship

Mentorship is available for anyone looking to submit to the SRC. If you are interested, please see the Call for Mentors page for details on how to request a mentor.

Participating in the SRC

Once SRC submissions are reviewed, accepted projects will be invited to present at ASSETS 2020. At the conference, there will be two rounds of competition:

First Round Competition

Participants will display a poster and make a brief presentation to a panel of judges. After the judges have reviewed the posters and discussed the research with each participant, a group of semi-finalists for each category (undergraduate and graduate) will be selected to present at the second round of the competition.

Second Round Competition

Semi-finalists will then give an oral presentation on their work as part of a main conference session. A panel of judges will evaluate their knowledge of the research area, their contribution to the field, and the quality of the presentation.

Three winners will be chosen in each category, undergraduate and graduate, receiving their medals (gold, silver, and bronze) and a monetary prize of $500, $300, and $200, respectively. First place winners will be designated as finalists and will also advance to the SRC Grand Finals. Participants should plan to stay through the ASSETS conference as the awards ceremony will take place during the closing session.

Note: Upon request, American Sign Language interpreters will be provided for participants in the SRC, both during the competition itself and for the remainder of the ASSETS conference. Requests for an interpreter must be indicated on the conference registration form when registering for ASSETS.

Advancing to the SRC Grand Finals

First place undergraduate and graduate student winners from the ACM SRCs held throughout the year advance to the SRC Grand Finals. A panel of judges will evaluate the entries through an online competition. From this competition, three undergraduate and three graduate students from all ACM conferences will be designated the SRC Grand Finals winners. They are invited, along with their advisors, to the annual ACM Awards Banquet, where they receive formal recognition.

Important Dates

How to submit

Please send your submission by email to the Student Research Competition Chairs - Raja Kushalnagar and André Rodrigues (src-assets20@acm.org).

Panel of Reviewers

Panel of Judges

TBD

Poster Presentation

Poster presentation details TBD. Please direct any special requests to Student Research Competition Chairs - Raja Kushalnagar and André Rodrigues (src-assets20@acm.org).

Further Information

For further information or any questions regarding student research competition submissions, please contact the Student Research Competition Chairs - Raja Kushalnagar and André Rodrigues (src-assets20@acm.org).

Further details about ACM Student Research Competitions and the Grand Finals are available at ACM Student Research Competition Page.