Student ThinkTank

Student ThinkTank

The ICAD 2023 Student ThinkTank will be held on Monday, June 26, 2023 — the day before the main virtual conference begins. The ThinkTank will be a full day meeting for graduate and advanced undergraduate students working on projects in auditory display and sonification. Students who participate in the ThinkTank receive intensive feedback on their works-in-progress from a panel of auditory display experts and ICAD student peers. In addition to providing insights and constructive feedback on individual student projects, the ThinkTank is intended to foster friendships and additional opportunities for on-going formal and informal mentorship of students by the ICAD community. The ThinkTank is free of charge, and ThinkTank presenters will have their registration fees for the main conference waived.

All students accepted to the student ThinkTank have the ICAD 2023 conference fee covered by the conference. In addition students based in the US also have traveling and accommodation subsidised via NFS grant.

Important ThinkTank Dates

March 15, 2023: Deadline to apply to participate in the ThinkTank

Mid-may, 2023: Notifications delivered

June 26, 2023: ThinkTank (9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CET)

Who Can Apply?

We invite graduate students or advanced undergraduate students to apply to present their work at the ThinkTank. Applicants who are selected to participate in the ThinkTank will be required to prepare and present a semi-formal presentation of their work. Students who apply to present their work are expected to be available to participate in the entirety or majority of the day’s activities. Student scholars will also have an opportunity to present their posters in the main conference poster session. In addition to the formal presentations of successful applicants it is also possible to attend the session as an observer. If you’d like to register to attend as an observer, please send an email to thinktank@ICAD2023.icad.org. We welcome applications from all students interested in auditory display and sonification, even if they have never attended a previous ICAD conference.

What Happens at the ThinkTank?

Student ThinkTank participants will prepare semi-formal, 15-minute presentations of their on-going work in auditory display and sonification. Following each presentation, the panel and the student audience will offer 15 minutes of constructive feedback and intensive discussion of the project. The ThinkTank is an especially useful opportunity for students to receive help with identifying and addressing potential pitfalls to the advancement of their projects. In addition to the presentation, the ThinkTank will provide opportunities for breakout discussion sessions and mentorship on topics of interest to ICAD students and other opportunities for informal networking and discussion of mutual interests.

How to Apply to Participate*

ThinkTank applications should include a cover letter, a presentation deck, and a 1-page CV, as described below.

  1. One-page Cover letter 

Your cover letter should include the following information:

  • Statement of interest in participating in the ThinkTank, especially highlighting your expected outcomes from participating in the ThinkTank (What do you hope to get out of this experience?) and any additional suggestions for topics that you would like to discuss with peers and panelists during ICAD2023 (career advice, on-going mentoring opportunities, collaborations, etc.)
  • Full name of School and Department in which you are taking your degree.
  • Current stage in your academic program (e.g., completed MS, 2 years into PhD).
  • Name and contact of the supervising professor. We are not requiring support letters but we might reach out to them if needed.
  • Your full contact information: address, phone number, and email address.
  • Title of the research and keywords pertinent to the research.
  • The URL of your web page (if any).

If you don’t have a supervising professor at the moment (e.g. you are in-between MA and PhD studies) please add a statement explaining that.

  1. Presentation deck (Max 5 slides)

Please provide a presentation deck for your research. This will be max five slides in Power Point (or analogous support) and will include your problem statement and research question(s), your work hypothesis, research conducted to date to answer the research question, planned and future research steps, including experimental approaches, design solutions, evaluation methods and so on. Please also include your thoughts on the relevance and potential impact of the research on the field, and discuss its broader impact in the world. The use of pictorials and visualizations (or links to sonifications!) is particularly encouraged. Please avoid using only text in your slides!

  1. Curriculum vitae (CV)

Please prepare a one-page CV that relates your background, relevant experience, and research accomplishments.

Selection and Notification

Around 10 submissions will be selected for presentation during ICAD2023. The criteria used to select participants include: (1) the relevance of the research to the field of auditory display and sonification; (2) the clarity and quality of the research questions posed in the application; and (3) the potential for the applicant to benefit from participating in the ThinkTank. The Panel will also strive to select applicants and research topics to represent the diversity of people, cultures and interests in the auditory display community, including students in all phases of the thesis or dissertation process. A limited number of bursaries to cover travel expenses will be available for participants residents of a country in the DAC list of ODA recipients. Please reach out to the ThinkTank chair to present your case for consideration. Notifications will be forthcoming in mid-May 2023.

All applicants may participate in the ThinkTank to observe the presentations and join in the discussions; however, only the ten selected submissions will be able to make a formal oral presentation.

How to Submit:

Please upload your submission material through the EasyChair Link – https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icad2023

ThinkTank Panel:

The ThinkTank Panel will include a number of international researchers and professionals who work across a range of disciplines in auditory display and sonification. The full panel will be announced in early Spring 2023.

Questions?

Please contact the ThinkTank chair, Sara Lenzi (thinktank@icad2023.icad.org), if you have any questions.

*Required submission materials were updated on 11/28/22. Apologies for any inconvenience.