Doctoral Symposium

The Recommender Systems 2012 Doctoral Symposium provides an opportunity for doctoral students to explore and develop their research interests under the guidance of a panel of distinguished research faculty. We invite students who feel they would benefit from this kind of feedback on their dissertation work to apply for this unique opportunity to share their work with students in a similar situation as well as senior researchers in the field. The strongest candidates will be those who have an idea and an area, and have made some progress, but who are not so far along that they can no longer make changes. Typically, this means they will have made their dissertation proposal, but still be about a year from completion. The feedback from attendees in previous years has been very positive and the Doctoral Symposium has been considered very useful by attendees in providing research guidance.

Objectives

1. Provide a supportive setting for feedback on students’ current research and guidance on future research directions.
2. Offer each student comments and fresh perspectives on their work from faculty and students outside their own institution.
3. Promote the development of a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research.
4. Contribute to the conference goals through interaction with other researchers and conference events.

Format

The symposium will be held on 9th September, 2012. About 5-8 doctoral students and four faculty will be invited to participate. Student participants will have their extended abstracts (4 pages) published in the conference proceedings. They will also have the opportunity to present a poster of their work during the poster session at the main conference. All participants are expected to attend the entire symposium, including a group dinner taking place before the conference (subject to availability of funding). Each student will present his or her work to the group with substantial time allowed for discussion and questions by participating faculty and other students. Being accepted into the symposium is an honor, and involves a commitment to giving and receiving thoughtful commentary with an eye towards shaping the field and upcoming participants in the field.

Co-Chairs

• Alexander Felfernig, TU Graz, Austria
• Michael O’Mahony, University College Dublin, Ireland