Doctoral Symposium

Call for Papers - Due June 11, 2009

The OOPSLA 2009 Doctoral Symposium provides students with useful guidance for completing their dissertation research and beginning their research careers. The Symposium will provide an interactive forum for doctoral students in one of two phases:

1. Apprentices, who are just beginning their research, are not ready to actually make a research proposal, but are interested in learning about structuring research and getting some research ideas; and,
2. Proposers, who have progressed far enough in their research to have a structured proposal, but will not be defending their dissertation in the next 12 months.

Submission Summary
Due date:	June 11, 2009
Notification date:	July 17, 2009
Format:	ACM Proceedings format
Submit to:	OOPSLA submission system
Contact:	This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (chair)

The Symposium consists of a dinner, followed by a full-day workshop (exact dates TBA).

Submission Process

Electronic submission of proposals is required through the OOPSLA submission system. To apply as an Apprentice, your advisor must send a letter of recommendation to the track chair by June 11, 2009. Up to four Apprentices will be chosen. To apply as a Proposer, please submit a three page (hard limit) description of your dissertation research, mirroring the topics of the presentation defined below. Your advisor must also send a brief statement of your dissertation progress to date and a statement of recommendation to the track chair by June 11, 2009. Up to eight Proposers will be selected. Proposers are expected to attend the symposium dinner and to participate in the workshop for the entire day.

Symposium Details

At the workshop, presentations will consist of the following:

• A two-minute overview stating the most critical issues of the research (the “elevator talk”)
• A separate, strictly-timed 20-minute description of their research, which must be structured as follows:
  • Description of purpose – What exact problem, issue, or question does this research address and why does it matter? What limitations or failings of current understanding, knowledge, methods, or technologies does this research resolve?
  • Goals – What new understanding, knowledge, methods, or technologies will this research generate?
  • Technical approach – What experiments, prototypes, or studies are being performed to achieve the stated goal? How will they be measured, evaluated and validated?

Each symposium Proposer will have a two-page short paper published in the OOPSLA Companion. Proposers are strongly advised to have a poster at the OOPSLA Poster session and to participate in the ACM Student Research Competition. These vehicles provide the student with an opportunity for additional feedback and suggestions on their dissertation work, contacts for further interaction, and experience in communicating with other professionals.

For More Information

For additional information, clarification, or questions, please contact the Doctoral Symposium chair, Douglas C. Schmidt, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

OOPSLA sincerely appreciates and thanks:

for being one of our Gold Supporters