Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium is a workshop for Ph.D. students from all over the world who are in the early phases of their dissertation work (I.e., the consortium is not intended for those who are finished or nearly finished with their dissertation). The goal of the Doctoral Consortium is to help students with their thesis and research plans by providing feedback and general advice on using the research environment in a constructive and international atmosphere. Students will present and discuss their thesis in the context of a well-known and established international conference outside of their usual university atmosphere. The workshop will take place on a single full day. Up to 15 students will have the opportunity to participate.

Six prominent professors and one experienced practitioner in the field of digital library research in organizations from different countries and continents will conduct the workshop. They will review all the submissions and comment on the content of the thesis as well as on the presentation. Students will have 20 minutes to present their research, focusing on the main theme of their thesis, what they have achieved so far and how they plan to continue their work. Another 20 minutes is reserved for discussion and feedback from both the professors and other participants. In the course of the workshop students will also get advice on more general questions, e.g. the differences of Ph.D. studies in different countries.

The consortium will also have a guest speaker who will address key issues and activities related to digital library research worldwide.

Call for Papers and Topics

Students interested in participating in the Doctoral Consortium should submit an extended abstract (see details below) describing their Digital Library research. Submissions relating to any aspect of Digital Library research, development, and evaluation are welcomed, including: technical advances, usage and impact studies, policy analyses, social and institutional implications, theoretical contributions, interaction and design advances, and innovative applications in the sciences, humanities, and education.

To apply for participation at the Doctoral Consortium, please provide an extended abstract of your doctoral work to ray@sims.berkeley.edu. The extended abstract is restricted to 4000 words (approx. 8 pages). Submissions should be submitted electronically in pdf-format. The abstracts should

  • clearly formulate the research question,
  • identify the significant problems in the field of research,
  • summarize the current knowledge of the problem domain, as well as the state of the art for solutions,
  • clearly present any preliminary research plans and ideas, and the results achieved so far,
  • sketch the research methodology that is to be applied,
  • describe the expected contributions of the applicant to the research area, and
  • (for technical research) describes how the research is innovative, novel or extends existing approaches to a problem.

Submissions will be judged on originality, significance, correctness, and clarity. Workshop participation is limited to 15 Ph.D. students.

Proceedings

Accepted abstracts will be distributed to participants as the workshop proceedings and made available to participants via the JCDL Doctoral Consortium Digital.

Important Dates

March 20th, 2006 Deadline for submission of abstracts
April 4th, 2006 Notification of acceptance
May 1st, 2006 Camera-ready papers due
June 11-15th, 2006 JCDL 2006
June 11th, 2006 Doctoral Consortium meeting at JCDL

Contact Address

Submissions or other requests for information should be e-mailed to ray@sims.berkeley.edu.

Accompanying Professors