Dear Colleague, We hope this email finds you well. We are excited to announce the Call for Submissions for the Doctoral Consortium <https://ijcb2023.ieee-biometrics.org/call-for-doctoral-consortium-participants/> at the upcoming International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB) 2023. Please share the attached call for submissions with your students. The submission deadline is July 26, 2023. In the first part of the message, we report the availability of travel scholarships for eligible graduate and undergraduate students to attend the IJCB 2023 Doctoral Consortium. In the second part, you find again the call for Submissions to the Doctoral Consortium. We are excited to announce the availability of a limited number of travel scholarships for eligible graduate and undergraduate students to attend the IJCB 2023 Doctoral Consortium. Selected Ph.D. students will receive scholarships of at least $2,500, while undergraduate and master’s students will be awarded scholarships of at least $400. Scholarships awarded to Ph.D. students are intended to help cover expenses such as round-trip flights (limited to U.S. flag carriers or flights ticketed through an US-carrier (e.g., codeshare flights on international airlines)), accommodation at the conference venue (Grand Hotel Union, Ljubljana, Slovenia) for the conference’s duration, and the IJCB registration fee. Undergraduate and master’s students are also strongly encouraged to apply for these scholarships to cover their conference registration fees, as early exposure to such opportunities can be highly beneficial. Scholarships will be granted to undergraduate and master’s students who demonstrate significant potential to benefit from attending the consortium. Priority will be given to women, students from underrepresented groups, and persons with disabilities, in line with the IEEE Biometrics Council commitment to diversity and inclusion. Students wishing to apply must complete the application form here (https://tinyurl.com/IJCB23DCScholarship) by August 15, 2023. Additionally, applicants’ faculty advisors must email a letter of support to tjneal(a)usf.edu by August 15, 2023. The advisor’s letter must explicitly state their willingness to support any costs not covered by the travel scholarship, such as meals, additional flight or lodging expenses exceeding the scholarship amount, incidentals, transportation to and from the airport, and so on. Advisor letters must also provide a statement regarding the availability (or lack thereof) of travel funds for the applicant from other sources. *Eligibility:* A limited number of travel scholarships are available to support undergraduate or graduate students from any US university, regardless of their citizenship or visa status, as well as US citizens studying outside of the US. However, certain individuals are not eligible, including speakers (unless they are students), postdocs, and those supported through a federal grant or scholarship (e.g., NSF’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service or Graduate Research Fellowship Program). Although students with alternative sources of funding, such as through their advisor’s research funds, are eligible, priority will be given to students with limited or no other means to support conference travel. Ph.D. students that have already received an invitation to attend the IJCB 2023 Doctoral Consortium will be prioritized, although this is not a requirement. We strongly encourage students that wish to participate in the consortium to take advantage of these scholarships. We especially encourage faculty advisors to support and promote this opportunity among their students from underrepresented groups that are eligible to apply. To further support underrepresented students, we also encourage advisors to explore the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Alliances. These alliances serve as invaluable resources, offering comprehensive programs designed to address underrepresentation in the computing disciplines. By collaborating with academic institutions, K-12 schools, government agencies, industry leaders, professional societies, and other organizations, these alliances work towards achieving a transformation in computing education. You can find a list of these alliances at https://bpcnet.org/alliances/. Notable resources to aid your BPC efforts are listed below: - National Society of Black Engineers (https://www.nsbe.org/) - Computing Alliance for Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI) ( https://cahsi.utep.edu/) - Institute for Mentorship for African Americans in Computer Science (IAAMCS) (http://iaamcs.org/) - Computing Research Association Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) (https://cra.org/cra-wp/) - American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) ( https://www.aises.org/) *Call for submissions* The IEEE International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB’23) Doctoral Consortium provides a valuable platform for Ph.D. students to engage with the global research community in Biometrics, allowing them to present their research and discuss their career objectives. This consortium offers an opportunity for doctoral students to establish connections and collaborations with experienced researchers in the field, while gaining insights into potential career paths in both academia andindustry. The IJCB’23 Doctoral Consortium (DC) will take place during the conference as a parallel event to special sessions on the first day of the conference. Attendance to the consortium is strictly by invitation. An informal introduction by senior researchers acting as mentors will open the DC. Afterwards, student participants will briefly present their research during a spotlight oral session. This will be followed by a mentoring session, providing students with an opportunity for constructive feedback and more focused discussions with senior researchers. Additionally, each student will be assigned a mentor from the committee, with whom they can interact to explore specific areas of interest throughout the event. An informal lunch with senior researchers will also be organized, enabling students to engage in interactive conversations. DC participants will also have the opportunity to participate in a poster session during the main conference (specific details to be determined). *Eligibility* We invite eligible students to apply for the Doctoral Consortium, with the expectation that successful applicants will actively participate in the entire program in-person. Eligible students are those pursuing a Ph.D. who have made progress in their dissertation, with some results already published or nearing publication. We value diversity and equality in terms of research topics, participating institutions, and individuals involved. We particularly encourage women and individuals from underrepresented groups to apply. Although having a paper appearing in IJCB’23 is not a prerequisite for participation, it is highly encouraged for applicants to have a paper associated with the conference, whose topics could be summarized during the DC. *Submission* To apply for the Doctoral Consortium, please submit: 1. A research statement summarizing the thesis research topic, the working plan, and the progress to date (max 2 pages). 2. A CV (max 1 page). The CV should highlight any publications and conference presentations that are related to the thesis topic. 3. A supporting letter from the thesis advisor that endorses the student’s application to this Doctoral Consortium and briefly describes the progress or status of the student’s thesis work. All materials should be prepared in a single PDF file and submitted through the Doctoral Consortium Track of the IJCB 2023 CMT instance: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/IJCB2023/ *Review and Selection Process* Applications will be evaluated on: 1. Quality of the application and thesis topic. 2. Anticipated benefits (current/potential contributions to science) of the student’s research. 3. Student’s contribution to the diversity of topics, backgrounds, methodology, etc. 4. Endorsement by the thesis advisor. There will be no papers published from the Doctoral Consortium in the proceedings of IJCB. *Financial Support* The students selected to participate in the Doctoral Consortium may be considered for financial support. However, the availability and extent of financial support are subject to the availability of funds and are not guaranteed. Applicants should be prepared to attend IJCB’23 without financial support in the event that funds are not available. It is important to note that the lunch session with senior mentors will be fully covered by the conference anyway, and no expenses associated with lunch will be incurred by the Doctoral Consortium participants or mentors. *Important Dates* • Submission deadline: July 26, 2023 • Notification of acceptance: August 7, 2023 • Doctoral consortium date: TBD We look forward to welcoming the field’s most talented students to the IJCB 2023 Doctoral Consortium. Please feel free to reply to this email with any questions. Best, Tempestt Neal and Maria De Marsico IJCB’23 Doctoral Consortium Chairs -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maria De Marsico Full Professor Co-Editor-in-Chief of Pattern Recognition Letters Associate Editor of Pattern Recognition Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biometrics, Behavior, and Identity Science Chair of IAPR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee IEEE Senior member Sapienza University of Rome Department of Computer Science Via Salaria 113 - 00198 Rome - Italy email: demarsico(a)di.uniroma1.it tel: +39 06 49918312