[ecoop-info] VL/HCC 2011 Graduate Symposium

[Christopher Scaffidi]

VL/HCC 2011 Graduate Symposium
Expanding end user control in socio-technical systems
==========================================

Recent advances in computing have led to continually deeper
integration between computers and human society. People now are part
of numerous socio-technical systems that synthesize large numbers of
contributing users with vast amounts of source code. Examples include
social media systems, open source repositories, online marketplaces
and massively multiplayer online games.

Yet as these socio-technical systems have grown in complexity, they
have become increasingly difficult for end users to understand and
direct toward productive ends. For example, when users put data into a
system, they may be unable to anticipate and control how their data
will be used by other people or by software in the system. When users
take actions in the system, they often cannot foresee and manage
unintended effects on other users, software, or the system as a whole,
particularly because the software part of a system often contains
defects.

The goal of the 2011 VL/HCC graduate consortium is to explore ways to
help end users visualize, analyze, and tailor large socio-technical
systems. This may include development of novel methods, models and
tools, such as programming environments for end users. At a deeper
level, it may include developing new theory for predicting the
complicated, unstable, sometimes-emergent behavior that results when
large numbers of diverse, unpredictable humans are coupled to
unreliable software.



Why you should participate
-------------------------------------------------------------
Present your work to a smaller, more attentive audience before the conference

Get detailed, critical, constructive feedback from a diverse panel of experts

Meet other students working on similar problems prior to the main conference

Compete for anticipated NSF funding, to help cover your cost of attending VL/HCC


As in years past, NSF funding has been requested to support student
travel. All students are eligible to receive this funding, regardless
of location or nationality.





Who Can Participate (Due Date June 17)
-------------------------------------------------------------
The consortium is open to both master’s and PhD students worldwide.
Participation is particularly encouraged from PhD students who are
close to proposing a thesis, as well as from members of groups
identified by NSF as underrepresented in the sciences and engineering
[ http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf03312/pdfstart.htm ]. If multiple
applicants from a particular university apply for the consortium this
year, then no more than two per university will be selected to
participate. To be eligible, each applicant may have participated no
more than once in the VL/HCC graduate consortia of past years.




Application Process
-------------------------------------------------------------
Email the following items with VLGC2011 in the subject line to
Emmanuel Pietriga ‹emmanuel.pietriga at inria.fr› byJune 17, 2011 (11:59
pm PDT):

1. A 2-page research abstract, formatted as a PDF in the standard IEEE
Conference Proceedings format [
http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html
] Accepted participants’ abstracts will be included in the conference
proceedings. To make it easier for you to write a successful abstract,
the VL/HCC website provides examples of successful submissions from
past years [ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~vlhcc2011/submitting/graduate-consortium/#examples
]

2. Your curriculum vita, as a second PDF file. This CV should mention
whether you have previously participated in any graduate consortia at
any conferences.

3. A letter of recommendation sent directly by your thesis advisor.
This letter should summarize your accomplishments and describe how far
along you are in your master’s or PhD program. In addition, if you are
a member of a group designated by NSF as underrepresented, then the
letter may mention this fact.



Selection Process
-------------------------------------------------------------
For one-third of the slots, students who have participated once before
will be given priority. The remaining slots will be given to students
who are new to the event. Each student from the returning group will
be linked with new students in a mentoring arrangement. See Who Can
Participate above for additional selection criteria. The anticipated
notification date is July 7, 2011.




Posters
-------------------------------------------------------------
Selected students will be asked to present their work at a poster
session during the main conference. Details will be provided to
accepted applicants.




Travel Support
-------------------------------------------------------------
As in prior years, NSF funding has been requested to support travel
for some or all of the students selected to participate in this
consortium. If approved, this funding is tentatively anticipated to
cover almost all student costs of attending the consortium and VL/HCC
(airfare, registration, hotel, meals, incidentals). NSF might not make
a decision on this funding proposal until the summer; therefore,
students should not wait for NSF’s decision before beginning to write
an application to participate in the consortium.




Schedule
-------------------------------------------------------------
The consortium event will be a full day on September 17, the day
before the main conference. All participating students are expected to
attend the main conference. Other conference attendees are invited to
attend the consortium, to listen to the presentations, to interact
with participants, and to give feedback to presenters. More details
will be provided, including times and locations.




Panel Members and Organizers
-------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Scaffidi · Oregon State University, USA
Caitlin Kelleher · Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Andrew Ko · University of Washington, USA
Emmanuel Pietriga · INRIA, France




-- 
----------------------------
Christopher Scaffidi
Assistant Professor
School of Electrical Engineering
   & Computer Science
1148 Kelley Engineering Center
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-4501
Office: 541-737-5572
Fax:    360-935-7708
http://eecs.oregonstate.edu/~cscaffid
cscaffid at eecs.oregonstate.edu
cscaffid at gmail.com