DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM CALL FOR PH.D. STUDENTS PARTICIPATION

We invite Ph.D. students to apply to participate in the IEEE International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB) 2020 Doctoral Consortium. Applications are being accepted through September 10, 2020, via URL(Registration Closed).

The Doctoral Consortium of IJCB 2020 has a tradition of providing a forum for Ph.D. students, particularly those who are close to finishing or who have recently finished their doctorate degrees, to interact with experienced researchers in biometrics. The Consortium offers opportunities for doctoral students to receive expert support in deciding about future academic and industrial professional activities. This year, the Doctoral Consortium includes a two-level mentoring plan, in which participating Ph.D. students are mentored by senior researchers and industry experts and serve as mentors to undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing a career in biometrics. The anticipated time commitment to participate in this program is about eight hours, which includes attending the Doctoral Consortium meeting during the conference, participating in three virtual meetings with mentors and three virtual meetings with mentees post-conference, and completing a program evaluation survey. Selected participants will receive a free IJCB 2020 conference registration sponsored by the US National Science Foundation.

About the Doctoral Consortium

As IJCB 2020 will be virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conference organizers have aimed to provide stimulating and worthwhile experiences for Ph.D. students attending this year's conference. As part of the Consortium, a senior member of the IJCB community, either from academic or industry, will be matched as a mentor for a doctoral student based on similarities in research interests and other factors. Ph.D. students will also be matched with two to three undergraduate student mentees who are interested in further study in biometrics. Mentor matching will be facilitated using the dedicated platform MentorLoop. Selected Ph.D. students, their mentors, and undergraduate mentees will attend an online Doctoral Consortium meeting during the conference, in which Ph.D. student participants will have opportunities to discuss their ongoing research and career plans with their mentors. Each Ph.D. student will prepare a video describing their thesis research or a single recent paper that will be shared with other participants and their mentors. During the meeting, there will be a discussion and Q&A for each video. After the conference, Ph.D. student mentees will be able to interact with their assigned mentors through monthly virtual sessions (about 45 minutes each) in October, November, and December 2020. Ph.D. students will also meet monthly in October, November, and December 2020, with their small group of two to three undergraduate student mentees for virtual sessions (about 45 minutes each) to discuss biometrics topics and career plans.

Benefits

Selected Ph.D. student participants will receive a free student registration waiver for the IJCB 2020 conference. Students are not required to have a paper appearing in IJCB 2020 to apply to participate. Note, though, that if a selected student is also co-author of an accepted IJCB 2020 paper, either the same paper presented at the Doctoral Consortium or a different one, the registration waiver may not cover the required IJCB paper registration, since each accepted paper requires at least one separate full registration.

Application Guidelines

Ph.D. students who are presently conducting research in biometrics and related fields, particularly those within six months (before or after) of graduation, are encouraged to apply. Selected participants will be limited to no more than two students from each institution in order to represent a diverse range of participants. Women and individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. It is not necessary to have a paper appearing in IJCB 2020 to apply to participate.
Applications can be completed on the platform MentorLoop at URL. The application includes a) identifying areas of interest, b) specifying the title and author list of the video that you would present at the Consortium, c) providing a brief signed note from an advisor that verifies your (expected) graduation date, d) summarizing in a one-page paper your Ph.D. research accomplishment and professional plans, and e) uploading your CV or resume.

Important Dates

Application Deadline: Sept 10, 2020
Selection Deadline: Sept 15, 2020

Contacts

For further information, please contact:
Maria De Marsico - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy: demarsico@di.uniroma1.it
Nasser Nasrabadi - West Virginia University, USA: nasser.nasrabadi@mail.wvu.edu
Ioannis A. Kakadiaris - University of Houston, USA: ioannisk@uh.edu

CALL FOR MENTORS DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM AND UNDERGRADUATE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

IEEE International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB) 2020 is excited to initiate opportunities for mentorship within our field, and we need your help! We are launching mentorship programs at two levels - one for undergraduate students and one for doctoral students. We invite senior researchers from both academia and industry to apply to serve as mentors in either the Doctoral Consortium (OPTION1: URL) or the Undergraduate Mentorship Program (OPTION 2: URL). It is not necessary to have a paper appearing in the IJCB 2020 to apply to participate. The anticipated time commitment for mentors is about five hours, which includes attending the Doctoral Consortium meeting during the conference, having three virtual meetings with mentees post-conference, and completing a program evaluation survey. Mentors selected will receive a waiver for free IJCB 2020 conference registration sponsored by the US National Science Foundation.

About the Programs

Doctoral Consortium. The Doctoral Consortium of the IJCB 2020 is designed for Ph.D. students, especially those who are close to finishing or who have recently completed their doctorate degrees, to interact with experienced researchers in the field. As part of the Consortium, a senior member of the IJCB community, either from academia or industry, will be matched as a mentor for a doctoral student based on similarities in research interests and other factors. Mentor matching will be facilitated using the dedicated platform MentorLoop. Mentors will be expected to attend the online Doctoral Consortium meeting (1 hour), in which doctoral student mentees will discuss their ongoing research and career plans. Mentees will prepare videos describing their thesis research or recent papers, and mentors will be able to view and discuss insights during the Consortium meeting. After the conference, mentors will meet virtually for about 45 minutes with their mentee once a month in October, November, and December 2020.

Undergraduate Mentorship Program. Undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers and graduate study in biometrics will also have the opportunity for mentorship. Mentors will be matched with two to three undergraduate student participants based on similarities in interests and other preferences using the MentorLoop platform. A doctoral student from the Doctoral Consortium will also be assigned to each small group of mentees to provide mentorship support as well. Mentors and mentees will attend the Consortium meeting and meet virtually as a small group for about 45 minutes once a month in October, November, and December 2020.

Benefits

Mentors selected will receive a free full registration waiver for the IJCB 2020 conference. Mentors are not required to have a paper appearing in IJCB 2020 to apply to participate. Note, though, that if a selected mentor is also co-author of an accepted IJCB 2020 paper, the registration waiver may not cover the required IJCB paper registration, since each accepted paper requires at least one separate full registration.

Application Guidelines

Candidate mentors should complete the application form on the platform MentorLoop for either the Doctoral Consortium (OPTION1: URL) or the Undergraduate Mentorship Program (OPTION 2: URL), or both. Note, though, that mentor applicants may be selected for only one program. The mentor application includes identifying areas of expertise and uploading one's CV. The applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting by when the first application is received.

Important Dates

Application Deadline: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and will remain open until the cohort is filled
Selection Deadline: September 15, 2020

Contacts

For further information, please contact: Maria De Marsico - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy: demarsico@di.uniroma1.it
Nasser Nasrabadi - West Virginia University, USA: nasser.nasrabadi@mail.wvu.edu
Ioannis A. Kakadiaris - University of Houston, USA: ioannisk@uh.edu

CALL FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS PARTICIPATION

IEEE International Joint Conference on Biometrics (IJCB) 2020 is excited to initiate opportunities for mentorship within our field. As part of this year's conference, we are launching a mentorship program for undergraduate students as an extension of the Doctoral Consortium. We invite undergraduate students who are interested in biometrics to apply to participate in this program at URL. Women and individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. It is not necessary to have a paper appearing in the IJCB 2020 to apply to participate. The anticipated time commitment to participate in this program is about eight hours, which includes attending the Doctoral Consortium meeting during the conference, participating in six virtual meetings with mentors post- conference, and completing a program evaluation survey. Selected participants will receive a free IJCB 2020 conference registration sponsored by the US National Science Foundation.

About the Undergraduate Mentorship Program

As IJCB 2020 will be virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, conference organizers have aimed to provide stimulating and worthwhile experiences for students attending this year's conference. The Undergraduate Mentorship Program was therefore developed as an extension of the Doctoral Consortium, which enables graduate and undergraduate students that are especially interested in the field of biometrics to interact with members of the biometrics community and gain expanded insights into biometric research areas and careers. As part of the program, biometrics researchers and industry professionals, along with Ph.D. students from the Consortium, will be matched to serve as mentors to a small group of two to three undergraduate student mentees based on similarities in interests and other preferences using the MentorLoop platform. Mentors and mentees will attend the online Doctoral Consortium meeting (1 hour) during the conference, in which doctoral students will describe their thesis research or recent papers. Undergraduate student participants will have opportunities to ask questions and discuss insights further with mentors during the Consortium meeting. After the conference, mentees will meet to have two virtual small group mentorship sessions monthly for about 45 minutes each in October, November, and December 2020. One monthly meeting will be with the senior researcher/professional industry mentor, and the other meeting will be with the Ph.D. student mentor. During these follow-up mentorship sessions, participants will be able to discuss ongoing academic experiences and career plans, as well as ask questions related to mentors' areas of expertise.

Benefits

Selected undergraduate student participants will receive a free student registration waiver for the IJCB 2020 conference. Students are not required to have a paper appearing in IJCB 2020 to apply to participate. Note, though, that if a selected student is also co-author of an accepted IJCB 2020 paper, the registration waiver may not cover the required IJCB paper registration, since each accepted paper requires at least one separate full registration.

Application Guidelines

Undergraduate students interested in participating in the Undergraduate Mentorship Program should complete the application form on the platform MentorLoop at URL. The application includes identifying areas of interest and uploading (i) brief signed note from a school representative that verifies your current undergraduate student status, (ii) brief (about 200 words) summary describing why you are interested in being mentored through this program, and (iii) your CV or resume. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Important Dates

Application Deadline: Sept 10, 2020
Selection Deadline: Sept 15, 2020

Contacts

For further information, please contact: Maria De Marsico - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy: demarsico@di.uniroma1.it
Nasser Nasrabadi - West Virginia University, USA: nasser.nasrabadi@mail.wvu.edu
Ioannis A. Kakadiaris - University of Houston, USA: ioannisk@uh.edu