AfriCHI registration fees have been waived for Doctoral and Masters Consortia participants

Doctoral and Masters Consortia are interdisciplinary workshops in which students discuss their work, explore and develop their research interests guided by a panel of experts. Students’ written abstracts will be archived in the main written conference proceedings and online archive.

Submission format: 4-pages.
Submission deadline: Wednesday 8 June 2016
Online submission: online submission system or by email to consortia at africhi dot net with the subject line “AfriCHI2016 Doctoral and Masters Consortia”

Notification: Wednesday 20 July 2016
Camera-ready final deadline: Wednesday 10 August 2016

Objectives

The Doctoral and Masters Consortia provide an opportunity for students to discuss their work, and to explore and develop their research interests in an interdisciplinary workshop guided by a panel of distinguished researchers and practitioners. The consortia are pivotal in growing the AfriCHI community. Thus, the objectives are to:

  • Provide fora in which students can present their work and meet other students;
  • Provide feedback to students on their current approaches and guidance on future research directions;
  • Provide students with fresh perspectives on and experience of constructive critique of their work from researchers and students outside their own institution;
  • Promote the development of a supportive community of scholars; and
  • Contribute to the goals of AfriCHI through interaction with other researchers and engagement in conference events.

Submission

We invite submissions from Doctoral and Masters candidates who have decided upon a topic and approach and can demonstrate some research progress, but who are not so far along that they cannot make changes. The strongest candidates will also have a clear idea about what they will gain and may contribute by participating in the Consortia.

Students should submit the following four items either via the online submission system or by email to consortia at africhi dot net with the subject line “AfriCHI2016 Doctoral and Masters Consortia”. All four items should be submitted as a single PDF file.

  1. Extended Abstract

Your extended abstract is a written 4-page research description that covers the central aspects of your own research work. Please carefully consult the detailed guide and ensure your extended abstract includes the following key points:

  • Your name and your situation, i.e., the university programme context in which your work is being conducted
  • The context and motivation that drives your research
  • Your research questions and/or goals
  • A brief review of background or related literature of key works that frame your research
  • Hypotheses or objectives and/or problem statement
  • Your research approach and methods, including relevant rationale
  • Any results or data to date and comments about the quality or limitations of the data (e.g. validity, reliability, plausibility, transferability etc.)
  • The status of your dissertation and the next steps you plan to undertake
  • Current and/or expected contributions of your research

The extended abstract should not contain sensitive, private, or proprietary information that cannot be disclosed at publication time.

  1. Concise CV/Resume

You should include a concise Curriculum Vitae that is no more than two pages.

  1. Statement of Benefit

You should include a written document of no more than one page that describes what you will contribute and what you will gain. You should clearly and concisely explain how and/or why your participation in the Consortia will benefit yourself and the other Consortia participants.

  1. Letter of Support/Nomination

You should include a signed letter from your academic supervisor/advisor of no more than one page that supports your participation in the Doctoral and Masters Consortia. This letter should also explain how you might benefit from the Consortia and how your academic supervisor/advisor expects that your participation might benefit other students in this group experience. The letter should indicate if you will receive financial support from institution in order to attend.

Please ensure that your submission is complete, complies with the format and content guidelines for the AfriCHI Doctoral and Masters Consortia, and submitted by Midnight GMT 8 June 2016. You can find guidance on how to prepare your submission here.

Review & Selection

The AfriCHI’16 Doctoral and Masters Consortia Committee will acknowledge receipt and review all submissions. A key goal of review is identifying a set of students that will benefit significantly from feedback on their work and support each other in their growth. Thus, the review and selection will balance many factors including the quality of an applicant’s proposal; where the applicant is within their respective study/research; the nature of the research; the potential contribution to HCI/Interaction design in Africa; and, the diversity of participants and topics represented at the Consortia. We will maintain confidentiality of all submission items during and after the review process. Only title and author information will be published on the conference website prior to the conference and only accepted camera-ready abstracts will be published/disseminated.

Camera-ready Abstracts

We will notify authors whether their submission has been accepted or not on 20 July 2016. Authors of accepted submissions will be invited to submit a revised version of their extended abstract (and not the other items), according to instructions on camera-ready copy by 10th August 2016. We will also send information about attending the Consortia, preparing presentations and posters, signing copyright form, and registering for the conference.

Attending the Consortia

All authors of accepted submissions are expected to attend the Consortia. AfriCHI 2016 will provide limited financial support for participant attendance at the Consortia; if you will not be able to attend without such support you should let the organisers know at the time of submission.

During the Consortia each student will present their work to the group with substantial time allowed for discussion and questions by participating researchers and other students. A central goal of the Consortia is to introduce students to idea of providing each other with constructive critique of their research work. Students are encouraged to be open to giving and receiving thoughtful comments with an eye towards shaping the field of HCI in Africa and grooming upcoming participants in the field.

Consortia participants will also present a poster of their work during the main conference. Please see the Information for Poster Presenters, which will be updated after acceptance. In addition to the conference poster, each student should bring a small version of the poster (e.g., using letter or A4 paper) for sharing with mentors and other students during the Consortia sessions.