Student Research CompetitionESEC/FSE 2022

Call for Research Abstracts

ESEC/FSE Student Research Competition 2022

ESEC/FSE 2022 will host an ACM Student Research Competition (SRC). The SRC is a unique forum reserved for undergraduate and graduate students who want to experience the world of software engineering research, present their results to the community.

The ACM Student Research Competition at ESEC/FSE 2022 consists of three parts:

1. Research Abstract Submission
2. Poster Presentation during the conference
3. Research Talk during the conference

The first-place winners are invited to participate in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals (that includes all fields fo computer science). Here is how you can participate.

Submit a Research Abstract

To participate, submit an extended research abstract of no more than 800 words (within a 2-page limit) related to the main themes of ESEC/FSE 2022 (see the Research Track for a list of conference topics). The submission should include the following elements: the research problem and motivation, background and related work, approach and novelty, results, and contributions. Your submission must present original research contributions that have not been published elsewhere. Papers will be judged based on how well they cover the above aspects of the work.

All research abstracts must conform to the ESEC/FSE 2022 Format and Submission Guidelines, and must not exceed 800 words (within 2 pages), including all text, appendices, and figures. However, please note that references do not count against the word and page limit: the list of references may expand into a third page but no content (text, figures) is allowed on the third page (i.e., the third page, if any, should contain nothing else except all or part of your references). All submissions must be in English. Submissions must be in PDF format. Papers must be submitted electronically through the ESEC/FSE SRC HotCRP submission site by 28th July 2022. A panel of experts will review the submissions and select the students to participate in the Student Research Competition, which will be held during ESEC/FSE 2022. Accepted submissions will be published in the conference electronic proceedings and made available in the ACM Digital Library.

The review process is single-blind. There is no need to anonymize the submission. The submission will be handled using HotCRP.

First Round: Poster Presentation

The first round of the competition will take place during the ESEC/FSE 2022 conference and will be a poster session. You will get to present your research to the conference attendees and leading experts in software engineering research, including the SRC committee.

The committee members will review the posters and talk to participants about their research. Subsequently, they will evaluate the research (in terms of quality, novelty, and significance) as well as the presentation of the research (poster and discussion), and choose the participants to advance to the second round of the competition.

Second Round: Give a Presentation

Selected participants will be invited to give a short presentation of their research before the SRC committee members in a special session during the ESEC/FSE 2022. Each presentation will be followed by a short Q&A session. Evaluations of presentations will be based on the presenter’s knowledge of their research area, contribution of the research, and the quality of the oral and visual presentation. At most three winners will be chosen in undergraduate and graduate category, and receive prizes.

The SRC Grand Finals

The first-place winner in each category (undergraduate and graduate) from the SRC held at ESEC/FSE 2022 will advance to the ACM SRC Grand Finals. A different panel of judges evaluates the winners of all SRCs held during the calendar year against each other via the web. Three undergraduates and three graduates will be chosen as the SRC Grand Finals winners.

Prizes

The top three winners in each category (undergraduate and graduate) will be recognized during the conference and will receive prizes. The first-place winners of the ESEC/FSE SRC are also invited to compete with winners from other conferences in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals.

Requirements

Participants must be undergraduate or graduate students pursuing an academic degree at the time of initial submission. Participants must be current student members of the ACM, and must provide their ACM member number. Supervisors of the work may not be listed as co-authors; you must submit a single-authored version of your work for the competition.

Important Dates

All dates are 23:59:59 AoE (UTC-12h).

• Paper Submission: Thu, 28 July 2022
• Notification: Thu, 18 August 2022
• Camera-ready Version: Thu, 1 September, 2022

For additional information, visit the official ACM Student Research Competition website. For questions, please contact the SRC chair, Shin Yoo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to travel to Singapore if my abstract gets accepted?

Currently ESEC/FSE 2022 organizers are carefully considering all possible options for the conference, including hybrid and online. We will announce the exact format of SRC competition as soon as the details are available.

Q: I am a PhD student. Am I eligible to participate in the SRC?

Yes. As a PhD student, you will compete in the Graduate category of the competition.

Q: What should I write in my research abstract?

A submission to the competition should describe recently completed or ongoing student research related to the topics covered by ESEC/FSE. It is important that your research abstract discusses (1) research problem and motivation, (2) background and related work, (3) approach and uniqueness, and (4) results and contributions. The committee will assess your research abstract along these dimensions.

Q: What criteria will be used to evaluate the poster and conference presentations?

The judges will assess the poster presentations using the following criteria: Oral presentation, Visual presentation, Research methods, and Significance of contribution. For the conference presentation, the evaluation criteria are Knowledge of research area, Contribution of the research, and Presentation.

Q: My research is not related to software engineering or any of the main themes of the ESEC/FSE conference. Can I still participate in the Student Research Competition?

Yes, but not at ESEC/FSE. To participate in the competition at ESEC/FSE, your research needs to be related to the main themes of the ESEC/FSE conference (see the topics for the main conference track). If your research is not among the topics relevant for ESEC/FSE, please check the list of current SRC calls to find a conference that is better related. If you don’t find a conference that covers your research, you can participate in the SRC at the SIGCSE conference.

Q: Can I submit research that is already published elsewhere?

No, the submission needs to be original. In particular, you cannot participate with a short version of a paper that is accepted in the main track. We will ask you to retract work that has already been published elsewhere.

Q: Can I get my paper published if I cannot attend?

No, the student will need to attend/present their poster or your paper will not be published.

Q: Can I participate without an ACM student membership?

No, you need to have an ACM student membership to participate.

Q: Do figures count towards the word limit?

No, they do not.