IMPORTANT DATES

Proposal submission deadline: December 8, 2016
Notification of pre-selection by: December 16, 2016
Final list of special sessions: June, 2016

Submissions of Special Sessions & Challenges proposals are encouraged for INTERSPEECH 2017, covering interdisciplinary topics and/or important new emerging areas of interest related to the main conference topics. Submissions related to the special focus of the conference, Situated Interaction, are particularly welcome. Apart from supporting a particular theme, special sessions may also have a format that is different from a regular session.

 

Each special session or challenge proposal should contain the following information:

• Title of the proposed session
• Names and affiliations of organizers (including brief bio and contact information)
• Up to five bullet points on what makes the session special (can include, but is not limited to, technical aspects, format of the session, expected outcomes, people involved)
• An introduction (maximum 1 page) stating the importance of the topic and the objectives of the proposed session
• Tentative/confirmed list of papers or target contributors
• Additional or non-standard resources (e.g. data, equipment, poster stands, etc.) required for organizing the special session

Proposals should clearly describe the topic and explain why it cannot be covered appropriately in regular sessions.

Additionally, the intended format for the session should be clearly indicated (panel, posters, etc.).

Proposals are evaluated by the Organizing Committee based on relevance and significance of the topic. Papers for approved Special Sessions have to be submitted following the same schedule and procedure as regular papers; the papers will undergo the same review process by anonymous and independent reviewers. Special session organizers will be involved in the reviewer assignment and in the final decisions. Sessions that are accepted, but do not receive a sufficient number of accepted contributions, may be cancelled.

Challenges are “special” special sessions. The requirements are the same across special sessions and challenges as stated above; however, for challenges, additional edge conditions might exist such as a baseline to compare own results with, established by the challenge organizers. The ComParE challenge that has been organized at Interspeech since 2009 might be taken as blueprint; of course, other structures and topics are welcome as well.

Prospective organizers are invited to submit a proposal via email to the Special Session Chair, Jens Edlund, before December 8, 2016. Please do not hesitate to ask before submitting your proposal if something is not fully clear to you. Notification of pre-selection is scheduled for December 16, 2016; final acceptance can be expected shortly after paper acceptance/rejection, depending on the number of accepted papers submitted for a special session or a challenge.

 

Important Dates

Proposal submission deadline: December 8, 2016

Notification of pre-selection by: December 16, 2016

Final list of special sessions: June, 2016

Emails to submit proposals: (Please put “Interspeech special session proposal NAME/ACRONYM” in the subject line).