ESEC/FSE Student Research Competition 2017

ESEC/FSE 2017 will host an ACM Student Research Competition (SRC), sponsored by Microsoft Research. This competition offers undergraduate and graduate students a unique forum to experience the research world, present their research results to conference attendees, and compete for prizes.

The ACM SRC at ESEC/FSE 2017 consists of three parts: (1) research abstract submission, (2) poster presentation, and (3) a research talk. The first-place winners of the competition will be invited to participate in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals.

Participate in this exciting competition: Submit your work to the ACM Student Research Competition at ESEC/FSE 2017. Win a travel stipend to attend the ESEC/FSE conference in Paderborn, Germany!

How to Participate: Submit a Research Abstract

To participate in the competition, submit a 2-page research abstract related to the main themes of the conference (see the Research Track for a list of conference topics). The submission should describe: the research problem and motivation, background and related work, approach and uniqueness, results, and contributions. Papers will be judged based on how well they cover these aspects of the work.

The research abstract must conform at time of submission to the ESEC/FSE 2017 Format and Submission Guidelines, and must not exceed 2 pages, including all text, appendices, and figures. However, please note that for this SRC, references do not count against the 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 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 submission site by June 9, 2017. A panel of experts will review the submissions and select the students to participate in the Student Research Competition, which will be held at ESEC/FSE 2017 in Paderborn, Germany. Accepted submissions will be published in the conference electronic proceedings, which will also be available as a printed proceedings.

Students who are selected to participate in the main competition at the ESEC/FSE conference round are entitled to a stipend for their travel expenses, up to a maximum of US$500.

First Round Competition: Present a Poster

The first round of the competition will take place in Paderborn, Germany at the ESEC/FSE 2017 conference and will be a poster session. This is your opportunity to present your research to conference attendees and leading experts in the software engineering fields, including the SRC committee.

Judges will review the posters and speak to participants about their research. The judges will evaluate the research (quality, novelty, and significance) and the presentation of the research (poster, discussion) and select students to advance to the second round of the competition.

Second Round Competition: Give a Presentation

Select students will continue by giving a short presentation of their research before a panel of judges in a special session at the ESEC/FSE 2017 conference in Paderborn, Germany. After each presentation, there will be a short question and answer session.

Evaluations are based on the presenter’s knowledge of his/her research area, contribution of the research, and the quality of the oral and visual presentation. At most three winners will be chosen in each category, undergraduate and graduate, and receive prizes.

The SRC Grand Finals

The first-place winner in each category (undergraduate and graduate) from the SRC held at ESEC/FSE 2017 will advance to the 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. They are invited, along with their advisors, to the annual ACM Awards Banquet, where they receive formal recognition.

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: Note that the official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of ESEC/FSE 2017. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.

At least one author of each accepted paper must register and present the paper at ESEC/FSE 2017 in order for the paper to be published in the proceedings. One-day registrations do NOT satisfy the registration requirement. Please carefully read the complete list of ESEC/FSE Submission Policies and Policies for Accepted Contributions.

For More Information

For additional information, visit the official ACM Student Research Competition website. For questions, please contact Walter Binder and Kim Herzig.

Frequently Asked Questions

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 the judges use to evaluate the abstract/research?

The judges will assess research abstracts based on four criteria: Problem and motivation, Background and related work, Approach and uniqueness, and Results and contribution. For the poster presentation, the criteria are Oral presentation, Visual presentation, Research methods, and Significance of contribution. For the conference presentation, the criteria are Knowledge of research area, Contribution of research, and Presentation.

Q: I noticed that first round participants receive a travel reimbursement of up to $500. Will the participants also qualify for a registration waiver and/or free/discounted student lodging?

There is no registration waiver and no free/discounted student lodging for first round participants of the SRC. Students will still have to pay for conference registration and lodging, for which they can use the travel stipend. However, there are additional programs to help students keep the cost down (the programs can be combined with SRC). Consider applying as a student volunteer. SIGSOFT will provide student travel support through the CAPS program.

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. Participate in a SRC at conference that is related to your research. 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 competition at the SIGCSE conference.

Q: What are the dates of the competition?

The poster session will be on September 7, and the talk session (finals) will be on September 8. The Award ceremony will also be on Semptember 8 (see program).

Sponsor

Important Dates

  • Paper Submission: June 9, 2017 (23:59:59 AOE, AOE Time Reference)
  • Notification: July 3, 2017
  • Camera-Ready Version: July 14, 2017

ACM Student Research Competition Chairs

ACM Student Research Competition Committee

  • Luciano Baresi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
  • Ben Hermann, Paderborn University, Germany
  • Michael Pradel, TU Darmstadt, Germany
  • Margaret-Anne Storey, University of Victoria, Canada