Workshop: i-Conference Doctoral Research Colloquium October 16-17, 2006 in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This is funding to support a doctoral research colloquium (workshop) of 25-30 dissertation stage doctoral students in the field of Information for a day of talks and interaction with 9-10 faculty members who are distinguished Information researchers. The event will take place in conjunction with and immediately preceding the 2006 i-Conference, the second conference in what the organizers hope will become an annual event that brings together faculty and students from the new "Information Schools." The first i-Conference was held last year at Pennsylvania State University. About 300 faculty, students, and guests attended that conference, which was successful in building a sense of community around the new Information field and the i-school vision, bringing together people who might not otherwise engage with one another, to share their views associated with interdisciplinary research. Last year's conference included a Doctoral Student Poster Session, which was very well attended. This year's i-Conference will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 16-17, and will include an expanded Doctoral Research Colloquium as indicated above on October 15. The goals of the colloquium are: to build a cohort group of new researchers who will then have a network of colleagues spread out across the world; to guide the work of the new researchers by having experts in the research field give advice; to provide encouragement and support for the selection of Information research topics; to illustrate the interrelationship and diversity of the field of Information; and to make it possible for promising new entrants in the field to attend the i-Conference and have an enjoyable and rewarding experience so that they will return and submit papers, panels, posters, etc. in future years. Student participants will be selected by a faculty review committee based on materials submitted by applicants in response to a call for participation; care will be taken to ensure that the colloquium is an equal opportunity event. In three parallel sessions, student participants will present their work and a faculty panel will provide feedback that is geared to helping the students understand and articulate how their work is positioned relative to other research, whether their topics are adequately focused for thesis research projects, whether their methods are correctly chosen and applied, and whether their results are appropriately analyzed and presented. At the end of the day, the group will convene in a plenary session at which various professional issues such as being in the job market and getting grants to support research, will also be discussed. The student papers will be published in a booklet that will be circulated to attendees at the conference. Broader Impacts: The doctoral research colloquium will help expand the participation of young researchers pursuing graduate studies in this field, by providing them an opportunity to gain wider exposure in the community for their innovative work and to obtain feedback and guidance from senior members of the research community. It will further help foster a sense of community among these young researchers, by allowing them to create a social network both among themselves and with senior researchers at a critical stage in their professional development. Since the students and faculty constitute a diverse group on several dimensions (nationality, scientific roots, methods), the students' horizons are broadened at a critical stage in their professional development, to the future benefit of the field.