NeTS: Student Travel Support for the 2017 SIGCOMM Conference

University Of Memphis, Memphis TN

Investigators

Abstract

The 2017 ACM SIGCOMM conference is held from August 21 to August 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA. This award assists 25 US-based graduate students to attend this conference and associated workshops at SIGCOMM 2017. Participation in conferences such as SIGCOMM forms a central part of the graduate school experience as it provides students with an opportunity to interact with senior researchers from academia and industry and exposes them to leading-edge research in the field. SIGCOMM stands unique in its emphasis on interactions between networking researchers at an international level, and attending SIGCOMM presents an excellent opportunity for US graduate students to connect with a thriving international research community. In addition to attending the conference and associated workshops, SIGCOMM offers additional benefits to students. A mentorship program assigns junior students with a more senior mentor at the conference. At 'preview sessions' students are briefed on topics prior to attending the session talks. The response to both of these has been extremely positive. SIGCOMM exposes students to new ideas in emerging research areas and allows them to interact with other researchers thereby broadening their intellectual horizons. In particular, the mentorship program and topic preview sessions help ensure students are engaged and get maximum benefit from attending the conference. Broader Impacts: This project integrates research and education of students through exposure to a premier technical meeting in computer networks and communications. Students will have the opportunity to observe high-quality presentations and interact with senior researchers in the field both in the main conference and the associated workshops. The proposed student participation is expected to have a positive impact on the quality of their research. The travel grant co-chairs are committed to encouraging the participation of women and under-represented minorities. The SIGCOMM conference, as a top-tier international conference, presents a tremendous opportunity for students to expand their breadth of ideas, research skills, and technical perspectives.