Travel: Student Travel Support Program for the 64th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC 2025)

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support students from institutions of higher learning in the United States to participate in the 64th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 9–12, 2025. The CDC has been for over fifty years the world's leading annual forum for scientific and engineering researchers interested in systems and control theory and the foundations of automation technology. As in previous years, the CDC will feature presentations of contributed and invited papers, tutorial sessions, plenary and semi-plenary sessions, and pre-conference workshops. We anticipate that the conference will draw over 1,500 participants, including more than 500 students. Recognizing the importance of students to the present and future of the IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS), this proposal seeks continued NSF support to facilitate student travel and engagement through the longstanding student travel award program. The topics covered at the annual CDC span a broad spectrum, reflecting the many applications of control and systems theory. The systems-theoretic approach has played a central role in advancing technologies that impact daily life, from managing communication networks and transportation systems to ensuring the robustness and efficiency of cyber-physical systems. Tools from systems and control theory are now essential in addressing modern challenges such as optimizing large-scale networks, enhancing security and resilience, and integrating learning-based methods into feedback and decision-making processes. The CDC provides students with unique opportunities for intellectual growth, professional development, and community engagement. The conference includes numerous student-centered activities such as a Newcomers' Reception to welcome first-time attendees, a Meet the Faculty Candidate Poster Session to highlight job-seeking students, a Networking Breakfast, and the CSS NextCom Early Career Welcome Event and Orientation. These structured events are designed to help graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career professionals build peer networks, receive mentorship, and plan their conference participation effectively. This environment supports rigorous technical training and strengthens the pipeline of highly skilled researchers and practitioners in the United States. By enabling students to engage with global leaders in systems and control, this program enhances U.S. scientific leadership and contributes to the development of advanced technologies critical to national priorities in areas such as energy, transportation, defense, and infrastructure. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.