“The Next Generation of AT and eAccessibility Experts”

Idea and Goal

Identification and support of "the next generation of experts" ensures the further development of Assistive Technology (AT) and eAccessibility as well as research continuity. 

ICCHP is dedicated to this goal and invites young researchers to take part in the ICCHP Young Researchers Consortium.
The aim of this Consortium is to reach out to and engage with young researchers who are starting out to be part of the AT/eAccessibility field (see topics of ICCHP).
The YRC enables its attendees to connect with the community and to consider a long-term commitment. 

We ask leaders in our field, supervisors of outstanding young researchers (at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, in diploma, masters, PhD programs or in application oriented research in companies) with a strong relation to AT and eAccessibility to invite, guide, motivate and support these individuals to participate and submit a contribution!

Objectives

YRC allows Young Researchers to:

• Learn from experienced researchers in the field. The aim is to give the young researchers an understanding of - the history and the breadth of AT - research. This will be achieved through presentations and hands-on workshops given by experienced researchers and also by focused interaction between the experienced and the young researchers.
• Present their research work and to receive constructive criticism and feedback from their peers and experienced researchers. This will be achieved by each participant giving a short presentation of his/her current work. Presentations will be reviewed in small workshop groups led by experienced researchers. The best contributions will be invited to present in a plenary session of ICCHP.
• Discuss the future of AT research by identifying trends and hot topics in the area -- in effect to suggest a 10-year agenda for the future of AT research. This will be achieved by group workshops that examine future trends in AT.

Particularly significant work for ICCHP YRC will be published in an open journal (to be confirmed)

Timeframe

The YRC will be organized as a full 2 days workshop during ICCHP preconference, starting Monday, July 11, 2016.
For Young Researchers, participation in ICCHP sessions is for free - we encourage our Young Researchers to attend and connect to ICCHP activities and attendants!
Nevertheless, we will also have further discussions on selected topics and meetings with drivers in the area!

For exact dates (Paper submission, notification of acceptance etc), check http://www.icchp.org/key-dates-16!

Who should take part

Young researchers are typically under 30 years of age and tackling their first or second major AT research or development project.
They are based at universities, research institutes, companies or other organizations.

The workshop will be held in English and young researchers should be able to answer questions and discuss their projects in English.

Research presented and discussed must be original, individual work.
Group applications will be rejected, although it is recognised that young researchers may be members of and supervised by a research team.
If the research is the result of group work and other members of the group would like to apply, too, each member must apply independently and present his/her own unique part of the research.

Exclusion Criteria

Excluded are:

• Research projects that have not yet begun and are just draft / ideas.
  The minimum expectation is that the young researcher has carried out a literature review on the topic, has identified research questions to pursue and methodologies to use.
• Researchers with more than five publications.
• Researchers who want to take part in other activities (e.g., workshops, seminars, tutorials, meetings, etc.) taking place at the same time ICCHP 2016 - YRC.
  A full time presence at the YRC sessions is required!
• Submissions to the YRC that are not significantly different from work submitted to the main ICCHP conference.

Support for Young Researchers

ICCHP 2016 covers accommodation (Hotel Sommerhaus) for up to 5 nights for up to 16 selected young researchers.
Participation in ICCHP main conference is free for YRC participants.
We expect young researchers or their supervising/employing institutes to support travel costs.
In particular we want to invite young researchers with disabilities and aim to guarantee a high standard of accessibility for this workshop.

Applying for YRC

Prospective deadline for abstracts is May 8, 2016.
Prospective notification of acceptance is due May 15, 2016.

Submissions

A typical submission is an abstract of the research work carried out.
Use the following structure / headings:

• Introduction including research question(s)
• Literature Review (we put a very strong focus on this)
• Methodology
• Description of the current state of YR's work
• References

The abstract must be 3 pages in length (including figures and references) in LNCS format. Figures must be described within the text for screen reader access.