---SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED---

Access PCS submission system here

Follow the above link to Precision Conference Solutions (PCS). Make an account and make a new submission to HRI → HRI 2024 → HRI 2024 PIONEERS. Good luck!

Call for Submissions

Submission: Anonymized Extended Abstract

An anonymized, two-page extended abstract in which the applicant ties together their past, current, and/or proposed work, within the context of the overarching research question(s) addressed by their work. This may be followed by up to one page of references. The references page is not counted as part of the two-page total.

All papers for the conference must be submitted in PDF format and conform to the ACM SIG proceedings specifications. Authors can find templates and other general guidelines regarding formatting under “Format and Submission” on the HRI submission instructions.

The extended abstract should cover:

• - a short (guideline: approximately 100-150 words) abstract. This “abstract in the abstract” is required for ACM Digital Library records,
• - key research questions addressed by the applicant’s research, drawing on past, current, and proposed work,
• - background and related work that informs the research,
• - the research approach and methodology, and
• - results to date (if any) and a description of remaining work.

For undergraduate students, a description of your own work on a previous project with clear ties to the field, potential implications, and proposed work is permissible. For graduate students, applications should include past work if applicable, current and future research plans, and an explanation of their relevance to a broader research question. Authors are strongly encouraged to consult prior years’ submissions to understand the scope and focus of HRI Pioneers submissions. Submissions should not be a shortened summary of any previous published work or in-submission work.

Publications should be fully anonymized at the time of submission. Please follow the anonymization guidelines for the main HRI conference, except for your own prior work section. As we encourage you to highlight your own prior work, please describe your prior works in first person but anonymize the work in the reference section. This can be done by omitting the Title and Author, for example: "[31] Title and authors omitted for anonymous review. 2020. In ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction."

In order to support those among us who need accessible PDFs, HRI is working to improve the accessibility of our PDF proceedings and review process. We are asking all authors to make an effort to make their submissions more accessible at every point in the submission process. Authors are encouraged to review the extended call for papers for detailed accessibility instructions.

Submission: CV

A 2-page CV will be required as part of the submission process. Undergraduate students without laboratory experience can include coursework or skills that are relevant to their project. Graduate students should include laboratory experience and any publications/presentations that are applicable.

Submission: Personal and Diversity Statement

Finally, we value a diversity of perspectives, experiences, and research areas to be represented among HRI Pioneers. Therefore, the submission process will include a personal and diversity statement. How do you see your attendance and perspective benefiting yourself, your fellow Pioneers, and your Community? Examples of a community could be a local group (e.g. your school or hometown) or a broader affinity group (e.g. gender identity, ethnic background, country of origin, research community, etc.). If provided, the statement should be no more than 250 words. In particular, this statement may be used by the Program Committee to help differentiate among applications following the initial review and meta-review of the extended abstracts. Providing this statement is completely optional, and will only be considered after reviewing the extended abstracts. The statement will only be shared within the organisation of the workshop.

REVIEW

The HRI Pioneers Workshop will evaluate submissions on the following criteria, in order:

• - The quality of the (anonymized) research statement. All submissions meeting the formatting guidelines will receive at least 2 reviews and 1 meta-review. These can come from HRI Pioneers Alumni and current industry or academic researchers in the HRI community. Reviewers will not share an institution with the applicant nor have access to the applicant's CV [and statement]. Reviews will cover the following sub-criteria: scientific merit, impact of current and/or proposed work, clarity of writing, and novelty, in addition to overall merit and fit.
• - The expected benefits of the workshop for the student's research and career. Many pioneers will be working towards a milestone, such as an internship, research pivot, or graduation.
• - The student's contribution to a cohort that represents a diverse set of research topics, backgrounds, approaches, and perspectives. In practice: we do not expect more than 2 students to be invited per institution, nor do we expect a large subset of the cohort to be researching the same sub-field of HRI. In addition, we especially encourage groups historically excluded from HRI research to apply.

The number of accepted submissions is limited entirely by our funding constraints, as our goal is to cover travel, lodging, and registration expenses for every accepted Pioneer. In the past, this has translated to between 15 and 25 participants. Based on restrictions imposed by our funding sources, approximately half of accepted participants come from US-based institutions, and we will accept at least one undergraduate Pioneer. Therefore, undergraduate applications may be considered separately from graduate students, and applications from US-based institutions may be considered separately from those from non-US institutions.

PUBLICATION & ATTENDANCE

All students with accepted submissions are expected to attend the Pioneers Workshop. The following presentation components will be expected by the camera-ready deadline:

• - A 1-minute "teaser" video showcasing the student and their work
• - A poster (size A0 portrait) that will be presented during both the Workshop and the Main HRI Conference
• - The camera-ready de-anonymized 2-page abstract, which will be published in the companion proceedings to the HRI 2024 conference

A detailed program for the workshop and the participation guidelines for the poster session will be available after the camera-ready deadline. While the extended abstract will be part of the conference proceedings, it is generally not considered an "archival" publication, in that the proposed work can (and hopefully will!) later be submitted as a full conference or journal paper. Other contributors may be added as co-authors, but the presented prior and proposed work should be that of the applicant.