iConference 2012 | Doctoral Colloquium

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Participation in the Doctoral Student Colloquium is restricted to students who have applied for and been accepted into the colloquium. The colloquium will not be open to observers.

View a pdf of the 2012 Doctoral Colloquium program.

Overview
Schedule
Print Program
Pre-conference Particiption Instructions
How the Colloquium will be Conducted
Support for Participation
Timeline
Doctoral Colloquium Co-Chairs
Doctoral Colloquium Mentors
Answers and Updates

Overview: “i” as in Inquiry

The 2012 doctoral colloquium is being organized around the theme of “inquiry.” The doctoral colloquium will provide doctoral students with the opportunity to present their work to senior faculty and one another in a setting that is relatively informal but that allows for the fullest of intellectual exchanges. Students will receive feedback on their dissertation and/or current research from participating faculty and student peers. The colloquium benefits student participants by helping extend their intellectual community, challenging their thinking about their dissertation topics, allowing them to share their issues that they have faced in their specific inquiry, enhancing their progress towards proposal and dissertation defense, and strengthening their publication records and job prospects.

Schedule

The doctoral colloquium takes place Friday, February 10. The schedule will be as follows:

8:00-9:00: Breakfast and socializing
9:00-9:15: Opening comments, overview of schedule and introduction of mentors
9:15-10:30: Participant introductions – every student speaks for ~3 minutes about their research and their questions and expectations of the colloquium
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:30: Session – breakout groups of 4-5 participants meet separately with mentors to discuss their research
12:30-1:30: Working lunch – informal discussions with mentors
1:30-3:00: Breakout groups continue their discussions, with a focus on career planning
3:00-3:15: Break
3:15-4:15: Open discussion of academic life, lingering questions
4:15-5:00 Students report back on what they have learned

Print Program

Click here to view a pdf of the 2012 Doctoral Colloquium program.

Pre-conference Participation Instructions

Please read the following requirements carefully; many are time-sensitive.

All doctoral colloquium participants should plan to cover their own expenses up front (including air travel, accommodation at the conference hotel, and registration at the early rate), and then apply for reimbursement after the conference. Reimbursement may be limited, as described below.
All participants should register for the iConference by Dec. 15, 2011 at the student early-registration rate of $225 CAD. Participants who register after that date will be required to cover the cost-difference between early and standard registration rates. There is no special code needed to register.
All participants should book a room at the official conference hotel, taking advantage of our special conference rate. Financial support will not be provided for lodging at venues other than the official conference hotel. Please note that space is limited, so book your room as soon as possible.
Correcting some earlier miscommunications: Like all iConference registrants, doctoral colloquium participants may sign up for one full-day workshop or up to two half-day workshops, subject to space availability. Also, the fee to attend the Awards Banquet is $30 for students (not $10 as mentioned in an earlier email).
Thanks to a generous grant from the National Science Foundation, doctoral colloquium participants will receive financial assistance, helping offset many of the costs associated with attending--specifically registration fees (which also cover breakfast and lunch), accommodation, and some air travel costs. The conference may not be able to cover all costs, especially for those who travel from overseas. The exact amount of coverage will ultimately depend on how many people attend with what costs. We will cover your registration at the early registration rate, accommodation at the official conference hotel, and as much of your air travel as the budget allows. Doctoral colloquium participants will receive reimbursement information and forms at the conference registration desk, along with their other conference materials. In the meantime, please save your original receipts for conference-related expenses.
Please supply questions by Jan. 2, 2012, that you would like to ask faculty members, or topics that you would like to discuss. These might relate to issues of undertaking your particular research project, analyzing data, or presenting findings in a thesis, a paper, a presentation, or a job talk. Topics might also be about the aspects of applying for and engaging in an academic or professional career. Send these questions to the DC co-chair, Hamid Ekbia.
Please also send the name of a faculty mentor with whom you would like to interact at the DC by Jan. 2, 2012. Although we cannot invite all the mentors named, we will try our best to get as many of them as possible. Send the name to the DC co-chair, Hamid Ekbia.
Participants are asked to provide a photo of themselves by Jan 2, 2012, to be published along with their research statement in a booklet that will be circulated to all iConference participants. This should be a high-definition image (minimum 300 dpi). Send the image to Andrew Drummond.
It is our intention to publish the research statement that you provided along with your participation application in the doctoral colloquium booklet. If you would prefer that a different statement be used, you must send us a revised version by Jan. 2, 2012. It should be 500 words or less. Send revised research statements to Andrew Drummond.
Participants should prepare a brief, informal presentation about your research that will be given to a group of faculty mentors and fellow student participants at the doctoral colloquium. This should last NO LONGER THAN 5 minutes. Both faculty and other doctoral student participants will provide feedback. Discussion will be encouraged.
Please note that 2012 doctoral colloquium participants will NOT make presentations in the iConference poster session, unless they have already submitted a proposal during the submission phase and received notice of acceptance from the Posters Chair. This is a departure from our process in previous colloquia, which is why we are making this clarification.

How the Colloquium will be Conducted

The 2012 iConference will take place in Toronto, Canada, February 7 through 10, 2012. Doctoral colloquium participants are expected to take part in the entire conference; the colloquium itself will be an all-day event taking place on Friday, February 10.

The colloquium will be conducted in an informal and interactive manner. Each student participating in the doctoral colloquium will give a brief, informal introduction of their research to the group of faculty mentors and their fellow student participants. Both faculty and other doctoral student participants will provide feedback. Discussion will be encouraged.

Feedback will be geared toward helping student participants understand and articulate the following:

How their work is positioned in the information field relative to other research.
Whether their topics are adequately focused for dissertation research projects.
Whether their methods are appropriately chosen and applied.
How they have dealt with the particular methodological issues that have arisen in their inquiry.
How two (or more) distinct disciplines inform their project.
Where appropriate, implications of their research findings for teaching and learning.

Student and faculty participants may come from many fields that feed into the information field, and have expertise in different methods and literatures. We therefore intend the discussion to have a productive “workshop-like” tone, alerting participants to related literature and projects and showing how various methodological and theoretical issues are dealt with. As interdisciplinary researchers, students will need to acquire the skills of explaining the significance of their research to very disparate audiences.

At the end of the day, we will hold a closing plenary session in which the faculty mentors will discuss various professional issues, such as the job market, getting grants to support research, negotiating work-life balance, and developing one’s research program post-PhD.

Support for Participation

Thanks to a generous grant from the National Science Foundation, we will be able to help accepted Doctoral Colloquium participants defray many of the costs associated with attending iConference 2012. As in the past, participants should plan to cover their own expenses up front (including travel, hotel, and registration fees), and then apply for reimbursement after the conference. Doctoral colloquium participants will receive reimbursement information and forms at the conference registration desk, along with their other conference materials. In the meantime, please save your original receipts for conference-related expenses.

Timeline

DC participant conference registration deadline: Dec. 15, 2011
Hotel reservation deadline: ASAP (note that we have a limited room block, and only stays at the conference hotel are eligible for lodging subsidy).
Due date for questions, mentor names, photos, and updated research statements: Jan. 9, 2012.

Doctoral Colloquium Co-Chairs

Hamid R. Ekbia, Indiana University
Howard Rosenbaum, Indiana University

Doctoral Colloquium Mentors

Dr. Wendy Duff
Dr. Karen Fisher
Dr. Steve Jackson
Dr. Bonnie Nardi
Dr. Brian C. Smith

Answers and Updates

Questions about the doctoral colloquium program should be directed to Co-Chairs . and .. Logistical questions having to do with the conference in general should be addressed to to Conference Coordinator .. Questions regarding travel and visa documents should be directed to Andrew Drummond.