Doctoral Colloquium

Doctoral Colloquium

The iConference Doctoral Colloquium provides doctoral students the opportunity to present their work and engage with their peers and faculty members in a setting that is relatively informal, but allows for high-quality intellectual interactions.

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Overview

During iConference 2027, participation in the Doctoral Colloquia will be restricted to those students who have applied and been accepted; the colloquia will not be open to observers.

Applications to participate in our Doctoral Colloquia are encouraged from any and all doctoral students. We are seeking broad representation, and participation is not limited to students from member iSchools; Ph.D. students from any university are encouraged to apply.

Conditions: Please note that accepted applicants must register during the Early Bird registration period for the conference to take part in the Doctoral Colloquium at iConference 2027. The organizers reserve the right to withdraw the acceptance if these conditions are not met.

Virtual and Onsite

We are offering two Doctoral Colloquia: one on-site in Wellington, New Zealand, and one virtual.

We want to give all applicants the option to choose the format that is most convenient.

We welcome applications from around the world to join us in Wellington, if you are able to travel. For those who cannot attend in person, we will provide the opportunity to participate online during the virtual part of the conference. This approach will help us better meet the needs of our Doctoral Colloquium participants. It is not possible to participate in both formats.

The program for both the virtual and on-site sessions is prepared by the Track Chairs. One session, usually the first, is typically planned for getting to know each other in both formats. The Track Chairs decide whether and how any follow-up sessions will be scheduled. Their names and contact details can be found at the end of this website.

Please indicate your preferred participation format in the application. If you need to change formats at any point before the iConference starts (for example, switching from on-site to virtual because your visa application was denied), please email admin@ischools-inc.org.

Application

Student participants in each of our doctoral colloquia will be selected by the chair committee. Application materials will be submitted as a single pdf document to our ConfTool submission site by 20 October 2026. All materials must be in English, and include the following two sections:

Section 1: A short introductory statement explaining:

who the applicant is, their institutional affiliation, supervisors, and (provisional) thesis title;
the applicant's preference of participation: onsite or online
the applicant’s interest in the colloquium;
the applicant’s current stage of their graduate career (beginning, completion of required courses or initial candidacy stage, full doctoral status, data collection and analysis, about to submit thesis etc);
an explanation of what they hope to get out of attendance at the doctoral colloquium.

Section 2: A research statement of no more than 500 words describing their dissertation project.

Participation and Format

Accepted applicants must register during the Early Bird registration period for the conference in order to participate in the Doctoral Colloquium at iConference 2027.

More details regarding preparations for the virtual and on-site sessions will be provided prior to the session via email.

The program for both the virtual and on-site sessions is prepared by the Track Chairs. One session, usually the first, is typically planned as an opportunity for participants to get to know each other in both formats. Updates will be posted here and sent via email to all accepted doctoral students, according to their chosen format.