Call for Workshops

The Pervasive 2011 Workshop Co-Chairs and Organizing Committee invite proposals for the workshop program of the 9th International Conference on Pervasive Computing. Workshops provide a forum for people to discuss areas of special interest within pervasive computing with like-minded researchers and practitioners. Workshops afford the participants the opportunity to examine an area with a selected focus in an open environment for the free exchange of views. The day-long workshops will be held prior to the main conference on Sunday, June 12, 2011. For details of the main conference see: http://pervasiveconference.org/2011/

Important Workshop Dates

Workshop Organization

Pervasive workshops are dynamic and intimate forums in which to explore and discuss topics in depth. We therefore encourage having an international team of organizers for a workshop who are from different institutions and represent a variety of perspectives. We aim for a balanced workshop program offering a diverse set of themes. Because of the unique opportunity for discussion this forum offers, we encourage workshop plans that emphasize interactive components, group activities, and discussion over those that focus on individual talks.

Organizers should be active themselves in the field in which they propose a workshop. All listed organizers are expected to attend those workshops they are organizing; i.e., do not include a potential organizer who may not be present at the workshop. Any change to the workshop organization team must be submitted in writing at least two weeks prior to the position paper deadline for individual workshops (January 28, 2011). No changes to the workshop organization team can be made after this date to ensure that potential participants submitting position papers to workshops are aware of the final organization team.

Please feel free to discuss ideas for a workshop proposal by email with the workshop chairs prior to submission.

Proposal Submission Process

Please email your proposal to pervasive11.workshop@gmail.com

For pre-proposal submission inquiries contact either of the workshop co-chairs, Mirco Musolesi or Alexander Varshavsky, if you would like to discuss a workshop proposal (email: pervasive11.workshop@gmail.com).

We solicit workshops in all areas related to Pervasive Computing. In particular we would like to encourage workshops focused on new and emerging research directions, novel and highly innovative themes, real-world topics, system or interaction topics and interdisciplinary themes.

Proposal Content

  1. A cover page including:
    • Workshop title
    • Name, affiliation, postal address, and e-mail address for each organizer
    • Identification of the primary contact person(s)
  2. Background and Motivation: What is the overall topic of the workshop? Why is this topic of particular interest at this time? If the workshop has been organized in the past at Pervasive or other conferences, please give details of previous instances (venue, URL) and describe why it should be held again and how it will extend and build upon previous ones.
  3. Objectives: What are the objectives that the workshop aims to achieve? Objectives may include but are not limited to (a) targeting a predefined set of focus questions, (b) presenting alternate views on a particular issue that is of concern to the Pervasive Computing community and attempting to resolve the issue, (c) identifying priorities for new directions of research, and/or (d) initiating the appropriate collaborations and building community around a theme of interest. If you have a plan to produce a book or a journal special issue as a result of your workshop, please indicate these plans.
  4. Format: Give a description of the proposed workshop format, including the target number of participants, planned activities (such as introductions, invited talks, breakout group activities, demos, general discussion), as well as how these activities address the workshop objectives. Preference will be given to proposals for activities designed to fuel discussion and interaction among participants; workshops consisting solely of paper presentations are discouraged. Provide a preliminary schedule with estimated times. Design your schedule for a length of 6 hours (full-day workshop) with a lunch break and two coffee breaks.
  5. Soliciting Submissions: Indicate how you plan to attract submissions and/or participants. Tactics may include creating a workshop web page, circulating a call to relevant mailing lists, and publicizing your workshop at other relevant venues.
  6. Selecting Participants: Indicate how you plan to select participants and contributions to the workshop. Describe the relevant criteria and/or review process that will be used to select position papers. Indicate if you are planning to have a program committee to help with the organization/review process or whether reviewing and selection will be conducted solely by the organizers. Having a program committee is strongly encouraged since it typically increases the appeal of the workshop and ensures a more rigorous peer-review process.
  7. Organizers: Give short descriptions of each of the organizers' background and interests related to pervasive computing and the specific workshop topic.

Workshop Selection

Workshop proposals will be peer-reviewed by the Co-Chairs and a committee of experts based on the criteria described above. We aim to select a diverse set of workshops and avoid having multiple workshops on overlapping themes. Organizers of selected workshops will be asked to produce a Call for Papers to describe the workshop to potential participants and solicit submissions.

Workshop Support

The Pervasive 2011 conference will support the workshops in the following ways:

Workshop Co-Chairs

Mirco Musolesi, University of St. Andrews, UK
Alexander Varshavsky, AT&T Labs, USA
Email :