CFP

AAAI-26 DC: AAAI-26 Doctoral Consortium

Singapore EXPO

Singapore, Singapore, January 20-21, 2026

Conference website	https://aaai.org/conference/aaai/aaai-26/doctoral-consortium-call/
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=aaai26dc
Submission deadline	September 30, 2025

Topics: artificial intelligence doctoral consortium

AAAI and ACM/SIGAI invite students to apply for the Thirty-first AAAI/SIGAI Doctoral Consortium. The Doctoral Consortium (DC) provides an opportunity for a group of Ph.D. students to discuss and explore their research interests and career objectives with a panel of established researchers in artificial intelligence. The consortium has the following objectives: (1) to provide a setting for feedback on participants’ current research and guidance on future research directions; (2) to develop a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research; (3) to support a new generation of diverse researchers by offering advice about academic, research, industry, and nontraditional career paths; and (4) to contribute to the overall conference goals, through interactions with other researchers and through participation in conference events.

The Doctoral Consortium will be held as a workshop on January 20-21, 2026, immediately before the start of the main AAAI conference. Student participants in the Doctoral Consortium will receive complimentary conference registration.

Application Instructions

Eligibility: Any current PhD student is welcome to apply, and we encourage submissions from all parts of the world.

Please combine the first four documents into one PDF document, formatted for A4 or US letter paper. Please submit your application materials via the online Doctoral Consortium submission site. Be mindful of the page limits, 6 pages in total (1-page cover sheet, 2-page thesis summary, 2-page CV, 1-page personal statement). Please use the AAAI author kit for the Thesis Summary; other components (Cover Sheet, CV, Personal Statement) may be submitted in a single column format of your choice using a minimum font size of 11pt.

1. Cover Sheet

A one-page information sheet that includes the following:

Your full name
Contact details (mailing address, email address, daytime phone number)
Affiliation: department, university, country
Home page (URL, with a photo for a full professional academic webpage)
Country of Citizenship
Expected graduation date
Your thesis advisor’s full name
Your thesis advisor’s contact details (title, department, affiliation, mailing address and email address)
(Optional but strongly suggested) List of up to 5 people in the AAAI community you would suggest as a mentor for yourself during the AAAI Doctoral Consortium
List of up to 5 keywords to help us select reviewers for your application
List of past Doctoral Consortia in which you have participated
List of other Doctoral Consortia that you are applying to for 2026

2. Thesis Summary

A two-page extended abstract that summarizes the research questions being investigated, highlights important related work, describes the proposed research plan and anticipated thesis contribution, and includes a brief timeline. Be mindful of the following:

Describe your progress as of the date of submission (September 30, 2025), and your anticipated progress by the workshop date (January 20-21, 2026), being careful to distinguish between work that has already been accomplished and work that remains to be done.
Clearly identify which work is done by you, and which work is done by collaborators, such as your thesis supervisor and/or other students in your research group (if there are any). It is okay to use the first person voice in the thesis summary.
Include a title for your work (please do not title it “Thesis Summary”).
Remember that the audience for your thesis summary includes people who are knowledgeable about AI, but are not necessarily experts in the specific topic of your thesis. Introduce the content at a high enough level so that the general AAAI audience can understand your story, but also include enough low-level detail so that the experts will appreciate your unique contribution.
The thesis summary MUST be 2 pages, in AAAI 2-column format, including references. Yes, this is tricky to do — but learning how to produce a concise statement of your thesis research is very important!

3. Curriculum Vitae

Include a CV (at most 2 pages) that describes your background and relevant experience (research, education, employment). Include a list of your publications, if you have any. Also include any pending submissions at AI conferences (such as AAAI-26) and journals.

4. Personal Statement

A short (1 page) statement of what you expect to gain from presenting and participating in the DC, as well as what you think you can contribute to the DC. Indicate if you have previously participated in doctoral consortia at other conferences (if so, which ones and when), and if you are applying to other DC(s) for 2026.

Advisor’s Supplementary Information Form

A request will be emailed to your thesis advisor asking them to provide supplementary information about you by completing a separate form. The form will contain questions about (1) the current status of your thesis research and progress through your graduate program, (2) why your advisor would like you to participate in the DC, (3) what your advisor believes you can contribute to the DC, (4) if you are applying to other DCs for 2026, and (5) what level of financial support your advisor is able to provide for your participation. Note that a letter of recommendation is NOT required (and none will be accepted).

Review Process

The Doctoral Consortium organizing committee solicits applications covering any topic area and methodology within Artificial Intelligence. Applications will be reviewed according to the following criteria: clarity and completeness of submission packet, evidence of research progress (such as published papers and/or technical reports), assessment of contribution to and benefit from participating in the DC, and advisor’s input.

At the Conference

All participants selected to present their work at the Doctoral Consortium are expected to be present throughout the consortium. Our experience has been that participants gain almost as much by interacting with their peers as by having their presentations critiqued by the panel of established researchers. As such, we expect a commitment from participating students to attend the entire two-day DC programme.

In addition, all students attending AAAI are invited to observe the Doctoral Consortium, whether or not they apply to present their work. It can be a tremendous learning experience to watch peers make presentations, as well as listen to invited speakers or panel discussions. (Note: Non-students are also very welcome to attend.)

Support for Participation

Depending on funding availability and your advisor’s input, AAAI may provide some combination of free conference registration and travel funding to facilitate selected participation in the DC. Concrete offers of support will be made after the acceptance notifications.

Committees

Program Committee (TBA)

Organizing committee

Jasper Lee (University of California, Davis)
Roland Yap (National University of Singapore)

Contact

Inquiries concerning doctoral consortium submissions and suggestions may be directed to the doctoral consortium co-chairs at aaai26dcchairs@aaai.org. All other inquiries should be directed to AAAI at aaai26@aaai.org.