Goal

The 2019 IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification, and Validation features a one-day PhD Symposium track with the following goals: (1) to provide constructive feedback and guidance to doctoral students whose dissertation research is related to software testing, verification, and validation; (2) to develop a supportive community of researchers and identify potential collaborators; (3) and to facilitate interaction between students and established researchers and practitioners in the field. The Symposium will also include insightful keynote presentations from established researchers.

Call for Submissions

The symposium invites PhD students at all stages of their studies, from first year students to those ready for their final dissertation defense. Each student needs to write a short research summary and make a public presentation at the symposium. After the public presentation, students will receive oral feedback from a panel of researchers and practitioners. Students may also seek advice on topics such as how to perform research in testing, how to design and execute empirical research, write scientific papers, and eventually prepare for the defense itself. Accepted research summaries will be published in the conference proceedings.

Scholarships

A limited number of travel grants are available to PhD students. Priority will be based on need and date of submission. Please indicate your interest in being considered for a travel grant along with your submission.

How to Submit

Submissions to the PhD Symposium must include the following:

1. A research summary of at most two pages,exclusive of references, formatted according to the ICST 2019 formatting instructions. All submissions must be in English and include the following information.

1. Student name, university, name of research advisor, and project name

2. The problem to be addressed by your thesis (justify the importance and show that it has not yet been addressed)

3. Your research hypothesis or goal

4. The expected contributions of your dissertation research

5. Your proposed research approach

6. Summary of results to date

7. How you plan to evaluate your results and a dissemination plan

2. CV  with research achievements including publications and presentations.

3. A  recommendation letter from the dissertation advisor. The letter should include:

1. Name of the student

2. Name of the advisor

3. A candid assessment of the current status of the student's dissertation research

4. An approximate date for dissertation submission.

Submission must be in the form of a single PDF comprised of the research summary, the CV, and the recommendation letter from the dissertation advisor and submitted via EasyChair at the following address: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icst2019.

Evaluation

All submissions that meet the submission criteria will be evaluated by the PhD Symposium chairs on the basis of their relevance to the ICST community, their originality, quality of the summary, and their technical soundness.

Award

The best submission, based on summary quality and presentation, will be awarded during the Symposium.

PhD Symposium Co-Chairs

● Ana C. R. Paiva, Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal (http://www.fe.up.pt/~apaiva)

● William G.J. Halfond, University of Southern California, California, USA (http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~halfond)

Important Dates

Deadline for Submissions: February 8, 2019

Notification of Acceptance: February 21, 2019

PhD Symposium: April 24, 2019