Calls

Call for Session Proposals

Except for length, the format of your session proposal is completely up to you. The person who suggests the session will also be the host for that session. Information about the platform we use to support this event will be forthcoming, but external tools can be used if needed, so you should not let this limit your suggestions.

For scheduling reasons, sessions need to be either one or two hours long. We have found that sessions shorter than one hour are less useful. Don't worry if your session idea is shorter, the rest of the time can be filled with follow-up discussions. Interactivity is at the heart of what an unconference is about. Monologue lectures are discouraged, unless given as a prelude to a discussion.

Some examples of sessions from previous events:

• A talk presenting an idea or ongoing project, followed by questions, feedback, and discussion.

• A workshop helping other participants formalize their intuitions.

• Brainstorming concrete research ideas

• Debugging a problem that a research team is facing.

• In-depth discussion on some specific topic.

• Live Q&A with an experienced researcher.

• A public debate between two participants with opposing views.

Call for Session Requests

If there is something you would like to see but don't want to host, you can submit a session request. This request will be shared with the other participants, and may inspire someone to run that session.

Session Selection

The unconference will start with the Welcome and Pitch Session. This serves the practical purpose of creating the schedule, but also provides a chance for you too meet the other participants and find out what drives them.

During the pitch session, everyone will get a chance to present their session proposals to the other participants, and clarify their descriptions if needed. Next, we will go over the session requests together, and ask for volunteers to run these sessions. The organizers may also reach out to specific individuals to fulfill requests ahead of time. When the session list is complete, everyone votes on which sessions they wish to participate in, and indicate if there are any times when they are not available. This information will be fed into our scheduling algorithm to produce the best possible schedule.