CALL FOR DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM

• May 15th, 2026: Deadline for submissions due 23:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE) time
• June 12th, 2026: Notification of acceptance
• June 26th, 2026: Final versions of submissions due (23:59 AoE)
• October 10th (optional evening dinner) and October 11th (all day), 2026: In-person Doctoral Consortium

The CSCW 2026 Doctoral Consortium (DC) offers doctoral students an opportunity to discuss and refine their dissertation research within an international forum of peers and senior scholars. The DC will take place in person on Sunday, October 11th, 2026 as part of the ACM 2026 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. Participants will present their work, receive structured feedback from mentors, and engage in sustained discussion throughout the day.

The primary aim of the DC is to support promising PhD students in developing rigorous, original, and impactful dissertation projects within the broad and interdisciplinary field of CSCW. The Consortium is designed not only as a feedback forum, but also as a space for intellectual exchange across disciplinary traditions including Computer Science, Information Science, Communication Studies, Science and Technology Studies, and related areas.

We explicitly seek to broaden the CSCW community in terms of research perspectives, methodological approaches, institutional contexts, and geographic representation. Our goal is to assemble a diverse and thoughtfully composed cohort in order to foster meaningful discussion during the DC and to encourage ongoing exchange and collaboration beyond the event. We particularly welcome applications from institutions and regions that have been less represented at past CSCW conferences.

Participants must register for the conference and pay the DC/workshop fee, which includes the dinner. Accepted submissions will appear in the Companion Proceedings and in the ACM Digital Library. DC participants are also encouraged to present their research during the conference poster session in the main technical programme.

International students should take visa timelines into account when planning their application.

Applicants should be PhD students who have established a clear research direction relevant to CSCW and who would benefit from focused feedback at this stage of their doctoral work. Preference will be given to students with a defined dissertation topic and programme of research whose work would meaningfully benefit from structured discussion within the Consortium setting.

Applicants must submit the following materials via PCS:

• A 4 page overview (including abstract and excluding references) of the doctoral research. This document should clearly describe the research questions, theoretical framing, methodology, work completed to date, and anticipated contributions to CSCW. Accepted overviews will be published in the ACM Digital Library as part of the Conference Extended Abstracts
• A two page curriculum vitae (CV)
• A letter of support from the advisor. This is not a recommendation letter. It must confirm that the student has begun work on a well-defined dissertation or thesis topic and should clearly state the anticipated length of the doctoral programme as well as the student’s current stage of progress. The letter should also briefly describe how the student would contribute to the DC cohort, how participation would support their development and whether funding to attend the DC could be secured

All materials, including the letter of support, must be submitted via PCS by May 15th, 2026 (AoE). Late submissions will not be considered.

Submissions must be made via the Precision Conference System (PCS) 2.0: https://new.precisionconference.com (Ensure you select the CSCW 2026 DC track.)

CSCW uses the ACM Publication System (TAPS). All submissions must follow ACM formatting requirements and use the official Word or LaTeX Master Article templates (single column format).

Submissions must be accessible. Applicants are encouraged to review ACM accessibility guidance, including SIGACCESS resources. For accessibility related questions, please contact accessibility2026@cscw.acm.org.

We are currently exploring options to partially support DC participants financially. Applicants will be required to attend the conference in person, should not assume funding support through the DC, and are encouraged to seek institutional or external support where possible. Updates will be provided if funding becomes available

For all enquiries, please contact dc2026@cscw.acm.org.

• Casey Fiesler (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
• Paweł W. Woźniak (TU Wien, Austria)

Contact: dc2026@cscw.acm.org