Call For Doctoral Consortium
Key dates:
- Submission Deadline:
March 27thApril 3rd, 2026 - Decision Notification:
April 23rdMay 1st, 2026 - Camera Ready Submission: TBD
Selection: Curated
All deadlines are at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth
What is the Doctoral Consortium at IMX 2026?
IMX’s Doctoral Consortium (the DC) is part of the IMX 2026 conference, which will take place in Athlone, Ireland. The Doctoral Consortium is aimed at students enrolled in a PhD program in fields relevant to the themes of IMX. If you are a doctoral candidate who has read or referenced work presented at IMX in the past, or if the scope of IMX makes you feel that this is a community you would benefit from joining – and to which you believe you can contribute – we encourage you to apply to join us in Athlone.
The DC provides a forum for you to share your work and ideas with fellow PhD students and more experienced researchers in the field. You will have the opportunity to present your work (research results or work in progress), receive feedback and suggestions, and participate in practical group activities designed to support peer exchange on research approaches and on how to make the most of your PhD experience. Candidates accepted to the Doctoral Consortium will be invited to attend the full IMX 2026 conference, the world’s leading international research conference on interactive media experiences.
IMX is an inclusive, growing, and interdisciplinary community. If you are unsure whether the specifics of your research fall within the scope of the DC, you are welcome to email dc@imx.acm.org, and the DC chairs will do their best to advise you.
The ideal time to participate in a Doctoral Consortium is midway through your PhD – after defining your research questions but with at least one year before submitting your thesis. This timing allows you to maximize the benefits of feedback and guidance.
How to take part?
Take part in the IMX Doctoral Consortium by submitting a paper of up to 6 pages (including references). Submissions must use the New SIGCHI Proceedings Format. Papers should be well organised and clearly structured to demonstrate the connections between the concepts presented.
Your paper should clearly specify:
- A real-world problem/challenge that motivates and relates to the PhD research
- The concrete research question(s) that the (proposed) PhD addresses, and how these fit into the broader context of existing research tackling the same real-world problem
- The aims, objectives, and scope of the research
- The methods used to achieve the objectives and the proposed solution(s), including a brief description of work completed to date (including your initial results, if available) and a tentative plan for future work
- The main contribution(s) of the research to interactive media experiences, along with a justification of why these contributions are sufficient to support a PhD.
At the Conference
If your paper is selected for the Doctoral Consortium, you will join a group of international fellow doctoral students in Ireland. You will have the opportunity to present and discuss your research in progress with the DC chairs and other experts in the field, in a supportive, inclusive, and engaging environment.
Once the main IMX conference begins, you will be invited to give a short pitch version of your work to the full IMX 2026 community during a plenary session and to participate in the whole conference.
After the Conference
Your paper will be published in the IMX 2026 Adjunct Proceedings.
ACM's Publication Policy
- “By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.” https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/research-involving-human-participants-and-subjects
- “Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper. ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors. The collection process has started and will roll out as a requirement throughout 2022. We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.”
Important update on ACMs new open access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences!
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 1,800 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 70-75%).
Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial or discretionary waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the APC Waivers and Discounts Policy. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.
Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 for non-members
This represents a 65% discount, funded directly by ACM. Authors are encouraged to help advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period.
This temporary subsidized pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.
Doctoral Consortium Chairs
For further details on scope, submission route or any other issues, please get in touch with the DC Chairs at: dc@imx.acm.org. We look forward to reading your contributions. Good Luck!
Mario Montagud Climent
University of Valencia & i2CAT
Federica Battisti
University of Padova