CODATA and the World Data System are pleased to announce the themes and launch of the Call for Sessions, Presentations and Posters for the SciDataCon component of International Data Week 2023.  Please forward this announcement in your communities and networks! 

Call for Sessions, Presentations and Posters: SciDataCon 2023, part of IDW 2023 

We invite session proposals as well as abstracts for presentations and posters at International Data Week’s SciDataCon 2023: A Festival of Data taking place 23 – 26 October in Salzburg and virtually.    

The deadline for proposals for sessions and individual presentations is 23:59 UTC on Friday 31 March 2023.  The deadline for posters is 23:59 UTC on Wednesday 31 May 2023. 

Submit proposal at https://www.scidatacon.org/IDW-2023-Salzburg/submit/  

If you have not already done so, you should sign up and create an account on the SciDataCon website. Needless to say, this is not the same as registering for the conference. Conference registration will be available in due course at http://internationaldataweek.org/ 

About International Data Week and SciDataCon 

International Data Week brings together a global community of data scientists and data stewards; researchers from all domains; data, interoperability and informatics experts from all fields; industry leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers. 

This event will be an inclusive and celebratory Festival of Data, with in-person and virtual components, highlighting the opportunities for the positive transformation of our world in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges. 

IDW 2023 will combine the RDA Plenary Meeting, the biannual meeting of this international member organisation working to develop and support global infrastructure facilitating data sharing and reuse, and SciDataCon 2023, the scientific conference addressing the frontiers of data in research organised by CODATA and WDS. 

IDW 2023 will be hosted by the University of Salzburg through its interdisciplinary Data Science group and the Geoinformatics department, supported by the Governor of Salzburg and with assistance from the Austrian Academy of Sciences – GIScience and the European Umbrella Organization for Geographic Information. 

SciDataCon 2023: High-level Themes 

The overarching theme of International Data Week and SciDataCon 2023 is A Festival of Data. 

There are seven themes for SciDataCon 2023:  

1. Advancing data through cutting-edge technology

    

2. Honouring all actors working with data

    

3. Advocating for Data Ethics

    

4. Championing Data beyond FAIR

    

5. Building resilient data in times of crises

    

6. Celebrating data pedagogy

    

7. Engaging with SciDataCon Persistent Themes 

See an outline of suggested topics under each of the SciDataCon themes: https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW-2023-Salzburg/Themes/ 

The detailed listing is intended to illuminate topics tied to the theme, but the topic list is not meant to be exhaustive or limiting.  Please note, however, that the simple presentation of research results is not in scope. The primary focus should always be on the data issues in different fields of research.   

Also in scope are proposals for sessions, papers and posters addressing any of the core, persistent themes of data science and data stewardship that are typically covered in SciDataCon and International Data Week.  Remember, International Data Week 2023 is a Festival of Data, so the intention of the programme committee is to be celebratory and inclusive of all interesting aspects of data in research. 

Please note that in contrast to previous editions, for SciDataCon 2023 the organisers will be accepting proposals of sessions and individual papers simultaneously. The deadline for submission of proposals is 31 March 2023.  The deadline for posters is 31 May. 

SciDataCon Sessions 

Sessions at SciDataCon explore research and practice. Sessions may include presentations of original research, of interesting data practices, or a mix of the two. Sessions may be structured around conventional presentations and discussion, or they may take more interactive formats, including panels and interactive workshops. All session proposals will be peer-reviewed. They should be compelling and of interest to the global data community. The format, structure, and outcomes should be clearly expressed. 

Submit proposal at https://www.scidatacon.org/IDW-2023-Salzburg/submit/  

Your proposal should: 

• Explain the significance of the issues to be tackled in the session. 
• Provide a clear description of the approach, structure, format, and suggested agenda for the session. 

• Provide as much information as possible about proposed speakers and the subject of their papers. 
• Be no shorter than 300 words and no longer than 900 words. 

Suggested session types 

• Research Presentations 
• Practice Presentations 

• Mix of Research and Practice Presentations 
• Panel Discussion 
• Ignition/Lightning Talks and Structured Discussion 
• Group Discussions (World Café) 
• Workshop Session (state format) 

• None of the above (you may suggest an alternative format, but you should describe it clearly) 

About SciDataCon Sessions 

• Please take into account the following considerations when preparing your proposal for a SciDataCon 2023 session. 
• Sessions will be 90 minutes in duration. 
• Session proposals should explicitly address one or more of the conference themes outlined above. 

• Session proposals should clearly describe the format and ‘type’ of the session: see above for information about the different formats of sessions that are invited. 
• The proposed session structure should allow sufficient time for interaction and discussion with participants and audience while staying within the time assigned for each session.  

Presentations and posters at SciDataCon 2023 

We encourage you to submit your presentation or poster abstract via this link: https://www.scidatacon.org/IDW-2023-Salzburg/submit/  

Presentation abstracts must be submitted to the ‘Conference Abstracts’ category. Click [Submit abstract]. In the submission form, you should select the [Presentation Submissions] ‘session’.  

Abstracts will be peer reviewed for individual quality and, if accepted, will be assigned to an accepted session or grouped into thematic sessions by the SciDataCon Programme Committee.  Accepted abstracts will be available from the conference website and will form a persistent collection, so please consider the following recommendations carefully: 

• Please submit your proposal of a length appropriate to the intervention. For example, we recommend that the proposal for a research paper should be 600-900 words and for a practice paper 300-600 words.  These are guides and please use your judgement.  We strongly discourage proposals of more than 900 words or less than 300 words. 
• The proposal should clearly specify the core idea, the context of the research or practice, and the audience to whom it is relevant.  Insufficiently developed proposals will not be selected.  

Poster abstracts must be submitted to the Conference Posters category.  Click [Submit poster abstract].  In the submission form, you should select the [Poster Submissions] ‘session’.   

Posters will appear in dedicated virtual and in-person poster sessions.  Posters can often be a more effective way of communicating key technical features of a paper and providing a visual summary that really engages the viewer.  For a Poster Abstract we suggest 300-600 words and certainly no more than 900 words in length. 

Key Dates 

• November 2022, release of call for sessions, presentations and posters. 
• 23:59 UTC on 31 March 2023, deadline for submission of proposals for sessions and presentations. 
• April 2023, review period. 
• 31 May 2023, deadline for posters. 
• 12 June 2023, SciDataCon programme published. 
• 23-26 Oct 2023, IDW-SciDataCon 2023.