Early Career Workshop (ECW)

About

Held in conjunction with the ICCE 2025, the Early Career Workshop (ECW) is a face-to-face event that offers an opportunity for early career scholars in the learning technology field to discuss their research, early-career challenges, and career directions with peers and senior advisors.

Objective

The ECW aims to add value to the early-career participants in, but not limited to, the following aspects:

• To develop academic support networks among peers, between early career scholars and more senior scholars, and the connection between early career scholars and the APSCE Special Interest Groups (SIGs) related to their respective research areas;

• To be engaged in negotiation and exchange, thereby developing greater awareness and appreciation, in acting strategically about one’s academic career, including the development of a thriving research program, grant applications and journal publications, balancing multiple requirements (research, teaching, university/international services), building local and international relationships to maximize future career opportunities, getting promotion and tenure, etc.

If the time and resources permit, a special program component may be arranged to offer career advice to early-career scholars at non-faculty or non-tenurable (e.g., postdoctoral fellows or lecturers), or non-academic positions who are seeking and applying for tenurable research positions.

Program Overview

The ECW will be a half-day or shorter event (the length will depend on the number of participants) held during one of the pre-conference days of ICCE 2025 (Dec 1 or 2). Several established researchers of the field will serve as the advisors of the event.

• begin with participants and advisors introducing themselves;

• followed by an academic and professional development panel where each advisor will give a talk on specific topic(s) on early career development, such as development of research program and grant applications, building networks, paper writing and publications, promotion and tenure, balancing research/teaching/service requirements, recruiting and supervising graduate students, etc.;

• next, each advisor will facilitate a small group of participants who are working in the same or similar research area to discuss topics raised at the panel and individual participants’ career needs.

More details about the workshop program will be released later.

Eligibility

The ECW is open to

• Early career scholars in the learning technology field

• Within 6 years of receiving their doctorate

• or received their doctorate more than 6 years ago, but have taken their first research position within the past 5 years

• or PhD students who are expecting to graduate on or before 31 December 2025 may also apply

• Applicants must be

  • full-time junior faculty members (such as assistant professors, lecturers, research scientists)

  • or post-doctoral research staff in universities/colleges (such as research scientists or post-doctoral fellows)

  • or post-doctoral scholars who are holding industrial research positions may also apply

In principle, promoted and/or tenured university faculty members are not eligible.

Special note for PhD students:

• You are required to provide a formal letter written by your PhD supervisors/advisors, which indicates the expected graduation time.

• If you have just chosen a PhD topic and begun your research, please apply for participation in another ICCE program component, the Doctoral Student Consortium (DSC). ECW is suitable for PhD graduates OR PhD students who are close to graduation.

Abpplication

Applicants should submit a document in Word format using the template to ramkumar.rajendran@iitb.ac.in  by 18 August 2025.

Template Download

Successful applicants will have their one-page position paper and a one-page CV (as part of the application document) on their research published in the Early Career Workshop Proceedings of ICCE 2025, on the condition that the applicants register for ICCE participation.

The ECW Chair and Co-Chairs will notify successful applicants with an invitation to the ECW after vetting their eligibility.

Important Dates

• Paper Submission Deadline: 18 August 2025

• Notification of Acceptance: 01 September 2025

• Camera-Ready Paper Deadline: 15 September 2025

• Author Registration Deadline: 15 September 2025

Questions related to the ECW application and program should be addressed to the ECW Chair: ramkumar.rajendran@iitb.ac.in