Undergraduate Forum

Schedule

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Newly introduced this year - Undergraduate Forum is being organized at COMSNETS 2025 for the first time to recognize the contribution of undergraduate students in the COMSNETS ecosystem. Built on the same lines as the Graduate Forum, it aims to provide a platform for undergraduate students and recently graduated professionals to showcase early research and get feedback from experienced researchers in the field. It will provide the attendees an opportunity to interact, receive career advice and build collaborations with other peers and leading researchers. The event will also include talks on recent work and career advice from current PhD students and industry professionals, and an AMA with them.

At least one of the authors of the accepted paper must register for the conference and present the paper at the dedicated session through a formal presentation.

Accepted papers in the main conference lead-authored by an undergraduate student or recent graduate (2024 or later) would automatically be considered for presentation in the undergraduate forum as well.

Best Paper Award

Best “Undergraduate Forum Paper Award” will be awarded based on the presentations by a panel of judges.

Who can Submit?

Current undergraduate students and recent graduates (2024 or later), currently in academia or industry are eligible to submit. For recent graduates, majority of submitted work should have been completed before they graduated. Submissions must include the author’s name, affiliations, and email addresses. We will follow a single-blind review policy. Academic status would be verified using suitable means.

Topics of interest include (but not limited to) broadly computer systems, networks, security, and machine learning.

The topics of interest include (but not limited to) the following:

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What to Submit?

We encourage the authors to submit their work with the following as a single PDF file at HotCRP containing:

• Resume, a one-page resume informing of your current position, educational details, broad area of research, research experiences, publications (if any), etc.

• A three-page Extended Abstract, explaining the problem statement, relevant state-of-the-art, proposed solution approach, preliminary results, future work, appendix and bibliography. Submissions must be in English, in IEEE two-column format (details can be seen on the main conference page) and must adhere to the submission guidelines and template of the main conference. The page limit is three pages (strictly) and no additional page will be allowed. Bibliography does not count towards the page-limit. Submissions not formatted as described above will be rejected without any review.

Upon acceptance, the authors will be requested to submit only the three pages of Extended Abstract for the final camera-ready version. The accepted papers need to be presented at the conference as a 10-minute talk, including QAs from the audience.

SUBMISSION LINK

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For any queries, please email all the co-chairs.

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Important Dates:

Paper Submission deadline	30th November, 2024, AoE (Friday)
Notification of Acceptance	6th December, 2024, AoE (Friday)
Camera-ready Submission	16th December 2024, AoE (Monday)

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Keynote Speaker

Manohar Swaminathan, also known as Swami Manohar, joined MSR in December 2015. His research focuses on virtual and augmented reality technologies, particularly for empowering visually impaired individuals. He is also interested in leveraging IoT and cloud computing to create large-scale impact in emerging markets.

Previously, he was a professor at IISc (1990–2005), where he taught India’s first VR courses and conducted pioneering research in computer graphics, rapid prototyping, and internet technologies. A co-inventor of the Simputer, he received the Dewang Mehta IT Innovation Award and co-founded ventures like PicoPeta and Strand Life Sciences. He remains a mentor and advocate for tech-driven innovation and education.

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