Call for Tutorials

Introduction

In addition to the regular research and workshop program, ISWC 2024 will feature a tutorial program addressing the diverse interests of its audience: novices to the Semantic Web interested in introductory tutorials to key Semantic Web, Knowledge Graphs and Linked Data topics, Semantic Web practitioners that wish to learn about new technologies, government and industry representatives focusing on the applicability of Semantic Web, Knowledge Graphs and Linked Data technologies in practical settings.

We hereby invite you to submit a tutorial proposal on a research topic relevant to the ISWC 2024 audience.

Important Dates

– All deadlines are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth)

Tutorial topics and format

Tutorials are the perfect occasion for participants to deepen their knowledge on a topic: for early-stage researchers, it may mean learning about basic or advanced topics mainly related to research methods and Semantic Web technologies; for experienced researchers, it may mean having the chance to acquire new skills on specialised research areas and approaches that could complement their pre-existing research focus; for practitioners, it may mean to gain knowledge and initial “seeds” to start new experimentations and applications.

For ISWC attendees, we expect tutorials of the following types:

• Tutorials providing an introduction to well established Semantic Web and Knowledge Graph aspects (e.g. RDF, OWL, SPARQL, SHACL, linked data principles, etc.) or to research methodologies in the field (e.g. FAIR principles, Open Science, etc.).
• Tutorials describing the cross-link between Semantic Web/Knowledge Graph technologies and other disciplines/application domains (e.g. big data, machine learning, generative AI, etc.) to explore the complementarities and the possible value they could bring each other
• Tutorials presenting specific technologies/trends or applications/tools in Semantic Web and Knowledge Graph.

The tutorials will take place on the pre-conference days on November 11th and 12th, which are organised in 4 slots of 1 hour and 40 minutes each (9:00-10:40, 11:10-12:50, 14:10-15:50, 16:20-18:00), so we foresee the following options for each tutorial program:

• Half-day (morning or afternoon): more focused tutorials, spanning two slots in the day with a break in between, aimed at giving a short introduction to a topic
• Full-day tutorial: broader tutorials spanning the entire day (four slots, with three breaks), aimed at helping the attendees to deepen their knowledge on a topic or a set of related topics, like in a short course
• Special sessions (NEW): very specific/narrow-scope tutorials covering a single slot in the program; this is mainly for focused topics that can, however, have a deep impact on attendees because of their relevance/timeliness and/or for speakers that are recognized experts/authoritative authors in the specific field

Tutorials must not only be just slide-based lectures in pure frontal mode, instead, they are expected to devote approximately half of the allocated time to interaction (e.g. hands-on exercises, group discussion, etc.).

Review criteria

The decision on acceptance or rejection of tutorial proposals will be made on the basis of the overall quality of the proposal and its appeal to a reasonable fraction of the Semantic Web and Knowledge Graph community. In particular, tutorials should satisfy each of the following criteria:

• The tutorial topic falls in the general scope of the conference.
• There is a clear focus on a specific technology, problem or application.
• There is a motivated anticipation of a sufficiently large community interested in the topic.
• The tutorial format includes individual/group exercises or other types of hands-on and collaborative work.
• The proposal appears to be a good fit in the global tutorial program, i.e. it offers complementary contributions with respect to the other selected tutorials (we may reject or propose to merge tutorials that overlap significantly with other tutorials in terms of theme)

Submission instructions

Proposal submissions should be done via EasyChair at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iswc2024.

All submissions should be in English as a single PDF file no longer than 4 (four) pages, following the LNCS file format. For details on the LNCS style, please see Springer’s Author Instructions. The proposal should contain the following sections.

• Content, format and program:
  • Title and Acronym
  • Abstract: 200 word summary of the tutorial purpose and content
  • Detailed Description: overview of tutorial content, description of learning outcomes, presentation/interaction style
  • Motivation: Why is the topic timely and of particular interest to ISWC participants? What is the relation of this tutorial to other similar tutorials presented at other events?
  • Format: length (full day or half day or special session) with justification of length if full day (why a half-day tutorial would not suffice)
  • Schedule: program timing with details for each slot; if possible, proposers are invited to organise the program in self-contained slots to allow participants to switch between tutorials during breaks
• Tutorial type and intended audience:
  • Type: introductory tutorial, specialised or advanced tutorial, application/tool or domain-specific tutorial
  • Level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced
  • Target audience: who and how many people are expected to attend
  • Prior knowledge required of the attendees, especially if it is a prerequisite for understanding the content of the tutorial
• Presenters information: name, affiliation, email address, homepage and short (one paragraph) biography of each chair, their expertise in the tutorial topic, as well as their experiences in teaching and in tutorial presentation
• Materials: an overview of the material used for the tutorial (slides, handouts, software, online services, etc.); please specify when the material will be made available and under which condition (e.g., under an open licence to anyone, only to the attendees, for a limited time, etc.)
• Information about previous editions and/or similar/related events (if any): link to previous event(s), including the ones organised at other conferences, and materials; number of attendees of the previous event(s); motivation to continue the tutorial in 2024
• Other requirements: Audio-visual or technical requirements and any special room requirements

Requirements upon acceptance

Accepted tutorials will be required to prepare a tutorial web page containing information about the program and – if any – relevant materials that prospective attendees may download or consult before or during the event. The indicative timeline for the website is provided in the “Important Dates” section.

In the case of a tutorial requiring the use of software/services, it is strongly recommended that:

• Prerequisites and instructions to download/install software and/or register to access online services are provided in advance on the tutorial webpage to allow prospective participants to get prepared before the start of the tutorial;
• At the beginning of the tutorial, time is allocated to let participants follow the download/install/registration instructions because proposers should not expect that all participants arrive prepared for the tutorial;
• Organisers are suggested to prepare a back-up plan in case of insufficient wifi bandwidth (e.g. thumb drives to replace download of large files) or online service unavailability (e.g. videos of the demo).

Each tutorial presenter must register for the conference within the early bird registration deadline and participate in-person in the tutorial.

At the discretion of the workshop and tutorial track chairs, tutorials may be cancelled if the organisers have not registered in a timely manner.

Tutorial Chairs

Irene Celino – Cefriel, Italy

Raghava Mutharaju – IIIT-Delhi, India

For any questions or requests, please contact the Tutorial Chairs at iswc2024-tutorial-proposal@easychair.org