Undergraduate Research

Important Dates

Submission Due: April 8, 2024 11:59 p.m.

Notifications: April 29, 2024 11:59 p.m.

Camera-ready completion deadline: May 10, 2024 11:59 p.m.

Deadlines are specified as Anywhere on Earth time. 

Undergraduate Research Symposium Chairs

• Cesar Torres, University of Texas at Arlington
• Layne Jackson Hubbard, University of California at Irvine

Contact: uss2024@cc.acm.org 

Venue

University of Illinois – Chicago

Call Description

The Undergraduate Research Symposium will showcase the creativity, research, and technical demonstrations of undergraduate students — and will help undergraduates develop a professional network in the creativity and cognition community. The theme of this year’s conference is Organic Creative Spaces (inspired by Organic Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright) — we encourage you to share how your submission might relate to this theme (though this is not mandatory).

Who Should Apply?

• Undergraduate students who are currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree program or equivalent.
• Applicants must be the lead author or sole author on their submission. 
• We welcome applicants from any degree program, including but not limited to: Art, Architecture, Computer Science, Design, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Film, Information Science, Media Studies, etc. 
• We encourage applicants from community colleges and minority-serving institutions.

What Will I Gain? 

• Professional Development. You’ll be invited to join us for a 1-day workshop designed to allow you to network with your peers, practice your presentations & get feedback from mentors in the field, attend a career panel, workshop your resume/CVs, and learn how to make the most of your conference experience! 

• Archived Publication. Undergraduate Research submissions that are accepted will have the abstract from the submission (150 word max) published in the online conference program and the submission document (1 page, excluding references) archived in the ACM digital library. 

• Present at C&C 2024. Accepted submissions will be presented alongside other content accepted to the associated track. There will be separate sections of Undergraduate Research Posters and Undergraduate Research Demos in Chicago, positioned next to the main posters and demos.
• Conference + Travel Scholarship. Selected participants affiliated with U.S. educational institutions will be eligible for an NSF-funded conference and travel scholarship (NSF HCC-#2413801). The scholarship includes airfare, conference and workshop registration, and three nights of lodging (2 participants per room).

Format and Submission Details

The submission for the undergraduate research symposium must include:

• A paper describing one of the following: (1) a research project that will be presented as a poster, (2) a research project that will be presented as a technical demonstration. The paper must be prepared using the ACM submission template (Latex and Word templates are available) in single-column format. The paper can be up to 2,000 words (for demos) or up to 3,000 words (for posters only), excluding titles, references and figure/table captions. The student should be the lead or sole author. The paper is NOT required to be anonymized.
• A biographical sketch of no more than 500 words describing your background (e.g., a few sentences detailing your career interests, your background experiences, your degree program, and your undergraduate institution). The biosketch is mandatory. 

A submission to the undergraduate symposium should otherwise satisfy the requirements for the respective track: Poster or Technical Demonstration. If accepted, your submission will be presented at the conference. Below are some tips for preparing and presenting each submission type at the conference:

Poster

• If accepted, the author will present the submission in the form of a physical poster at the conference. A strong poster conveys the main message or findings at a glance and arouses curiosity, inviting viewers to learn more. Posters should strive for the effective use of visuals, including images, charts, and graphs, to bolster the content, alongside well-organized sections that direct the viewer’s attention. We highly recommend looking at prior work in the Pictorials track for inspiration on how to visually communicate your research findings.

Technical Demonstration

• If accepted, the author will present the submission in the form of a technical demonstration at the conference. The submission should specifically describe how the demonstration (“demo”) will invite participation or otherwise engage the conference attendees. Aim to explain the technical aspects, including the underlying processes and methodologies to ensure your audience comprehends the demonstration. Connect your demonstration to real-world examples to help the audience understand how it could be applied to their own practice or work in the field.

How to Submit

• Submit via the Precision Conference (PCS) website: https://new.precisionconference.com/submissions
• Once you have logged into the PCS website, select the following options under “Submissions” and click the Go button.
  • Society: SIGCHI
  • Conference/Journal: Creativity & Cognition 2024
  • Track: Undergraduate Research 2024

Selection Process

Submissions will be reviewed in coordination with the chairs of the relevant tracks in the conference. Authors who submit may expect to receive light feedback of up to a few paragraphs in length. Incomplete and incorrect submission content or formats will be rejected. Late submissions are not permitted.

Accepted Submissions

If your work is accepted, you will roughly have 12 days to prepare a camera-ready version of your work in the two-column format (i.e., a final version of the manuscript that will be published).

To convert to two-column, change the line in your LaTeX file from: 

to:

To complete your camera-ready version, you should address any feedback from your submission review, fix any typos, clean up your figures, and submit through the TAPS portal (this checklist and relevant links will be emailed to you).

Publications 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. 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.

Contact Us

Do you have any questions or concerns about submitting? Email Dr. Cesar Torres and Dr. Layne Jackson Hubbard at uss2024@cc.acm.org. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I have a cool thing I made for a class project, but I did some informal user testing with it? Can I include the evaluation?

Please reach out to uss2024@cc.acm.org and provide us some details about what you did and what you are planning to include. 

Q: I did a project with some classmates. Do I include them in the author list?

Were your classmates actively involved in the project? Did they contribute significantly to the design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the project? If their contributions were substantial and integral to the project’s success, then it’s appropriate to include them as authors. Authorship implies a level of credibility and responsibility for the project’s content. If your classmates’ contributions were minor or limited, it might be more appropriate to acknowledge their assistance in the acknowledgments section rather than including them as authors.

Q: Should I list my professor as a co-author? Do I need to have a professor as a co-author?

When it comes to listing co-authors, the key is to acknowledge all those who contributed. A professor co-author is allowed but not required; however, if you worked with a professor, be sure that they review and approve your submission.

Q: How do I make a strong submission?

See our tips under Submission Process > Format.

Q: If my partner and I are accepted on a submission where we are equal co-authors, do we both have a spot in the undergraduate symposium?

We’re glad you are both interested in attending. Space is limited so it would be ideal for each of you to submit your own work. Try to be the lead author on separate papers, so each submission brings something unique to the conference. 

Co-authors may submit to both the poster track and the demo track through two separate submissions. However, both submissions must address significantly different aspects of the research to warrant two publications and presentations.

Q: I think I have an idea for a submission, but I’m not sure if its appropriate for this venue.

Drop us an email at undergraduate2024@cc.acm.org and we’ll help you decide. 

Q: What should my biosketch look like?

Here is an example:

At Avalon University, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Creative Studies. Throughout my undergraduate years, I delved into the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and artistic expression. This well-rounded curriculum provided a solid foundation in cognitive theories, research methodologies, and the psychological drivers of creativity.

One notable highlight of my academic journey was participation in a research study exploring the neural mechanisms underlying creative problem-solving. Collaborating with a diverse team of researchers, I gained valuable insights into the complex interplay between cognitive processes and innovative thinking. Additionally, I assumed leadership roles in the Art and Innovation Club, organizing workshops and exhibitions to encourage students from various fields to harness their creative potential.

Looking ahead, I am eager to pursue a graduate degree that delves deeper into creativity and cognition. Specifically, I am interested in investigating how cognitive processes impact artistic expression, problem-solving, and decision-making. My goal is to contribute to groundbreaking research shedding light on the underlying mechanisms of creativity and their practical applications across domains such as education, business, and the arts.

Example Undergraduate Submissions from the 2023 C&C Conference

Note: All submissions were poster types in 2023; demos are encouraged for 2024.

• Samantha Elvia Garza, Kaitlyn Senelick, Cole Mcdowell, and Emma Dowd. 2023. Alternative Micro-Urban Farming Using Computational Design: A research study on how computational design can be used to develop new urban farming solutions that prioritize aesthetics and function. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596609
• Meghna Raswan, Tyler Kay, Hector M Camarillo-Abad, Franceli L. Cibrian, and Trudi Di Qi. 2023. Guess the Gesture: Uncovering an Intuitive Gesture-based User Interface for 3D Content Interaction in Virtual Reality. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 361–364. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596610
• Zoie Zhao, Sophie Song, Bridget Duah, Jamie Macbeth, Scott Carter, Monica P Van, Nayeli Suseth Bravo, Matthew Klenk, Kate Sick, and Alexandre L. S. Filipowicz. 2023. More human than human: LLM-generated narratives outperform human-LLM interleaved narratives. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 368–370. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596612
• Skye Philip Walker Kirschner, Lauren Hutton, and Garrett Redditt. 2023. Methods and application of immersive wayfinding. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 371–374. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596613
• Ziheng Huang and Stephen MacNeil. 2023. DesignNet: a knowledge graph representation of the conceptual design space. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 375–377. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596614
• Amanda Shayna Ahteck. 2023. Gridfinite Possibilities: the Illuminated Button Matrix as Input and Output Device. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 378–379. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596615
• Lauren Lin and Duri Long. 2023. Generative AI Futures: A Speculative Design Exploration. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 380–383. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596616
• Yihua Li, Yuqian Sun, Ying Xu, and Jihong Yu. 2023. Blibug: AI Vtuber Based on Bilibili Danmuku Interaction. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 387–390. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596618
• Lily E Montague and Mathieu Barthet. 2023. Collaboration on the Tracks: Ethnographically-Informed Design for Computer-Assisted Music Collaboration between Producers and Performers. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 391–392. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596619
• Teresa Thomas. 2023. The Whiteboarding Technical Interview Experience from the Interviewee Perspective. In Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 397–398. https://doi.org/10.1145/3591196.3596608