ICAPS 2026 Doctoral Consortium – Call for Applications
The ICAPS 2026 Doctoral Consortium (DC) will provide PhD students with the opportunity to interact closely with established researchers at the 36th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS 2026), which will be held in Dublin, Ireland, June 27 – July 2, 2026.
The consortium has the following objectives:
- To provide a setting for students to get feedback on their current research and guidance on future research directions.
- To develop a supportive community of scholars and a spirit of collaborative research, improving the cohesion of new researchers with the ICAPS community.
- To support a new generation of researchers by offering advice about academic, research, industry, and non-traditional career paths.
- To contribute to the overall conference goals, through interactions with other researchers and through participation in conference events.
The DC is open to all doctoral student attendees of ICAPS 2026. Registering for the Doctoral Consortium will be part of the conference registration process and all PhD students are invited to take part.
As part of the Doctoral Consortium, ICAPS 2026 will offer a Mentoring Program. We encourage current doctoral students (students whose PhD is in progress) to apply to this program. We strongly encourage applications from students from all backgrounds to enrich the ICAPS community with diverse perspectives.
Mentoring Program
The Mentoring Program is designed to provide graduate students with an opportunity for in-depth advice from senior members of the field regarding careers and research skills.
We especially encourage students who are currently in the middle of their doctoral programs to apply, i.e.:
- they have a clear thesis topic and research approach;
- they have made some concrete progress;
- they also have sufficient time remaining in their program to integrate suggestions and new ideas.
Each student accepted to the program will be matched with an established researcher in the field who will assist the student with:
- research feedback and guidance,
- career-management advice,
- integration into the planning and scheduling research community.
Students do not need to be accepted into the Mentoring Program to attend and participate in the Doctoral Consortium.
Application Procedure for the Mentoring Program
To participate in the Mentoring Program, an application is required. Applicants should submit a single PDF file containing the following items (in order):
- Dissertation Abstract (up to 4 pages): This is not a full paper, but a research abstract describing the research problem and its motivation, the proposed approach and methodology, any results obtained so far, and a tentative research plan and timeline.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV): Including current affiliation, country, advisor’s name, year in the PhD program and previous degrees, and a list of relevant publications (if any), research experience, and other academic activities.
- Enrollment Letter: A brief letter from the PhD advisor, program coordinator, or school administration confirming the applicant’s enrollment in a PhD program.
- Optional Representative Publication: A representative or exemplary conference or journal publication to share with the mentor (optional).
- Optional List of Potential Mentors: A list of potential mentors (optional), especially helpful if you know particular researchers or groups that are close to your topic.
Formatting and Submission
The dissertation abstract and CV must follow the ICAPS 2026 formatting instructions and be prepared with the AAAI 2026 author kit. Inclusion of the AAAI reproducibility checklist is not required.
The complete application must be submitted as a single PDF file. Applications are not anonymous; please include your name and affiliation on all documents.
You can upload the documents at the following link:
Applicants from countries without access to Google Forms can submit their application materials directly to the organizers by email.
Review Process
If all applications cannot be supported, selection for the Mentoring Program will be based on:
- the clarity and quality of the dissertation abstract;
- the relevance of the research topic to ICAPS;
- the student’s stage and expected graduation date, aiming for a balanced cohort that can benefit most from mentoring;
- institutional and geographic diversity, to support a broad and inclusive community.
Students who require an early decision for visa purposes are encouraged to contact the DC organizers by email after submitting their application.
Important Dates (Mentoring Program)
All deadlines will use UTC-12 as the reference timezone (i.e., the deadline has not passed as long as there is still time anywhere in the world). Exact dates will be announced on the ICAPS 2026 website.
- Application submission deadline: March 2, 2026
- Notification date: March 27, 2026
- Doctoral Consortium day at ICAPS 2026: June 27, 2026
Student Support
We are exploring ways to provide student support, partly covering travel and/or registration costs for some DC participants. If such funding becomes available, the DC organizers will reach out directly to selected students with further details.
Students attending both the DC and other ICAPS events (e.g., tutorials, workshops, or an associated summer school) may also benefit from coordinated travel planning where funding rules allow.
Contact Information
For any questions or concerns about the ICAPS 2026 Doctoral Consortium or the Mentoring Program, please contact the DC organizers:
- Malte Helmert – malte[dot]helmert[at]unibas[dot]ch
- Jane Kiam – jane[dot]kiam[at]unibw[dot]de
- Ivan Serina – ivan[dot]serina[at]unibs[dot]it
Further updates will be posted on the ICAPS 2026 website.