Forum for Doctoral & Junior Researchers
FDIA 2027
A dedicated forum for doctoral students and early-career researchers to present their ongoing work, engage with peers, and receive structured feedback from senior IR researchers.
About the Forum
What is FDIA?
The Forum for Doctoral and Junior Researchers in Information Retrieval — FDIA — is a long-standing satellite event of ESSIR, now fully integrated into the school's programme. FDIA provides a supportive, collegial space where emerging researchers can share their work, refine their ideas, and build connections that will shape their academic careers.
Unlike traditional conference presentations, FDIA is explicitly designed to be interactive and developmental. The emphasis is on discussion and mentoring rather than performance. Participants benefit from direct dialogue with senior researchers who provide constructive, personalised feedback.
FDIA welcomes contributions at all stages of doctoral research — from preliminary ideas and problem formulations to results and system descriptions. Work-in-progress submissions are particularly encouraged.
Participation
How to Participate
Participation in FDIA is straightforward and integrated into the ESSIR registration process.
Register for ESSIR 2027
FDIA participation is available to all registered ESSIR attendees with doctoral student or junior researcher status. Complete your ESSIR registration and indicate your interest in FDIA participation.
Submit an Extended Abstract
Submit a 2–4 page extended abstract describing your research. Submissions should include a research problem statement, relevant background, your proposed methodology, and current progress. References are welcome but do not count toward the page limit.
Prepare Your Lightning Talk & Poster
Each accepted participant delivers a 2–3 minute lightning talk introducing their work to the full ESSIR audience, followed by a poster session for more detailed discussions with the mentoring panel and peers.
Receive Mentoring Feedback
Following the presentations, each participant receives a structured feedback session from at least one senior member of the FDIA programme committee. Feedback covers both research content and academic communication.
Accepted FDIA abstracts will be distributed to school participants in a digital booklet. There are no formal proceedings; FDIA submissions are considered non-archival and may be submitted to other venues without restriction.
Timeline
Important Dates
Key deadlines for the FDIA submission and review process. All deadlines are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth).
Subscribe to the ESSIR mailing list to receive date announcements as soon as they are confirmed. Details on how to subscribe will be published on this page.
FDIA Programme Committee
Mentoring Panel
The FDIA mentoring panel is drawn from senior ESSIR lecturers and researchers with extensive experience mentoring doctoral students.
The full FDIA programme committee will be announced alongside the ESSIR 2027 speaker confirmations. If you are interested in serving on the FDIA mentoring panel, contact us at fdia@essir2027.org.