ACII 2026 - Call for Doctoral Consortium (Deadline Extended!)

*14th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent
Interaction*
                                                        September 7-11, 2026
                                                                Puebla,
Mexico
                                                    URL:
https://acii-conf.net/2026/

                                                  *CALL FOR DOCTORAL
CONSORTIUM*

Dear colleagues,

We invite students from all Ph.D. granting institutions who are in the
process of forming or carrying out a plan for their Ph.D. research in the
area of Affective Computing to apply for participation in the Doctoral
Consortium (DC) of the Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction
Conference (ACII 2026). DC is a forum for Ph.D. students to share ideas
about their research, developments, and applications in affective
computing. The students will be able to present their work to a group of
mentors and peers from an international community, receive feedback on
their doctoral research plan and progress, and build a cohort of young
researchers interested in Affective Computing.

*Who Should Apply?*
Students from any Ph.D. granting institution whose research falls within
Affective Computing are encouraged to apply. Although we encourage
applications from students at any stage of doctoral training, the DC will
most benefit students forming or developing their doctoral research. These
students will have passed their qualifiers or have completed most of their
coursework, will be planning or developing their dissertation research
proposal, and will not be very close to completing their dissertation
research.

*Submission Guidelines*
Ph.D. students in an area related to Affective Computing are invited to
submit the following materials:

*1.- Extended Abstract *(4 pages + 1 page for references; please find the
IEEE templates under the ‘Instructions for Authors’ section here): A
description of the PhD research plan and progress. The submissions should
not be anonymous. In particular, it should contain:

   - An abstract (120 words max)
   - The key research questions and motivation of the research
   - Background and related work that informs the research
   - A statement of hypotheses or a description of the scope of the
   technical problem
   - The methodology to achieve the objectives and the proposed solution(s)
   - A description of the work done so far and a tentative plan for future
   work
   - A statement of research contributions to date (if any) and expected
   contributions of the Ph.D. work to Affective Computing
   - Reference list

*2.- CV:* The student’s curriculum vitae (1 or 2 pages).

*3.- Authorship and Statement from Advisor:* Students are expected to be
the sole authors of their submission. The application must be accompanied
by a separate note from the student’s Ph.D. advisor confirming their
student status and endorsing the submission. The note should clearly
indicate the student’s progress in the Ph.D. program (e.g., qualifiers
passed, pre-proposal stage, etc.). The advisor should email the note to the
DC Chairs at [email protected] (see below for further information
about the DC Chairs).

Please note that the Extended Abstract and the CV should be prepared in PDF
format and submitted through the ACII submission system. The Advisor
Statement should be submitted via email to the DC chairs.

*Submission Topics, Instructions, and Proceedings*
DC papers should be related to the conference topics. The theme of ACII
2026 is “Emotions beyond borders: Multicultural Affective Computing”.
Multicultural affective computing is the study and development of systems
that can recognize and respond to human emotions across different cultural
contexts. It considers how cultural norms, expressions, and interpretations
of emotions vary, ensuring that emotion-aware technologies interact
appropriately and accurately with users from diverse backgrounds.

ACII 2026 especially welcomes research that explores how best to ensure
culturally sensitive applications of affective computing. Topics of
interest are provided in the general call for papers. The Proceedings of
the Doctoral Consortium will be published as part of the ACIIW 2026
Conference Proceedings.

Papers should be submitted through the conference submission system.

*Review Process*
The Doctoral Consortium submissions will be evaluated on several factors,
including (1) the quality of the submission, (2) the expected benefits of
the DC towards the student’s Ph.D. research, and (3) the student’s
contribution to the diversity of topics, backgrounds, and institutions, in
order of importance. More particularly, the quality of the submission will
be evaluated based on the potential contributions of the research to the
field of affective computing and its impact on the field and beyond.
Finally, we hope to achieve a diversity of research topics, disciplinary
backgrounds, methodological approaches, and home institutions in the ACII
2026 Doctoral Consortium cohort.

*Attendance*
All authors of accepted submissions are expected to register, attend, and
present at the Doctoral Consortium and the associated poster session.

*Important Dates*
All deadlines are in the Anywhere on Earth timezone.
Submission deadline: 20 June 2026 *30 June 2026*
Acceptance notifications: *15 July 2026*
Camera-ready deadline: *24 July 2026*

*Questions*
For further questions, please contact the Doctoral Consortium Chairs:

Raiyan Abdul Baten ([email protected])
Helma Torkamaan ([email protected])
[email protected]

We look forward to meeting you in Puebla, Mexico!
Sincerely,
ACII 2026 DC Chairs
APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE COPIES OF THIS MESSAGE
PLEASE CIRCULATE this CFP among your colleagues and students.

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