Working GroupsSIGCSE Virtual 2026
What is a working group?
A Working Group (WG) is a collaborative research project conducted by a team of typically five to ten researchers from around the world to produce a high-value report on a topic of interest in computing education. Membership or leadership in a WG is a nearly year-long commitment. WG membership is highly competitive, and not everyone who applies will secure a spot, despite the strength of their background and credentials.
Before the conference
A WG begins with a proposal written by up to four WG leaders. WG leaders should represent at least two institutions, with no more than two people stemming from the same institution. At least one WG leader must have prior WG experience as a member or leader of an ITiCSE, CompEd, or SIGCSE Virtual working group.
The WG co-chairs review proposals and, based on multiple criteria, decide which proposals can proceed to member recruitment. The selected WGs recruit members through the WG pages on the conference website and by other means. Regardless of how they were recruited, all potential members must submit an application through the official conference website membership recruitment form. Late applications will not be accepted. At this point, leaders of approved WGs are strongly encouraged to begin obtaining any required IRB approvals.
Recruitment takes place in two rounds. Once applications for the first round of recruitment close, the WG co-chairs send each WG leader a list of applicants for their group. The WG leaders select their group members from it and notify the WG co-chairs of their decision. There is a brief negotiation period during which the WG co-chairs work to resolve any oversubscribed or undersubscribed groups. At this point, WGs can begin work on their project with the members whose applications they’ve accepted.
If any of the approved WGs need additional members or are still seeking members with specific expertise, a second recruitment round of approximately two weeks follows. The second round is open to new applicants and applicants not approved during the first round who want to apply to another WG. The second round of recruitment is not guaranteed. The final WG comprises five to ten researchers, including the WG leaders. The viable groups (those that have recruited sufficient members) proceed with collaboration and work until the conference.
The WG will submit a 2-page extended abstract in early November. Per ACM authorship rules, the abstract to be published in the conference proceedings should be something that the whole group, without exception, has contributed to.
Immediately before the conference
TBD
During the conference
The conference will include a session during which each WG gives a brief presentation of their project and progress to conference attendees.
After the conference
Following the conference, the WG co-chairs will provide general feedback on the overall direction and scope of the work (the initial go/no go decision). Upon receiving the co-chairs’ feedback, the WGs have some time to continue their work and update the report, which is then submitted for rigorous external review. There is no time for major revisions, so WGs should aim to have a complete report submitted for review. Reports requiring major revision at this point will be rejected. Accepted reports are given a few weeks to respond to the reviewers’ suggestions, and if the response is deemed satisfactory, they will then be submitted for publication in a stand-alone Working Group Proceedings supplement to the conference proceedings.
Formatting the proposal & practical organisation plan
The list below summarizes the requirements for a Working Group proposal. Details follow the list. Carefully follow the outline and include all required information. Incomplete proposals will likely be rejected.
- The proposal uses the same format as used for paper submissions
- The proposal begins with a two-page ‘paper’ with these topics
- background and related work
- goals of the proposal
- proposed methodology
- expected deliverables
- whether or not the research needs human subjects
- references (which can exceed the 2-page limit)
- The proposal also contains a two-page appendix that contains
- an outline of inclusion criteria for member selection
- a detailed proposed work-plan with meeting frequency and milestones
- how the WG plans to incorporate members working in different time zones
- estimation of good WG size for the project
- for each of the proposers/leaders, a discussion of their prior ITiCSE/SIGCSE Virtual/CompEd Working Group experience as a leader or member of a WG
1. Proposal Body (2 pages + references)
The submission is not anonymous: it must include the authors’ names and affiliations. The remainder of the two-page proposal body should be used to explain the work background, goals, proposed methodology, and expected deliverables. This can, and should, read like the beginning of a research paper, as the working group should be conducting research.
A successful WG proposal will draw on existing literature and outline meaningful work that warrants a working group effort by a multicultural team. In addition, it should be clear that the methodology is appropriate, the expected results are both reasonable (achievable) and meaningful.
Note: The successful proposal can result in two publications: 1) an extended abstract published with the conference papers, and 2) the full final report published after the conference in the working group proceedings supplement. These two publications should have two different titles (reserve your preferred title for the full report). All accepted members are expected to contribute to the shape and direction of the working group and contribute to the extended abstract published at the time of the conference, as well as the final report published after the conference, as per the CM authorship policy.
2. Proposal Appendix (2 pages)
The proposal appendix has a maximum length of two pages and should include the following details:
- Inclusion criteria for member selection, and how the leaders will encourage diversity of membership. The goal of WGs is to create new research collaboration opportunities, especially for people who are not yet well-connected within our community. We encourage WGs to consider at least one early-career academic / doctoral student / member with no previous WG experience.
- Proposed work-plan that includes considerations for different time zones and collaboration technology (and alternatives), and how these choices will support engaged members.
- Schedule of expected meetings prior to the conference and milestones or other progress points. Leaders are asked to report the WG progress to WG co-chairs on a monthly basis.
- An estimation of the number of members that can contribute meaningfully to the project. The above-mentioned limit of 5-10 members can be flexible for justified reasons, and the group can also be larger if conditions on the ground allow.
- A discussion of proposers’/leaders’ prior WG experience. We expect that at least one of the leaders has led or participated some prior ITiCSE/CompEd/SIGCSE Virtual WG due to the fact that, in the past, “no WG experience among the WG leaders” has been the strongest indicator for issues (and perhaps the final report being rejected). If you are proposing a WG but have no prior experience with ITiCSE, CompEd, or SIGCSE Virtual working groups, consider recruiting a co-leader who has that experience.
- Recruitment ad. In the case that the WG proposal is approved, and in order to proceed to member recruitment in the fastest time possible, include the advertisement for your WG that will be published on the conference member recruitment page.
3 Submitting the proposal
Follow the instructions in the Submission Instructions page at the foot of the Call for Participation page.
The Full Working Group process
The working group process spans about 11 months, including time before and after the conference. The ‘phases’ of work include the following:
- Proposal – The proposal process is described above.
- Call for participation – Accepted proposals will be published on the conference site.
- Recruitment – Leaders of accepted working groups and WG Co-Chairs advertise to recruit members.
- Membership – WG co-chairs set up a web form for applicants to apply to WGs (1st and 2nd choice). In coordination with WG co-chairs, the leaders of each WG select members from the applicant pool in two phases based on their inclusion criteria. WG co-chairs monitor this process. If there is room in a given WG after the first phase, that WG can complete the group by also inviting applicants who didn’t fit in their first choice.
- Pre-conference work – Working groups work during the months prior to the conference according to the work-plan submitted with the WG proposal.
- During conference work – There is a kick-off meeting on Thursday before the WGs start and at least one WG leader of each group is expected to attend. In the last three days (Friday to Sunday) before the conference, working groups work at the conference site preparing the preliminary report draft, which is delivered before the main conference starts.
- Conference presentation – Working groups present their progress to conference attendees in one of the sessions during the conference.
- Post-Conference feedback – WG co-chairs provide feedback and approval to continue.
- Post-Conference work – Working groups continue work to complete the report for about two months and submit the final version. All WG members have the responsibility to continue their contributions to the paper after the conference. Leaders certify which members are eligible for authorship according to the ACM authorship policy before the paper is submitted to review.
- Review – The final version is peer-reviewed by at least three external reviewers. The Working Groups are supposed to list at least 10 relevant possible reviewers for their work who have no Conflict of Interest with any of the WG members.
- Decision – WG co-chairs decide which reports will be published based on detailed reviews and appropriate revisions. Reports that need major revisions are rejected at this phase.
- Revisions – Working Groups respond to reviews to produce and submit camera-ready reports.
- Publication – The reports are published.
Timeline
- 2026-06-12 (Fri): WG proposal abstracts due
- 2026-06-26 (Fri): Notification of which WGs proceed
- 2026-07-03 (Fri): WG member applications open
- 2026-07-17 (Fri): WG member applications close
- 2026-07-31 (Fri): WG notification to begin
- 2026-11-11 (Thu): WG draft reports due
- 2026-12-11 (Fri): WG initial feedback from WG chairs
- 2027-01-xx (???): WG reports sent out for external review
- 2027-02-xx (???): WG report external reviews due
- 2027-02-xx (???): WG report reviews and notifications sent to authors
- 2027-03-xx (???): WG camera-ready reports due
