Details: Part A: Metadata
The following provides a detailed description of each part of the proposal metadata.
A sample template of the DOSA form is available here.
A.1 – Organizers
- An application is submitted jointly by two to a maximum of four scientists from different institutions. If two of the applicants have the same affiliation, we ask for a valid scientific justification for this deviation from the above rule. Note that if the current application is a revision of a rejected application and one of the reasons given for not accepting the original application was that the team of organizers did not sufficiently cover all requirements made of an organiser team for such a seminar (even though the team already contained the maximum number of four organizers), Schloss Dagstuhl's Scientific Directorate, may, as an exception, accept the addition of a fifth organizer in that case.
- An appropriate composition of the organizing team is very important for ensuring the success of the seminar and participation of a diverse audience (particularly regarding topic, experience, gender, and geographic distribution). Please note that, in our experience, the organizing team and their standing in the research community targeted by the seminar is often a decisive factor in the invitees' decision whether to attend.
- For the organizers, there are no restrictions on their origin, place of work, or nationality. The international orientation of Schloss Dagstuhl should also be reflected in the organizing team. For instance, as a rule of thumb, at least two of the following three geographical regions should be represented: Europe, America, Asia and the rest of the world. It is advisable that submissions on topics that are strongly represented in a region should also have an organizer from that region.
- Schloss Dagstuhl strives to improve gender balance at its seminars, with the goal of encouraging diversity in the field as a whole, and particularly welcomes and encourages gender diversity in the organizing team.
- It is NOT required to have an organizer with a German affiliation.
- Applicants from industry are welcome.
- If a seminar constitutes a follow-up of a previous seminar, there must be at least one new organizer included without exceeding the maximal number of 4 organizers. The goal is to retain the dynamic nature of seminars and to attract new communities and topics.
- In case a seminar proposal is accepted, Schloss Dagstuhl expects all members of the organizer team to attend and actively participate in the moderation of this seminar, thereby ensuring its success.
A.2 – Seminar Title
Although the title should be short and concise, it should also clearly describe the thematic orientation of the seminar. Please omit phrases such as "Proposal for a Dagstuhl Seminar on" or similar. Please capitalize the title as in the following example: "The Great Unifying Theory of Informatics". Please restrict yourself to use at most 80 characters in the title.
A.3 – Type of the Seminar
- Please indicate here whether you are applying for a Dagstuhl Seminar or a Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop.
- Please avoid speaking of a "workshop" in an application for a Dagstuhl Seminar and of a "seminar" in an application for a Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop.
A.4 – Size and Duration of the Seminar
∎ Dagstuhl Seminars:
Schloss Dagstuhl offers 4 seminar formats, which are determined by combining the size and duration of the seminar.
There are two choices in terms of seminar size:
- Small seminars with approximately 28 (25–30) participants (nominally 30 participants)
- Large seminars with approximately 42 (40–45) participants (nominally 45 participants)
While the Scientific Directorate approves the size of your seminar as either approximately 25 or approximately 40, the exact maximum number of participants that Dagstuhl ultimately determines for your seminar may vary, depending on the booking situation.
There are two choices in terms of seminar duration:
- Short seminars: 3 days (arrival on Sunday afternoon, start on Monday morning, departure on Wednesday afternoon)
- Long seminars: 5 days (arrival on Sunday afternoon, start on Monday morning, departure on Friday afternoon)
In exceptional cases a 5-day seminar may have to be shortened to 4 days (with arrival on Monday or departure on Thursday). Similarly, in some cases, arrival and departure of a 3-day seminar may have to be moved to Monday and Thursday, respectively.
You should choose the format according to content and community. Smaller seminars are suitable for specialized topics and a high level of interaction between the participants. Short seminars are also suitable for very specialized topics or communities that are hard-pressed for time. Please note that it can be difficult to convince industry participants to attend for a whole week. 3-day seminars with 45 participants are not very common due to possible issues with group dynamics.
In general, small seminars have shorter waiting times (9-15 months) than large ones (15-21 months).
∎ Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshops:
Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshops are conducted with 25 to 30 participants over a period of three to five days. We recommend 5 days to allow sufficient time for working toward creating a manifesto. It is ideal to start writing the manifesto towards the end of the workshop.
A.5 – Classification
Please classify the application into at least one and at most three categories from the list of subject classes provided at arxiv.org. This is helpful for setting up the review process.
A.6 – Keywords
In addition please provide one to five freely chosen keywords or short phrases.
A.7 – Predecessor Seminar (if applicable)
If the proposal is intended as a successor to a previous seminar, please provide the seminar number associated to that seminar. Successor seminars share, in general, at least one organizer with its predecessor seminar.
A.8 – Resubmission (if applicable)
If your proposal is based on an unsuccessful previous proposal, please provide the proposal number of that proposal.
A.9 – Abstract
- Please provide a short (up to 250 words) abstract of the proposed seminar. The abstract needs to be written in a way that is clear, easy-to-read, and understandable also for people in the informatics community who are working outside the intended research topic of the seminar. Again, this is helpful for setting up the review process.
- Please give your consent that if your application is accepted, this text may be published under the CC BY license.
- For this, please also provide the authors of the abstract. Authors are generally all or sometimes only a subset of the proposal applicants.