Dear Colleagues (apologies for cross-posting), Call for Doctoral Consortium Participants at: The 20th IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (FG 2026) May 25th – 29th, 2026, Kyoto, Japan. https://fg2026.ieee-biometrics.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Demo Presentations ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The 20th IEEE Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition (FG 2026) invites researchers from academia and industry to present live demonstrations of their research findings and face/gesture recognition systems to conference participants. These demonstrations aim to provide tangible, practical, and interactive validation of the presenters' research concepts and scientific or engineering contributions. The primary objective is to offer researchers and practitioners a platform for discussing operational face/gesture recognition systems, applications, prototypes, or proof-of-concepts. Such a setting enables conference attendees to observe and engage with live demonstrations showcasing innovative solutions and concepts and to witness cutting-edge research in action. Demos are NOT restricted solely to the papers accepted by FG 2026 or its associated workshops. We encourage the submission of any demo that demonstrates the effectiveness of face and gesture recognition methods. These demos may originate from papers accepted at other venues (e.g., extended works), such as peer-reviewed conferences or journals. However, it is expected that these demos present innovative and novel research outcomes. [Expected Contents] We strongly encourage submissions in all areas related to face and gesture analysis and synthesis, as outlined in the general call for papers for IEEE FG 2026, which can be found at the following link: https://fg2026.ieee-biometrics.org/ [Submission Guidelines] All submissions will undergo a peer-review process. Anonymous submission is not mandatory, and the submission materials should include the following: (Mandatory) A one-page proposal (including references) formatted according to the standard IEEE FG 2026 guidelines. This proposal should provide a comprehensive description of the demonstrated system and articulate the novelty and significance of the contribution to the FG community. Special emphasis should be placed on detailing the specific demonstration scenarios for the system. This should encompass how the audience will engage with the demo, the range of functionalities it offers, user scenarios, interface design, interaction options, and more. In particular, the proposal should address the following aspects for the evaluation: - What is the scientific or engineering concept behind the work? - What is the novelty of the work and how is the work different from existing systems or - techniques? - What is the expected impact on the FG community? - What will be actually shown during the demo? - What type of interactivity will be supported, for onsite and/or online scenarios? (Optional Supplementary Material) If you have any special requests or unique requirements regarding the configuration of your demo booth, you are welcome to submit an additional one-page PDF file detailing these specifications. This document will help us accommodate any specific needs you may have for your demo presentation. Although not required, adding a video or a link to it is encouraged, as it can help convey the content more clearly. Demo proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF format through CMT. The configuration description should be submitted as Supplementary Material through the same CMT. Please ensure that all uploaded content falls within the overall submission size limit of 100 MB. Demonstration presentations that have been accepted, accompanied by a one-page proposal adhering to FG2026’s camera-ready format, will be featured in the proceedings of FG2026. Submission link: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/FG2026/ [Important Dates] Submission Deadline (One-page proposal and Supplementary Material): April 9th, 2026 (11:59 pm Anywhere on Earth) Notification of Acceptance: April 16th, 2026 Camera Ready Deadline: April 21st, 2026 [Contacts] For additional information and queries, please contact the Demo and Exhibition Chair: Katsutoshi Masai (masai@ait.kyushu-u.ac.jp<mailto:masai@ait.kyushu-u.ac.jp>) Kevin ElHaddad (kevin.elhaddad@umons.ac.be<mailto:kevin.elhaddad@umons.ac.be>) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Call for Doctoral Consortium Participants --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IEEE Face and Gesture 2026 Doctoral Consortium Date: May 25th, 2026 Website: https://fg2026.ieee-biometrics.org/doctoral_consortium/ [Overview] The aim of the FG 2026 Doctoral Consortium is to provide a forum for PhD students to discuss their research and career objectives with other students and senior researchers working in relevant fields and get effective and timely feedback from the international research community. The FG 2026 Doctoral Consortium also aims to: - Provide a networking environment that will enable the doctoral students to establish new contacts and collaborations with other international junior and senior researchers; - Equip the new generation of bright researchers with career options and inform them about the possibilities in academia and industry. The Doctoral Consortium will be a half-day event that will take place in parallel to the tutorials and workshops on the first day of the conference on 25 May 2026. The event will feature networking opportunities with established senior researchers, presentations by the accepted PhD students, Q&A sessions, and a joint lunch. Accepted PhD students will also be given the opportunity to present their work during a poster session of the main conference, helping to increase the visibility of their PhD research. Attendance at the consortium is strictly by invitation. [Eligibility] We invite eligible students to apply for the Doctoral Consortium, with the expectation that successful applicants will actively participate in the entire program in-person. Eligible students are those pursuing a PhD who have made progress in their dissertation, with some results already published or nearing publication. We value diversity and equality in terms of research topics, participating institutions, and individuals involved. We particularly encourage women and individuals from underrepresented groups to apply. We do not expect more than two students to be invited from each institution to represent a diverse sample. Although having a paper appearing in FG 2026 is not a prerequisite for participation, it is highly encouraged for applicants to have a paper associated with the conference, whose topics could be summarized during the Doctoral Consortium. [Submission] To apply for the Doctoral Consortium, please submit: - A research statement summarizing the thesis research topic, the working plan, and the progress to date (max 2 pages). - A CV (max 1 page). The CV should highlight any publications and conference presentations that are related to the thesis topic. - A supporting letter from the thesis advisor that endorses the student's application to this Doctoral Consortium and briefly describes the progress or status of the student's thesis work. All materials should be prepared in a single PDF file and submitted through the Doctoral Consortium Track of the FG 2026 CMT instance: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/FG2026 [Review and Selection Process] Applications will be evaluated based on: - Quality of the application and thesis topic. - Anticipated benefits (current/potential contributions to science) of the student's research. - Student's contribution to the diversity of topics, backgrounds, methodology, etc. - Endorsement by the thesis advisor. There will be no papers published from the Doctoral Consortium in the proceedings of FG 2026. [Financial Support] The students selected to participate in the Doctoral Consortium may be considered for financial support. However, the availability and extent of financial support are subject to the availability of funds and are not guaranteed. Applicants should be prepared to attend FG 2026 without financial support in the event that funds are not available. It is important to note that the lunch session with senior mentors will be fully covered by the conference anyway, and no expenses associated with lunch will be incurred by the Doctoral Consortium participants or mentors. [Important Dates] Submission Deadline: April 9th, 2026 Notification of Acceptance: April 16th, 2026 Doctoral Consortium Date: May 25th, 2026 [Contacts] For questions and queries, please contact the Doctoral Consortium Chairs: Yasutomo Kawanishi, RIKEN, Japan (yasutomo.kawanishi@riken.jp<mailto:yasutomo.kawanishi@riken.jp>) Kalin Stefanov, Monash University, Australia (kalin.stefanov@monash.edu<mailto:kalin.stefanov@monash.edu>)