Following its long-standing tradition, SPLASH 2016 will host a variety of high-quality workshops, allowing their participants to meet and discuss research questions with peers, to mature new and exciting ideas, and to build up communities and start new collaborations. SPLASH workshops complement the main tracks of the conference and provide meetings in a smaller and more specialized setting. Workshops cultivate new ideas and concepts for the future, optionally recorded in formal proceedings.

See Accepted Workshops.

Call for Submissions

We encourage proposals for workshops on any topic relevant to SPLASH. If there is a topic relevant to SPLASH that you feel passionate about, and you want to connect with others who have similar interests, you should consider submitting a proposal to organize a workshop! The exact format of the workshop can be defined by the proposal submitters, and we more than welcome new, and unconventional ideas for workshop formats. The following suggestions may serve as a starting point:

• Mini-conferences provide their participants the possibility to present their work to other domain experts. The smaller and more specialized setting of the workshop allows for more extensive Q&A sessions and facilitates ample discussions,which may continue after the workshop. Typically, presentations of work-in-progress as well as of completed projects are welcome. The workshop may or may not produce formal proceedings.

• Retreats act as a platform for domain experts to gather with the purpose of tackling the issues of a predetermined research agenda. Retreats are highly interactive and goal-oriented, allowing their participants to address open challenges in their domain, to explore new, uncharted ideas, and to (maybe even) uncover new, promising research domains.

• Agenda-setting workshops provide a forum for domain experts to determine a research agenda for a sub-field, and may include collaborations on an agenda document that is published after the workshop is over.

• Other common activities at workshops include poster sessions, hands-on practical work, and focus groups.

Proposal submitters should feel free to direct questions about workshop formats to the workshop chairs. Workshops that include presentation of research papers, and that implement a SIGPLAN-approved selection process, may be archived as formal proceedings in the ACM Digital Library; note that this option is available only to submitters to the early phase.

Workshop Submission Phase

This year, SPLASH provides two options to submit proposals, either Early Phase or Late Phase (but not both):

• Early Phase Submissions due: 15 January 2016
• Late Phase Submissions due: 4 March 2016

Proposal Content

Each workshop proposal must include the following information:

• Title and desired abbreviation: if the workshop is accepted, this will be used for advertising purposes.
• Theme, goals and format: the main topic and goals of the workshop, the workshop’s relevance to the SPLASH community, as well as the workshop’s format (e.g., mini-conference, retreat, agenda-setting workshop).
• Abstract: a 150-word abstract that summarizes the theme and goals of the workshop. If the workshop is accepted, this abstract will be used for advertising purposes.
• Organizers: workshop organizers are responsible for advertising the workshop (e.g., sending CfPs to relevant mailing lists, there will be combined workshop emails too), managing the workshop web site (note, workshop web sites will be setup on Conf.ResearchR.org the same web content management system being used by SPLASH), organizing the reviewing process (e.g., by forming a small program committee), running the workshop, and collating any results of the workshop for dissemination. The proposal should indicate the names, affiliations, and contact details of the workshop organizers as well as a primary organizer and contact person (primary organizer and contact person do not need to be the same). For each organizer, the proposal should describe his/her background (expertise in the area and previous experience in running workshops) and also identify his/her responsibilities for the workshop.
• Anticipated Attendance: the ideal, minimum, and maximum expected number of participants. Please note that there will be an additional charge for workshop registration at SPLASH. The SPLASH organizing committee reserves the right to cancel any workshops that do not meet attendance goals.
• Advertisement: the planned advertisement for the workshop to ensure sufficient participation.
• Participant Preparation: what preparation is expected from workshop participants, including how attendees gain access to the workshop (e.g., submission of a full paper, an extended abstract, a position paper).
• Activities and Format: the format of the workshop and a timetable. All SPLASH workshops must be planned for one or two full days of activities. For example, the proposal should describe whether there will be introductory material, paper presentations, panel discussions, debates, hands-on sessions, or focus groups, and how such groups will report back to the other participants.
• Post-Workshop Activities: what results are expected, and how these will be disseminated to the wider public after the workshop. Workshops that result in peer-reviewed papers and implement an ACM SIGPLAN-approved selection process can submit formal proceedings to the ACM Digital Library. To get the approval, the workshop has to meet the usual requirements defined for ACM SIGPLAN events (i.e., approval of workshop proposal and workshop program committee by ACM SIGPLAN). The approval process is coordinated by the SPLASH organizers. Note that this option is open only to early phase sumissions.
• Special Requirements: any special requirements you might have, in terms of room configuration, audio and video equipment.

Submission Format

SPLASH workshop proposals should not exceed 6 pages. Please use the ACM SIGPLAN Conference Format,10 point font, and include page numbers in your proposal. Note that by default the SIGPLAN Conference Format produces papers in 9 point font. If you are formatting your paper using LaTeX, you will need to set the 10pt option in the \documentclass command. If you are formatting your paper using Word, you may wish to use the provided Word template that supports this font size. Please include page numbers in your submission. Setting the preprint option in the LaTeX \documentclass command generates page numbers. Please also ensure that your submission is legible when printed on a black and white printer. In particular, please check that colors remain distinct and font sizes are legible.

Submission System

Submit workshop proposals: https://splash16workshops.hotcrp.com/

This year, SPLASH also accepts proposals of GPCE and SLE workshops. For GPCE and SLE workshop proposals, please explicitly specify the affiliation of the workshop.

Publication

If your workshop chooses to have published proceedings, be aware that accepted papers will be available in the ACM Digital Library as early as TBD. The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work. It is therefore vital that this information will be communicated to participants in your workshop.

Evaluation Criteria

Workshop proposals will be selected based on the quality of the proposal and according to the space available at SPLASH. The following questions may be helpful in devising a high-quality proposal:

1. Are there at least two organizers and do they represent a reasonably varied cross-section of the community close to the topic?
2. Does the abstract present a compelling case for the importance of the topic area?
3. Are the goals of the workshop expressed clearly?
4. Is the topic likely to be attractive to SPLASH attendees?
5. Does the chosen format encourage a high level of interaction between the participants?
6. Is a workshop the right forum to address the theme and goals?
7. The number of accepted proposals will be limited by the available conference rooms. Late submissions will only be evaluated if there is space available, on a first-come-first-served basis.

Workshop Workflow

• All workshops must host their content on Conf.Researchr (http://conf.researchr.org/), the same content management system that is being used by SPLASH 2016. Workshop websites will be setup by the SPLASH organizing committee, but content is to be managed by the workshop organizers. Workshop Co-Chairs will help where necessary. Conf.Researchr is the website management system for SPLASH 2016.
• If workshops have paper submissions from authors please use HotCRP (https://hotcrp.com/) instead of EasyChair or other submission systems. HotCRP is the submission system for SPLASH 2016.
• CPC (https://www.conference-publishing.com/) will be used for the publications process of papers. CPC is the publisher for SPLASH 2016.

Workshop Dates

Accepted SPLASH workshops will be held on Monday, Oct. 31, and Tuesday, Nov 1.

More Information

For additional information, clarification, or answers to questions please contact the Workshop Co-Chairs Jan Rellermeyer) and (Craig Anslow) at workshops@splashcon.org.