Graduate Student Symposium

IEEE CEC 2027 will feature a Graduate Student Symposium, providing Master’s and doctoral students with a supportive and interactive forum in which to present their ongoing research, receive focused feedback from senior researchers and practitioners, and exchange ideas with peers across the evolutionary computation community.

The Symposium is intended for students who have established a clear research problem and direction but whose work remains sufficiently in progress to benefit from constructive discussion. Submissions are not expected to report a completed body of research.

Applicants should submit a non-anonymised research proposal of no more than four pages, including references, using the official IEEE conference template.

The proposal should clearly describe:

• the research problem and its significance;

• the research objectives, questions, or hypotheses;

• the relevant state of the art and the research gap being addressed;

• the proposed methodology or technical approach;

• progress to date, including preliminary results or a validation plan where applicable;

• the remaining research plan and expected contributions; and

• two or three specific technical or conceptual questions on which the student would particularly value feedback.

Applicants should also provide their degree programme, current stage of study, expected completion date, and supervisor’s name through the submission system.

Accepted students will give a short oral presentation of their research, followed by a moderated discussion with a panel of senior researchers and practitioners. The format will prioritise substantive feedback, technical exchange, and constructive discussion rather than formal paper presentation alone.

Accepted participants will also be expected to engage actively with the presentations and discussions of other students throughout the Symposium.

The student author must register for IEEE CEC 2027 at the applicable registration rate and present the work at the congress.