Collab-a-thon

ECIR 2024 introduces a new innovation for ECIR, called the “Collab-a-thon”. The Collab-a-thon will provide an opportunity for participants to foster new collaborations that can lead to exciting new research, and forge lasting relationships with like-minded researchers. This hackathon-style event will provide participants with the chance to discuss new ideas and even build a prototype of their new research idea, tool or resource. Currently, the event is planned to be held post main-conference in conjunction with the industry day on Thursday, 28th March. There will be ample opportunities for delegates to attend both the Collab-a-thon and the Industry Day talks. All ECIR 2024 attendees are welcome (and encouraged!) to join and participate in the Collab-a-thon, particularly PhD students and IR practitioners!

How will it work?

Step 1: Sign up – we will provide an online form for you to register your interests.

Step 2: Match – we’ll connect you with a team of participants who share similar interests.

Step 3: Meet up – spend some time with your team throughout the conference (be it over lunch, coffee breaks, or at a social event) and discuss ideas and potential projects to work on during the Collab-a-thon day.

Step 4: Create – attend the Collab-a-thon day and collaboratively build a proof-of-concept of your idea!

Step 5: Share – at the end of the day, there will be a chance to present your prototype with the rest of the delegates.

What should you create?

It can be anything! Maybe you try merging methods proposed by each of the team members into a “Frankenstein” model. Or perhaps you build new software components that better support your mutual research interests. It’s up to you!

Questions? Suggestions?

Please feel free to reach out to Sean MacAvaney <sean.macavaney@glasgow.ac.uk> with any questions or feedback.