In 2026, ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim will once again sponsor the PhD Colloquium for PhD students who are within two years of graduation (planning to graduate by December 2028). Students close to graduation will be given an opportunity to showcase their work during a short presentation session and a poster during the Colloquium (apart from the regular tracks). Presenting your PhD work to your peers and the larger simulation community will give you the opportunity to receive valuable feedback and ideas, as well as introduce you to a network that can be very helpful for your career once you graduate.
Ph.D. Colloquium Committee 2026
Chair
Alison Harper, University of Exeter
Members
Eunhye Song, Georgia Institute of Technology
Sara Shashaani, North Carolina State University
Laura Boyle, Queen’s University Belfast
Important Dates
Please see the PhD Colloquium section in the Call for Papers.
Keynote Speaker
Christine Currie
Professor of Operational Research
Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton
Ph.D. Colloquium Participation Options
Students can only participate once in a WSC PhD Colloquium.
There are two options to participate in the PhD Colloquium with different benefits:
- Poster and Presentation: Submit a 2-page extended abstract and presentation slides. Bring your poster to the conference.
Benefit 1: If accepted, both ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim provide a complimentary one-year membership.
Benefit 2: ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim will reimburse the conference registration fee.
- Poster, Presentation, and Full Paper: Submit a 2-page extended abstract and presentation slides. Bring your poster to the conference. In addition, you have submitted a full paper to a regular track (a contributed paper, not an invited paper), and it has been accepted.
Benefit 1: Both ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim provide a complimentary one-year membership.
Benefit 2: ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim will reimburse the conference registration fee.
Benefit 3: You will be eligible to compete for a best paper award, provided that your full paper is accepted in a regular track. ACM-SIGSIM and INFORMS-Sim will each award a Best PhD Student Paper prize among those students making a presentation at both the PhD Colloquium and in a regular track at the conference.
Students interested in competing for a Best Paper award should include their contributed paper ID when completing the PhD Colloquium submission. An email should also be sent to the chair of the PhD Colloquium that includes the contributed paper ID and indicates intent to participate in the Best Paper competition. Note that invited papers cannot be considered for the Best Paper awards.
PhD Colloquium participants must be present at all events (colloquium and poster session, WSC opening session, ACM-SIGSIM, and INFORMS-Sim meetings) to be eligible for all benefits.
Note: Students who showcase their work as a poster in the regular WSC poster session are not eligible to participate in the Colloquium (and vice versa). Hence, one should select to participate in either the regular poster session or the Colloquium (not both).
Submission Requirements
Students interested in participating in the Colloquium should submit a 2-page extended abstract by the deadline using the WSC submission system. Extended abstracts are used for designing the tracks and are included in the proceedings distributed to conference attendees, but they are not included in the archival version of the proceedings in IEEE and ACM repositories. The extended abstract is required for all Colloquium participation options. The abstract should have a single author (the student) and must be formatted using the poster template in the WSC Author Kit.
In addition, the advisor needs to send an email to the chair of the PhD Colloquium Committee by October 9, 2026 that states:
- That the PhD student is within two years of graduation and has not previously participated in a WSC PhD Colloquium
- That the PhD student is the main author of the submission
- That the PhD student will attend WSC 2026 and participate in the PhD Colloquium
- The society they belong to: INFORMS or ACM
Additional Information about the Colloquium
Presentations: If you submit a student paper for the conference, you can use your presentation for the PhD Colloquium as well as for the track presentation. You will need to edit the slides, as we may have more time constraints. This year, presentations will be just short pitches followed by a brief Q&A. You do not have to present something special in the PhD Colloquium that cannot be used in the regular sessions.
Student Papers: Student papers are part of the regular conference and fall under the submission and review guidelines as documented on this WSC website. A full paper is not required to participate in the PhD Colloquium. However, if you have an accepted paper at WSC 2026 and participate in the PhD Colloquium, then you are also eligible to compete for a Best Paper award.
ACM Travel Awards: To support the professional development of PhD students working in modelling and simulation, ACM SIGSIM offers travel support for up to 10 students to attend the Winter Simulation Conference. Further details are available at: https://sigsim.acm.org/sigsim-student-travel-awards/