Special Sessions

Special Session proposals are solicited covering special topics in all emerging research areas of interest for IES, particularly for themes not covered by the regular tracks.

Special sessions provide the opportunity to focus in detail on particular emerging topics, which are not reflected in the list of conference tracks or represent a specific working field where researchers would like to meet and discuss advances.

We also welcome sessions on special technologies for rural areas, remote sites and extreme weather conditions, in a variety of applications, from energy, transportation and manufacturing, to health, food and education.

If you wish to organize a special session, please provide the committee with a proposal using the provided template (MS Word) and including the following information:

• Title of the Special Session
• Brief description of the area of concern (approx. 100 words), with special focus on why this is an interesting and significant topic
• The name and contact information of 2 or 3 special session chairs, who are willing to promote and organize a sufficient amount of quality submissions to the special session. Please also indicate the background of the organizers
• A list of potential authors and their affiliations
• A list of potential reviewers and their affiliations
• The sponsoring IES Technical Committee(s)

Click here to download the template for proposals.

Once approved, it is the duty of the special session organizers to publicize the Special Session among researchers and practitioners in the field and attract a sufficient number of papers. The general organizing committee will support the Special Session organizers by sending a general call for papers for the general tracks and the special sessions through the IES and IEEE emailing lists.

Papers submitted to special sessions will undergo the same review process as regular papers. The special session organizers are responsible for organizing the review process of their respective special session, assuring at least three reviews per paper. It is expected that the special session organizers will invite and assign reviewers to their special session. During the review period, your role is to ensure timely delivery by the reviewers. The acceptance recommendation for the Special Session papers is expected to be made by the special session co-chairs within the designated deadline.

After the final manuscripts are received, Special Session co-chairs are expected to check if the authors have addressed critical comments of reviewers.

Before starting the review process, SS organizers must explicitly declare papers which present a conflict of interest for them. A conflict of interest arises where the judgement of a paper quality can be influenced by the organizers being authors or knowing some of the authors. To ensure independent reviews, this conflict must be marked as such in the submission system and the SS Co-Chairs notified so that they can arrange the review process.

During the review process, Special Session Organizers must take into account that:

1. An individual cannot be (co‐)author of more than two papers submitted to the same Special Session.
2. Papers from organizers cannot exceed 60% of the contents of the Special Session.

A minimum of 6 accepted papers with authors from at least 3 independent institutions and two different countries is required for each session. If a session has too few papers, accepted papers will be allocated to regular sessions wherever possible. In case of indication of weakly organized special sessions, the conference organizers will support the organizers with advice but reserve measures including cancellation of the respective special session.

Organizers of successful Special Sessions must register for and attend the conference, and chair the corresponding sessions. One complimentary full registration will be provided to successful Special Sessions with at least 6 papers.

When a Special Session is finally accepted by the conference, Special Session organizers will serve as Session chairs in the conference. In case of exceptional circumstances, the Technical Program Chairs and Conference General Chairs might take up the full control of appointing the Session Chairs should the Special Session organizers be unable to participate in the conference.

Please send your proposal in PDF format to ieee.isie2024@gmail.com.

The deadline for Special Session proposals is 1st of December 2023.

• Makoto Iwasaki, Japan
• Yousef Ibrahim, Australia
• Michael Ruderman, Norway