Tapia Conference Submission Guidelines

We invite the Tapia community to submit to organize BoF (Birds of a Feather) sessions at the Tapia Conference.

BoFs are 60 minute sessions that provide an informal, town-hall-like forum for the discussion of technical or social issues among interested parties, providing a venue for communities (existing or dynamically organized) to network and possibly collaborate outside of Tapia. Sessions structured to bring together diverse communities are also welcome. Students are particularly encouraged to submit.

Each submission will be reviewed and rated based on the following:

• Relevance to Diversity and/or Computing
• Soundness of Proposal
• Importance/Impact of Proposal
• Quality of Proposed Presentation

NOTE: Recruiting or marketing related sessions are not allowed.

For questions regarding BoF submissions please contact Tapia Birds of a Feather Committee.

Tapia Student Poster Competition

The poster session provides an opportunity for students to present their latest research results and methodologies to a broad audience and to network with peers and experts in their research area. Posters are appropriate for work in progress, preliminary results, and late-breaking research results. If your poster submission is accepted, it will be displayed for a 2-hour time period for judging. One student author must attend the conference as the designated poster presenter. Only one author can present during judging and an author may only present one poster. The poster presenter must be a student at the time of the Tapia Conference.

Posters must represent original work and cannot be previously presented or published in another venue. We will recognize poster winners for two separate categories—1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for undergraduate students and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for graduate students.

ACM Student Research Competition (SRC)

In addition to the Tapia Poster Competition, presenters can choose to enter the ACM Student Research Competition (SRC). The ACM SRC consists of two rounds: (1) traditional research poster session and (2) research talk. If selected for Round 2, students will give a short presentation of their research before a panel of judges. Up to three winners will be chosen in each category, undergraduate and graduate, and receive prizes. These prizes are separate from the Tapia poster prizes. An SRC poster is also eligible for a Tapia poster prize. The winners of the SRC will be invited to participate in the ACM Student Research Competition Grand Finals outside of the Tapia conference.

To be eligible for SRC:

1. Participants must register for the host conference as well as be currently enrolled in a university or college and have an active ACM student membership.

2. Team projects will be accepted from Undergraduate students. One person should be designated by the team to attend the conference and make the oral presentation. Should the designated presenter win first, second or third place in competition only they will receive the medal and monetary award. Only individual research is accepted from Graduate (Masters or PhD program) students.

3. Students may only participate in one SRC per program year (April 1- March 31). Students that have applied to an SRC, but have not been accepted, may respond to other SRC calls for participation during the program year. The poster presenter must be a student at the time of the Tapia Conference.

For additional information, visit the official ACM Student Research Competition website.

Poster Submission Guidelines

Your poster proposal must include the following:

• Title
• Category for which you will be at the time of the conference (undergraduate or graduate)
• If any of the student authors is a graduate student, the category is “graduate”. If all student authors are undergraduate students, the category is “undergraduate”.
• Names of the authors
• If you are entering the ACM SRC competition (Indicate “yes” if the above listed eligibility criteria for ACM SRC is met)
• Name of advisor(s)
• Research abstract (250 word max) describing the research problem and motivation, background and related work, approach and uniqueness, results, and contributions
• Two-page Detailed Description/Poster Template PDF (including references) to be used as the basis for reviewing your submission. See sample templates below.

Tapia Poster Template (.docx)  |  Tapia Poster Template (.odt)  |  Tapia Poster Template (.pdf)
Tapia LaTeX Template (.docx) |  Tapia LaTeX Template (.odt)  |  Tapia LaTeX Template (.pdf)

Each poster submission will be reviewed and rated based on the following:

• Relevance to Diversity and/or Computing
• Soundness of Research Plan
• Importance/Impact of Research Topic
• Originality of Content
• Quality of Submission

If your poster is selected for the Tapia Conference, each presenter is responsible for bringing a physical poster, not to exceed 48”x 96”, to display during the conference.

Poster Presenter Scholarship

Domestic students selected to participate in the Poster Competition are eligible to receive a scholarship that includes full conference registration, a reimbursable travel stipend ($600 max) and hotel accommodations.

Scholarship recipients will share a double occupancy room with another recipient. Additional guests and/or visitors are not allowed in the hotel room at any time.

NOTE: Reimbursement for travel expenses will only be provided to those who physically attend the Tapia Conference. Travel expenses, including flights, will not be reimbursed if you do not attend the conference, even in cases of illness.

Scholarships are only awarded to the individual poster presenter studying at colleges/universities in the U.S. and U.S. Territories. Accepted Poster presenters at international universities are responsible for providing their own travel, hotel and registration to attend the conference.

Tapia Scholarship applications MUST be submitted by March 3, 2026, 11:59 pm HST.

If you DO NOT submit an application for a Tapia Scholarship and your poster is accepted, you will be responsible for the conference registration fee, travel and hotel expenses. **

For questions regarding Poster submissions please contact Tapia Poster Committee.

Tapia scholarships for the conference registration fee, a reimbursable travel stipend (up to $600) and up to 3 nights hotel accommodations are provided to accepted applicants. Those eligible for a Tapia Scholarship are:

• Students (community college/undergraduate/graduate) at colleges/universities in the U.S and U.S. Territories
• Faculty at Minority Serving Institutions

Student scholarship recipients will share a double occupancy room with another recipient. Additional guests and/or visitors are not allowed in the hotel room at any time.

The Tapia Conference is unable to provide scholarships for individuals studying/working at foreign colleges/universities and does not sponsor international students. Tapia scholarships are generously funded by corporate supporters and applications are reviewed by corporate, government and academic professional volunteers.

Each student scholarship application will be reviewed and rated based on the overall strength of the application as well as the following:

• Leadership experience
• Academic excellence
• Level of accomplishment in computer science/computing
• Essay demonstrating how applicant would benefit from attending the conference

Each faculty scholarship application will be reviewed and rated based on the overall strength of the application, personal statement, as well as the following:

• Level of accomplishment in computer science/computing
• Demonstration of leadership in the academic and/or broader community
• Demonstration of a plan to broaden participation in computing

NOTE: Reimbursement for travel expenses will only be provided to those who physically attend the Tapia Conference. Travel expenses, including flights, will not be reimbursed if you do not attend the conference, even in cases of illness.

For questions regarding Scholarships please contact the Tapia Scholarship Committee.