Call for Special Sessions

The NPEC 2023 invites special sessions (SSs) proposal on emerging topics which are not listed in conference tracks.  A proposal for SS should include 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. 

• Short IEEE style CV of the organizers

• A list of potential authors and their affiliations (minimum 10)

• A list of potential reviewers and their affiliations (minimum 10)

Organization of special sessions

Publicity: Accepted SS organizers should publicize the SS to get enough paper.  

Review Process: This is same as regular papers. The review has to be done by SS organizers. The final decision will 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.

Conflict of Interest: 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.

Restrictions: 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.

Successful Special Session: A minimum of 6 accepted papers with authors from at least 3 independent institutions 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.

Waiver for Successful Special Session:  One complimentary full registration will be provided to successful Special Sessions with at least 6 papers. The successful SS organizers  must register for and attend the conference, and chair the corresponding sessions.