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NeurIPS 2024 Call for Affinity Events

 

Deadline to submit proposal: Jun 07, 2024 AOE

Notification of acceptance: Jun 14, 2024 AOE

We are calling for affinity groups to host events at NeurIPS 2024. NeurIPS 2024 will take place on Monday Dec 9 through Sunday Dec 15, 2024 and will be a livestreamed and recorded conference that takes place in Vancouver.

You can send the proposal (see below for proposal template) to the Affinity Chairs (affinity-chairs@neurips.cc) in the form of a PDF file (refer to formatting instructions below). If in case you are unable to submit by the deadline, please inform us and express your interest, and we will try to make room and arrangements for your event. For full consideration, we highly recommend submitting by the deadline. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at: affinity-chairs@neurips.cc.

Introduction

At NeurIPS, affinity groups promote and support the ideas and voices of various communities that are defined by some axis of joint identity and raise awareness of issues that affect their members. Previously, affinity groups included Women in Machine Learning (WiML), Queer in AI (QinAI), Black in AI (BAI), LatinX in AI (LXAI), {Dis}Ability in AI, Indigenous in AI, Global South in AI, Muslims in ML, and Jews in ML. In this call, we welcome applications from all kinds of affinity groups.

There is a need for members of affinity groups to have more opportunities to showcase their work and participate and network at NeurIPS. The main goals of affinity events are to increase visibility of the work done by the members of the affinity group, enable them to interact and discuss topics that are unique to each affinity group, encourage affinity group members to showcase their work and step into the NeurIPS community. Unlike other events, affinity group events are centered around creating space for communities in AI and ML that are defined by some axis of joint identity. The idea of having affinity group events is to establish research communities out of affinity groups and raise awareness of the challenges faced by their members. Furthermore, affinity group events provide safe, inclusive spaces for members of affinity groups to socialize and network.

Affinity Group Events

By default, affinity events will be livestreamed and have Zoom access (unless the organizers wish otherwise). Affinity groups can organize a set of activities as part of the proposed event. Activities may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following:

  • Keynote talks
  • Lightning talks
  • Panels
  • Discussions
  • Mentorship sessions
  • Poster sessions
  • Social events
  • Competitions
  • Networking sessions
  • Sponsor booths
  • Art exhibit

For examples of past events, you may consult:

NeurIPS does not provide travel funding for Affinity Events organizers or speakers. NeurIPS will grant some amount of complimentary tickets to the core organizers and selected contributors to the affinity events. Affinity group members may be covered by D&I travel and conference grants (applications will open in September). No registration is required to access an affinity event virtually (i.e. the Zoom link may be shared).

Joint Poster Session

We will hold an in-person and virtual poster session exclusively for affinity groups. The in-person session will take place on Tuesday, December 10 during the opening reception. The virtual session logistics will be managed by the affinity event organisers. Authors from all affinity groups that issue a call for papers/contributions/media are required to participate in either the in-person joint affinity group poster session or their virtual joint poster session. However, this does not preclude groups from holding their own mini poster sessions during their event.

Guidelines for Call for Contributions

The following guidelines are only recommended, and event organizers do not necessarily need to enforce them. We suggest the following timeline:

  • First call for papers: Middle of June.
  • Visa-friendly submission deadline: Early August (or earlier, permitting authors have enough time to prepare submissions). Note: NeurIPS 2024 registration has already opened.
  • Notification date: 2-3 weeks after the submission (at set dates or rolling). Please make notification dates explicit and transparent so authors can accordingly plan to attend NeurIPS and please consider a timeline that is mindful of VISA requirements.

Organizing Support

The Affinity Chairs will actively host meetups and organizing sessions ahead of the conference to provide affinity groups with the support they need to host their event. We will also update all the affinity groups on DIA travel and conference grants. Additionally, we will help affinity groups advertise their events and attract participants. 

Format for Proposal

To simplify the preparation of the Affinity Events proposals, we ask to use this template as a foundation for the proposal. There is no length requirement for the proposal. Please make sure to address all items mentioned in the template. 

 

Ioana and Merve
affinity-chairs@neurips.cc
NeurIPS 2024 Affinity Chairs