ACM MobiCom 2026 will host an ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) alongside the Work-in-progress and Demo Program. SRC offers graduate and undergraduate students an opportunity to present their original research and rewards outstanding student research. It aims to give students an opportunity to meet with conference attendees and distinguished researchers to receive feedback on their research.
Guidelines
There are two categories for SRC:
- Graduate Research: This category is open to Masters or PhD candidates. Only one student author per submission is eligible for SRC. If multiple authors are involved in a project, please indicate your contributions in the submission (up to 300 words). Students should be prepared to present and will be evaluated on their own contributions to the project.
- Undergraduate Research: This category is open to undergraduate students. Only one student author per submission is eligible for SRC. If multiple authors are involved in a project, please indicate your contributions in the submission (up to 300 words). Students should be prepared to present and will be evaluated on their own contributions to the project.
Participants must be currently enrolled in a university, and a valid ACM student membership and MobiCom conference registration are required for the designated student presenter.
Selection Process
The first round of selection will be held with the MobiCom work-in-progress/demo sessions, where the SRC judges will evaluate the participants based on the submitted abstract and the work-in-progress/demo presentation. Assessment will be based on: (i) Motivation of the research, (ii) Background work, (iii) Novelty of the approach and research methods, (iv) Results and contributions to the field of mobile systems, and (v) Quality of the oral and visual presentation.
Three students from each category will advance to the second round, where they will give a 5-minute presentation on their research, followed by a 2-minute question-and-answer period. This will be organized as a separate session after the Work-in-progress/Demo sessions.
Awards
The first, second, and third place winners from each category will be awarded $500, $300, and $200, respectively. The first-place graduate and undergraduate winners will advance to the SRC Grand Finals, where winners from various ACM SIGs are evaluated to nominate the SRC winners. There will be no separate travel grant dedicated to SRC, aside from the MobiCom 2026 Travel Grant.
Submission
Students submitting to the MobiCom 2026 Work-in-progress/Demo Sessions can opt to have their work considered by the SRC committee if their submissions are accepted. To be considered for the SRC, complete a submission to the Work-in-progress or the Demo Session and indicate in the submission form that you would like to participate in the SRC. Only one student author per submission is eligible for SRC. If multiple authors are involved in a project, please indicate your contributions in the submission (up to 300 words). Your submission should describe recently completed or ongoing research. For Submission Deadline and Instructions, please follow the guidelines on the MobiCom 2026 Work-in-progress or MobiCom 2026 Demo pages.
Contact
For further questions, please contact the SRC co-chairs:
Bhuvana Krishnaswamy, bhuvana [at] ece.wisc.edu
Kun Woo Cho, kwcho [at] utexas.edu