Important Dates
Proposals of special sessions/challenges due: 16th November 2022
Notification of pre-selection: 14th December 2022
Final list of special sessions: 17th May 2023

Submissions of the proposal are encouraged for INTERSPEECH 2023, covering interdisciplinary topics and/or important new emerging areas of interest related to main conference topics. Submissions related to the special focus of the conference’s theme, Inclusion in Speech and Language Research, are particularly welcome. Apart from supporting a particular theme, special sessions may also have a different format from a regular session. Each special session proposal must contain the following information:

• Title of the proposed special session
• Names and affiliations of the organizers (including contact information and a brief biography for each organizer)
• Up to five bullet points on what makes the session special
• A summary (up to one page) stating the importance of the session’s topic and objectives. Furthermore, the session format should be clearly defined (panel, oral, posters, etc.). The summary should also explain why the topic cannot be properly covered by regular conference sessions
• A tentative list of researchers who could contribute papers to the session. Note that with a nominal 50% acceptance rate for INTERSPEECH papers, the special sessions should have a minimum of 12 anticipated submissions, unless their format allocates time to something other than paper presentations
• Additional or non-standard resources (e.g., data, equipment, poster stands, etc.) required for organizing the special session.

Proposals will be evaluated by the organizing committee in consultation with the ISCA Technical Committee for relevance and significance. Papers for approved Special Sessions have to be submitted following the same schedule and procedure as regular papers; the papers will undergo the same review process by anonymous and independent reviewers. Special session organizers will be involved in the reviewer assignment and in the final decisions.

Please note, the ISCA board has decided that, from this year, challenges/special sessions can be run for a maximum of 3 years in total. If this rule makes your proposal ineligible, we encourage you to organize your event as a satellite workshop linked to INTERSPEECH.

Special session proposers are invited to submit a proposal via email to the Special Session Chairs: Mark Gales (U. of Cambridge) and Jennifer Williams (U. Southampton) at special-sessions@interspeech2023.org

Proposals must be submitted no later than Wednesday, November 16th, 2022.  Please do not hesitate to ask before submitting your proposal if further clarifications are needed. Notification of pre-selection is scheduled for Wednesday December 14th, 2022. Final acceptance will be announced shortly after paper decisions are completed.