Overview
We are delighted to announce the Young Scholar Symposium, to be held as part of the IEEE ICHI 2026 conference. This program aims to support high school and undergraduate students pursuing research and academic degrees in biomedical informatics and health informatics.
The symposium provides a unique platform for young researchers to showcase their innovative work, interact with leading AI and healthcare researchers, and gain experience in the academic publication process. Accepted papers will be presented during the conference and published in the conference proceedings.
Symposium Program & Activities
Beyond the presentation of research papers, this symposium is designed to foster mentorship and community. The program will feature several interactive sessions modeled after successful student programs in the field:
- Oral Presentations:Authors of accepted papers will present their work to an international audience of researchers and practitioners.
- Mentor-Mentee Pair Discussions:Each student presenter will be paired with a senior mentor (faculty member or industry researcher) for a dedicated 1:1 or small-group discussion. This session allows students to receive personalized feedback on their research career, college applications, and academic path.
- Awards Ceremony:The event will conclude with an awards ceremony recognizing exceptional work, including Outstanding Paper and Rising Star awards.
Topics of Interest
We invite submissions that present novel ideas, methodologies, algorithms, or applications in health informatics. The scope of topics includes, but is not limited to:
- Agentic AI for Healthcare
- Smart Clinical Decision Making
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) Mining
- Drug Repurposing and Discovery
- Explainable AI in Health
- Biomedical Data Processing and Analytics
- Public Health Informatics
Eligibility
- First Author Status: The first author must be a high school or undergraduate student at the time of submission.
- Co-authorship: Co-authorship with faculty members, mentors, or graduate researchers is allowed and encouraged; however, the student must be the primary contributor to the work.
- Presenters: If accepted, at least one student author must register and present the paper in person.
Submission Guidelines
All submissions must be original work not under review elsewhere. Papers will be reviewed based on technical quality, novelty, relevance to healthcare informatics, and clarity of presentation.
- Format: Submissions must adhere to the IEEE Computer Society Proceedings Manuscript Formatting Guidelines (Double-column, 10pt font). Link to IEEE Templates
- Submission Items:
- A page cover letter justifying what the student hopes to gain by attending the Young Scholar Symposium.
- A page abstract of a research project (ongoing or planned).
- Submission Portal: Please submit your paper via the ICHI 2026 EasyChair System.
- Note: Select the "Young Scholar Symposium" track during submission.
- Affiliation: Please clearly indicate in the author affiliation section whether the first author is a high school or undergraduate student.
Important Dates
- Submission deadline: March 15, 2026
- Notification of Acceptance: March 25, 2026
- Camera-Ready Copy Due: April 7, 2026
- Conference Dates:June 1–4, 2026
Participation & Attendance Policy
The symposium will be held as an in-person event to facilitate networking and mentorship.
- Attendance: At least one student author of each accepted paper must attend the conference to present their work. Papers not presented in person will be excluded from the IEEE proceedings.
- High School Chaperone Policy: To ensure safety and supervision, high school student presenters are required to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian for the duration of the conference.
Young Scholar Symposium Chair
All accepted papers will be included in the IEEE Xplore proceedings.