The International Symposium on Field-Programmable Custom Computing Machines (FCCM) is pleased to host its PhD Forum for graduate students pursuing their doctoral degree on topics within the scope of FCCM. The forum provides a venue for students to present and discuss their dissertation research with experts from academia and industry working on reconfigurable hardware, related tools, and applications. It is also an excellent opportunity to explore future career prospects in an informal setting — have your CV ready!
The FCCM PhD Forum this year will have two submission tracks:
- Poster Presentations — open to all enrolled graduate students working on FCCM-relevant research.
- [New] Best PhD Dissertation Award — an award recognizing outstanding completed or near-complete dissertations in the FCCM research community.
Track 1: Poster Presentations
This track is intended to help students at any stage of their PhD receive feedback from the broader FCCM community. Participants will present a poster at the forum, which runs alongside the main conference.
Eligibility
Applicants must be enrolled in a PhD program at the time of submission.
Submission — Poster Presentations
Poster extended abstracts must follow these requirements:
- Length: 2 pages maximum in letter-sized IEEE conference proceedings format, including all references. A conformant LaTeX template is available here. Overleaf users can find the LaTeX template here. A Microsoft Word template is available here.
- Author list: PhD candidate and advisor(s) only, with affiliations and email addresses.
The following structure is recommended:
- Abstract
- Problem and Motivation: What problem do you solve and why is it exciting?
- Background and Related Work: What is missing in the state of the art, and how will you improve it?
- Approach and Uniqueness: How are you tackling the problem, and what is novel about your approach?
- Preliminary Results (if applicable)
- Expected Results and Contributions: What are the expected outcomes and their broader impact?
How to Submit
Submit by email to phdforum@fccm.org with the following:
Email subject: FCCM 2026 PhD Forum [Student_Name]
Email body: (1) Student name, (2) Department, (3) University, (4) Advisor name
PDF attachments:
- <LastName_FirstName>_abstract.pdf — abstract
- <LastName_FirstName>_proof.pdf — proof of PhD enrollment
Track 2: Best PhD Dissertation Award
FCCM 2026 introduces, for the first time, the Best PhD Dissertation Award, recognizing exceptional doctoral dissertations that advance the state of the art in field-programmable and reconfigurable computing. The award recipient will be selected by a committee of experts from the FCCM community and announced at the conference.
Eligibility
Candidates must meet one of the following criteria:
- PhD students who have a written dissertation and expect to defend no later than the end of 2026.
- PhD alumni who defended their dissertation in or after April 2023 (i.e., within ~3 years of the submission deadline).
Scope
The dissertation must address topics within the scope of FCCM, including but not limited to:
- FPGA and reconfigurable computing architectures
- High-level synthesis and design automation for reconfigurable hardware
- Compilers, tools, and programming models for FPGAs
- Domain-specific accelerators
- Reconfigurable computing for security
- Emerging reconfigurable technologies and systems.
Nominations
Nominations may be submitted either by the PhD candidate themselves (self-nomination) or by a third party (e.g., the thesis advisor, a colleague, or any member of the research community) on behalf of the candidate. In either case, the candidate must be aware of and consent to the nomination.
Submission Package
All nominations must be submitted by email to phdforum@fccm.org with the following:
Email subject: FCCM 2026 Best PhD Dissertation Award [Candidate_Name]
Required attachments:
- Full Dissertation PDF: The complete dissertation as submitted/defended (or the latest complete draft for students who have not yet defended).
- CV / Publication List: A current curriculum vitae for the candidate, including a full list of publications related to the dissertation.
- Endorsement Letter: In the case of a self-nomination, a letter from the thesis advisor commenting on the significance and quality of the dissertation work. In the case of a nomination by a third party, a letter from the nominator explaining the basis for the nomination and the nominee’s contributions.
Selection Process
A committee of FCCM community members will evaluate submissions based on the significance and novelty of the research contributions, technical quality and rigor, impact on and relevance to the FCCM community, and quality and clarity of the dissertation. The award winner and any honorable mentions will be announced at FCCM 2026.
Important Dates
Both tracks share the same submission deadline. For the PhD Forum Poster Presentations, the earlier you submit, the earlier you may receive a decision.
| Submission Deadline (both tracks) | April 5, 2026, 11:59 pm AoE |
| Accept/Reject Notification (PhD Forum Poster Track) | Within 10 days of submission (rolling) |
| Dissertation Award Winner Notification | [TBD] |
Questions
Questions about either track should be directed to the PhD Forum Chair:
Andrew Boutros, University of Waterloo
Email: phdforum@fccm.org