This is funding to support travel by 6 students currently enrolled in PhD programs in the United States to present their accepted papers and posters, and to take part in the Doctoral Consortium, at the upcoming International User Modeling Conference, to be held July 25-29, 2007, in Corfu, Greece. User modeling has been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness and usability of software systems in a variety of areas, including educational applications and applications oriented to users with various disabilities. The International Conferences on User Modeling is the premier biennial event in the field of user modeling and user-adaptive software systems; UM'07 will be the 11th event in the series. Active participation of young researchers in this conference is very important, both for the health of the field and for the researchers themselves. The UM'07 Doctoral Consortium provides a unique opportunity for PhD students partway through their dissertation research to receive valuable feedback from top researchers in the field. Experience has shown that most Doctoral Consortium participants at past User Modeling conferences were later able to expand and publish their work originally presented at the Consortium. The PI is the co-director of the NSF-funded Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center on "Studying Robust Learning with Learning Experiments in Real Classrooms" and co-chair of the UM'07 Doctoral Consortium.
Broader Impact: Bringing young and creative researchers to UM'07 will help advance an important and socially valuable research field. For many graduate students, the cost of attending the User Modeling conference exceeds their travel budget. Thus, NSF funding will significantly impact the careers of the next generation of User Modeling researchers, by enabling a number of them to take part in an important event they would otherwise have to miss. The students will have an opportunity to gain wider exposure in the community for their innovative work, and to obtain feedback and guidance from senior members of the research community. Participation will also help foster a sense of community among these young researchers, by allowing them to create a social network both among themselves and with senior researchers at a critical stage in their professional development. The PI has indicated that he will act to assure participation by members of traditionally under-represented institutions, and will pay close attention to inclusion of minorities and women.
