The purpose of this project is to promote student participation in the long-running EDBT/ICDT conference series, to be held in March 2012 in Berlin, Germany. This will be the 15th EDBT and 15th ICDT, and will be the 4th year continuously that the two conferences are run as a joint one. These two conferences are internationally leading database systems and theory conferences, and have been well attended by the leading researchers in the area from all over the world. Being in Europe, the joint conference tends to attract more European researchers than other database conferences do. This student travel grant will encourage the interaction of the US students with their counterparts and senior researchers from Europe and elsewhere, increasing the international awareness of the participating US students. Students participation of international scientific discussion forums is always an important part of their education and a great way to build a mature work force in scientific research. The project will also emphasize on recruiting under-represented groups of students in this effort.
The management of digital information is at the core of practically all modern application domains in this increasingly digital word, critical for business applications, scientific discovery, engineering disciplines, and social systems. This wide range of application domains makes data management conferences increasingly important venues for science and technology students. Among them, the EDBT/ICDT series of conferences are a leading international forum for the exchange of the latest research results and knowledge in data management. This NSF project provides the crucial funding to support the participation of graduate students from US-based institutions, especially those from underrepresented groups, to participate in this important international community by attending EDBT/ICDT 2012 and other similar top venues. INTELLECTUAL MERIT: With the management of big data being increasingly important, the support of young researchers to participate in this network of scholars to contributes to not only nuturing future scientists but also the state-of-the-art in data management as we know it. EDBT/ICDE 2012 provides an active forum for the exchange of the latest research results, helping to forge valuable interactions that are bound to stimulate new collaborative research activities by and among the participants. The opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers to participate broadens the scientific impact of this conference. BROADER IMPACT: To reach as many potential student applications, the EDBT/ICDT website publically announced the student travel support offered by NSF, providing details on the application submission process. This opportunity was equally advertised through various channels, including popular community mailing lists like DBWorld and ISWorld. The project encouraged the participation of groups underrepresented in science and engineering (STEM), including underrepresented minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. This ultimately contributed to the educational development of over 10 graduate students in science and engineering across many US institutions. Dissemination of all material resulting from the professional meetings are made via permanent archives as well as on-line web portals by the Association of Computing Machinery.
