Call For Special Session and Challenge Proposals

The organizing committee of ISCSLP 2026 invites proposals for special sessions and challenges at the conference.

Proposals are invited for special (challenge) sessions on:

• New and emerging topics across all spoken language processing subdisciplines,
• Novel applications of modern technology to spoken language processing problems,
• Historical perspectives and futuristic outlooks on the development of the spoken language processing field.

• A session should be composed of 6 papers.
• The format in each session is flexible. A room and a two-hour block will be allocated to the session organizers. The organizers can utilize this time as they see fit (paper presentations, panel discussions, invited talks, etc., unless they are in-person activities). Please note that, by default, invited speakers of the special (challenge) sessions must still register for the conference.
• The conference will allow any authors to submit papers to the special (challenge) sessions. To ensure the paper quality, all papers submitted to the special (challenge) sessions will be reviewed through the same review process as papers in the regular sessions.

• Proposal submission deadline: 8 June 2026
• Proposal acceptance notification: 15 June 2026
• Paper submission deadline: 3 August 2026
• Paper acceptance notification: 31 August 2026
• Camera-ready deadline: 21 September 2026

• Each proposal must include the following information:

  • Special (challenge) session title
  • Session organizers (including names, affiliations, contact information, and a brief biography of each organizer)
  • A background paragraph outlining the topic, the motivation and the potential impact of the session
  • A tentative list of authors who could contribute papers to the session
  • If applicable, proposed timeline of challenge, including the release and closing dates, and the number of submission rounds
  • The planned format of the session (panel, oral, posters, invited talks, etc.) with sufficient details on the time arrangements
  • Additional or non-standard resources (e.g., data, equipment, poster stands, etc.) needed for organizing the session
  • A list of recommended expert reviewers

• To submit proposals or for additional information regarding the special (challenge) sessions, please send an e-mail to iscslp26-ssc@googlegroups.com or contact the special session chairs:

  Dr. Xixin Wu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (xixinwu@cuhk.edu.hk)

  Dr. Wei Xue, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (weixue@ust.hk)

  Dr. Shuai Wang, Nanjing University (shuaiwang@nju.edu.cn)

  Dr. Wen-Chin Huang, Nagoya University (wen.chinhuang@g.sp.m.is.nagoya-u.ac.jp)

Special session and challenge proposals will be evaluated by the organizing committee based on:

• importance of the proposed topic;
• the expected impact and quality of the session;
• the background and diversity of the session organizer(s) and contributing authors.