The Student Mentoring Workshop (SMeW) at ICSE encourages and supports students who are entering the Software Engineering (SE) research community. The goal of the workshop is to attract students to research careers in SE, to demystify the graduate school experience, and to offer first-hand perspectives on the graduate study from recent Ph.D. graduates, young scholars, and senior researchers. SMeW’s core mission is to foster the development of the next generation of researchers in our community — supporting undergraduates and master’s degree students who are applying to Ph.D. programs, and early-career Ph.D. students who are just beginning their studies. SMeW aims to foster an inclusive community, promoting diversity and increasing the participation of students who are members of underrepresented groups in computing.

The workshop program will focus on important skills for beginning researchers and will offer mentoring opportunities with senior researchers attending the conference, discussing topics such as the following.

• How to build a mentoring network and what to look for? What is the difference between mentorship and sponsorship?
• How to network effectively at a conference? How to find your cohort and support groups? How to find a mentor and what to look for?
• What non-technical skills are also essential for a research career? To give a good presentation? To write an outstanding paper? To find great collaborators?
• What are the possible research career trajectories (e.g., differences across academia, industry, startups, consulting)?
• What are the new, emerging areas in software engineering research?
• What are the best practices and common pitfalls in an early-stage research career?

Format

The workshop will be structured to encourage interaction and confidential small-group discussions. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment for students to share their personal experiences and seek advice from their mentors comfortably. We will match mentors and mentees into small groups based on their technical and non-technical interests.

The one-day workshop will be held at the same venue as ICSE. The workshop format will include presentations (a small portion of the workshop to warm up the discussions), skill practice (e.g., networking skill practice right before ICSE starts!), small-group mentoring pods based on the topics of your interest, and panel discussions on topics of common interest. The mentors will have diverse expertise and experiences to offer different perspectives, such as researchers at different stages with academic or industrial backgrounds.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday, 14th April, the day before the main conference starts.

More information on the workshop organization will be posted soon.

How to participate

Student Application

All students who are interested in attending the workshop in person must submit an application. This will help us match students with mentors and ensure that we can provide sufficient space for productive discussions. To help support students’ attendance, we have funding set aside to defray travel costs and cover the registration costs for ICSE. This support is subject to the availability of funds.

There will be two rounds of applications with respective deadlines in the Fall of 2025 (October 17) and Winter of 2025 (December 4). The first will be for applicants who require a visa to visit Brazil, and the second will be for applicants who do not require a visa.

We enforce the two-round review to give applicants more time to apply for visas. If you need a visa to visit Brazil, we strongly encourage you to apply for workshop attendance before the Round 1 deadline to allow sufficient time for your visa application process.

SMeW vs. Doctoral Symposium?

A common question is why someone would attend the student mentoring workshop or the doctoral symposium. These two events have different focuses. SMeW’s primary goal is to demystify the graduate school process and provide mentoring on a wide range of topics. The Doctoral Symposium’s primary goal is to help graduate students develop their research ideas.

Both events also give attendees a chance to network with SE students, faculty, and industry folks, ask questions, and more.

Registration

If you have been notified of acceptance to the workshop, then please register via https://conf.researchr.org/attending/icse-2026/registration . You will need to register for the single-day option to attend the workshop. If you plan to attend the main three-day ICSE conference, you will need to register for that in addition to the student mentoring workshop.

Student volunteers: If you have been accepted as a student volunteer as well as to the student mentoring workshop, then you do not need to register separately for the student mentoring workshop. Please follow the instructions provided by the student volunteer team to register as a student volunteer.

Sponsors

Travel support is made possible thanks to the generous support of ACM SIGSOFT and the NSF.

FAQ

What I accepted and can no longer attend?

Please let us know and we will arrange a remote mentoring session with a mentor for you

What can be reimbursed with the funding?

The following items are reimbursable: Flight, Hotel (during ICSE week), Taxi, Cab, Shuttle, Meals, Mileage, Parking

Any helpful tips for requesting reimbursement?

• The dates on the Expense Form must match the dates on the receipts (the Expense Form will be sent out after the workshop).
• The expenses cannot be submitted until the conference has ended.
• Receipts are required for each expense, including cash receipts.
• If a submitted receipt carries another individuals name, you must provide a note from that individual indicating that it is OK to reimburse you.
• If your name or the amount on the receipt is written in language characters, please translate or identify where your name and the amount is on the receipt.
• Receipts paid by credit card should include your name and total amount paid on the document. If the receipt only includes the last 4 digits of the card, please attach proof that card belongs to you (this can be a picture of the card showing your name and the last 4 digits, the rest can be blacked out). If purchases are consistently made with the same last 4 digit card, it is easier for us to identify that the receipt is yours without asking for other proof.

Sessions

Call for Student Applications

All students who are interested in attending the workshop in person must submit an application. This will help us match students with mentors and ensure that we can provide sufficient space for productive discussions. Some funding is available to defray travel costs for some students, but this support is subject to the availability of funds.

Logistics

The application to the workshop will be reviewed in 2 rounds:

Round 1: Deadline is October 17 AoE - applicants who need a visa to visit Brazil

Round 2: Deadline is December 4 AoE - applicants who do not need a visa to visit Brazil

We have two rounds to give applicants more time to apply for visas. If you need a visa to visit Brazil, we strongly encourage you to apply for workshop attendance before the Round 1 deadline to allow sufficient time for your visa application process.

Applicants rejected from Round 1 are not eligible for consideration in Round 2.

The submission site for Round 1 and Round 2 is: https://icse2026-smew.hotcrp.com/

The submission site for Round 2 is now open

Tips for the application

The application includes a request for your CV. Here are three steps you can take to make it easier to review your application.

1. Make sure your CV is up-to-date, such that any CV-type activity (papers, enrollment in PhD programs) you mention in your application is present on your CV.
2. Make sure you use a style that is easy to read. For example, there are many nice templates on Overleaf: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/tagged/cv. This one is nice: https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/a-customised-curve-cv/mvmbhkwsnmwv.
3. Be thoughtful about what you include in the CV. A CV for this kind of application should not cover your activities in high school, nor enumerate all classes you have ever taken.

Sponsors

Travel support is made possible thanks to the generous support of ACM SIGSOFT and the NSF

FAQ

What if I accepted and can no longer attend?

Please let us know. We will arrange a remote mentoring session for you with a mentor.

What can be reimbursed with the funding offered to me from the organizers ?

The following items are reimbursable: Flight, Hotel (during ICSE week), Taxi, Cab, Shuttle, Meals, Mileage, Parking

Any helpful tips for requesting reimbursement?

• The dates on the Expense Form must match the dates on the receipts (the Expense Form will be sent out after the workshop).
• The expenses cannot be submitted until the conference has ended.
• Receipts are required for each expense, including cash receipts.
• If a submitted receipt carries another individuals name, you must provide a note from that individual indicating that it is OK to reimburse you.
• If your name or the amount on the receipt is written in language characters, please translate or identify where your name and the amount is on the receipt.
• Receipts paid by credit card should include your name and total amount paid on the document. If the receipt only includes the last 4 digits of the card, please attach proof that card belongs to you (this can be a picture of the card showing your name and the last 4 digits, the rest can be blacked out). If purchases are consistently made with the same last 4 digit card, it is easier for us to identify that the receipt is yours without asking for other proof.