Student Volunteer Program

We have chosen a set of Student Volunteers (SVs) to help us run the 2016 IEEE Haptics Symposium in Philadelphia, USA. The text below provides more information about this great opportunity.

Important: If you are a student applying to be a student volunteer, please do not register for the conference until you have heard whether you were selected for an SV spot.

Important Dates

• Applications Due: February 11, 2016
• Notifications: February 18, 2016

General Information

The Student Volunteer program is a great opportunity for young researchers to familiarize themselves with state-of-the-art haptics research. It also allows enthusiastic students to establish and expand their network with the most relevant academicians, professionals, and other students in the field. SVs are an integral part of the success of our conference. We are in the process of recruiting a team of reliable and enthusiastic students who will help us host and manage a successful, productive, and enjoyable conference. A wide range of responsibilities will be assigned to SVs, such as:

• Support at the registration desks
• Badge checks for technical sessions, workshops, demos, reception, and dinner
• Support at the help desks
• Help setting up and maintaining demos, posters, and other arrangements
• Audio and video support
• Helping members of the organizing committee, as needed

In general, no special skills are required except for one or two positions where we are looking for individuals with good photography, blogging, and A/V skills. Each volunteer is required to commit to about 12 hours spread across 2 to 4 days of the conference (April 8-11).

Benefits

For their time and immeasurable efforts, student volunteers will receive a full student registration (including tutorial/workshop fees). The full registration includes free access to the entire conference, including technical sessions, demo and poster sessions, reception and banquet. Free participation in the conference will give SVs the chance to learn about haptics and talk to individuals from a broad range of academic and industrial backgrounds.

Student volunteers are responsible for their traveling and lodging expenses during the conference days. Lunch will be provided to volunteers on days that they work.

Requirements

Student Volunteers must have a positive "can do" attitude and have good communication skills in English. Applicants must be an undergraduate or graduate student during the 2015-2016 academic year. A valid, dated student identification card or a letter from your university or school must be presented when registering at the conference.

Volunteers are required to show up 5-10 minutes before their allotted service times and be available to help out for unforeseen surprises, which are difficult to predict. We expect every volunteer to commit to a total of about 12 volunteer hours of work during the conference. Volunteers must plan to arrive at the conference by the evening of April 7th at the latest. If you require a special exception to your arrival/departure times, please contact us; only a small number of exceptions can be made.

There will be an SV orientation on the evening of April 7th. Volunteers must plan to attend the orientation and meet with the Student Volunteer Chairs prior to their assignments.

Responsibilities and time allotments during the conference will be sent to the SVs a few weeks before the start of the conference.

Application Process

Please complete the online application form to be considered as a Student Volunteer. After submission, you will see an acknowledgement page. We expect to receive more applications than we need, so early application is encouraged. However, we will make a waiting list, so do not be discouraged if you apply close to or after the deadline. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via sv@hapticssymposium.org.