14th Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML 2019)
The 14th WiML Workshop is co-located with NeurIPS in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, December 9th, 2019.
Machine learning is one of the fastest growing areas of computer science research. Search engines, text mining, social media analytics, face recognition, DNA sequence analysis, speech and handwriting recognition, healthcare analytics are just some of the applications in which machine learning is routinely used.
In spite of the wide reach of machine learning and the variety of theory and applications, it covers, the percentage of female researchers is lower than in many other areas of computer science. Most women working in machine learning rarely get the chance to interact with other female researchers, making it easy to feel isolated and hard to find role models.
The annual Women in Machine Learning Workshop is the flagship event of Women in Machine Learning. This technical workshop gives female faculty, research scientists, and graduate students in the machine learning community an opportunity to meet, network and exchange ideas, participate in career-focused panel discussions with senior women in industry and academia and learn from each other. Underrepresented minorities and undergraduates interested in machine learning research are encouraged to attend. We welcome all genders; however, any formal presentations, i.e. talks and posters, are given by women. We strive to create an atmosphere in which participants feel comfortable to engage in technical and career-related conversations.
Now in its 14th year, the 2019 workshop is co-located with NeurIPS in Vancouver, Canada.
Besides this un-workshop and annual workshop which is co-located with NeurIPS, Women in Machine Learning also organizes events such as lunch at ICML and AAAI conferences, maintains a public directory of women active in ML, profiles the research of women in ML, and maintains a list of resources for women working in ML.
Invited Speakers
Location
This workshop takes place at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada.
The workshop will take place in East Hall C. The poster sessions will take place in East Hall B.
WiML registration is separate from NeurIPS registration, and does not gain you access to any part of NeurIPS, whether the main conference, workshop, tutorials, or industry expo. You would still need to register separately for NeurIPS – their registration process can be found on their website.
You may take advantage of NeurIPS group hotel rates, provided here. Book your accommodation as soon as possible as the discounted room blocks are being filled up quickly.
In the past, workshop participants have also used Airbnb and hostels.
Hotel cancellation policy should be checked with the hotels.
WiML is not responsible for information provided on external websites.
To find a roommate, please enter you information in this form, visualize the results here and contact other
participants. In addition, you can get in touch with others on the WiML network.
NeurIPS is kindly providing free onsite childcare to participants this year. If you only have a WiML registration, you can still use NeurIPS’s childcare on Sunday December 8 and Monday December 9. To access childcare from Tuesday on, NeurIPS registration will be required. For more information on how to register for the childcare service, please visit the NeurIPS childcare page.
NeurIPS has compiled instructions and information about the visa application process (see this link). A visa invitation letter comes with the NeurIPS registration. If you don’t have the NeurIPS visa invitation letter, we can also provide you invitation letters upon successful registration to the WiML workshop.
The 2019 WiML Workshop will be held on Monday, Dec 9th, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. Workshop activities primarily take place in Vancouver Convention Center East Exhibition Hall C, with the exception of the poster sessions which will take place in Vancouver Convention Center East Exhibition Hall B.
A pre-workshop reception will be held the night of Sunday, Dec 8th, 2019 from 7:30pm to 10:00pm in the Pinnacle Ballroom, Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel, 1128 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC, V6E 4R5. Separate advance registration is required for the reception (see Eventbrite), and there won’t be onsite registration.
All participants are required to abide by the WiML code of conduct.
Call for Participation
The 14th WiML Workshop is co-located with NeurIPS in Vancouver, Canada on Monday, December 9th, 2019.
The Workshop for Women in Machine Learning is a one-day event with invited speakers, oral presentations, and posters. The event brings together members of the academic and industry research landscape for an opportunity to connect and exchange ideas, and learn from each other. There will be a mentoring session to discuss current research trends and career choices in machine learning. Underrepresented minorities and undergraduates interested in pursuing machine learning research are encouraged to participate. While all presenters will identify primarily as female or nonbinary, all genders are invited to attend.
Submission is now closed. Please check back for information on how to register as an attendee.
IMPORTANT DATES
-
July 15th, 2019 – Abstract Submission Open on CMT
-
August 15th, 2019 11:59pm PT – Abstract Submission Deadline
-
September 1st, 2019 – Visa-Friendly (Early) Notification of Acceptance and Travel Funding
-
September 21st, 2019 – Regular Notification of Acceptance
-
October 15th, 2019 – Regular Notification of Travel Funding
-
November 21st, 2019 – Registration Deadline (or earlier, if we sell out)
-
December 9th, 2019 – WiML Workshop Day
This year, WiML is introducing a Visa-Friendly (Early) notification of acceptance and travel funding on September 1, 2019. If you need to apply for a visa to travel to Canada, we encourage you to select this option in the submission page in CMT. If you do not need to apply for a visa to travel to Canada, please do not select this option.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
We strongly encourage students, postdocs, and researchers who primarily identify as women or nonbinary in all areas of machine learning to submit an abstract (1 page PDF) describing new, previously, or concurrently published research. We welcome abstract submissions in theory, methodology, as well as applications. Abstracts may describe completed research or work-in-progress. While the presenting author need not be the first author of the work, we encourage authors to highlight the contribution of authors who identify primarily as female or nonbinary — particularly the presenting author — in the abstract.
Authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to present their work in a poster session. Authors with multiple accepted posters will be asked to select only one poster to present. A few authors will be selected to give spotlight or oral presentations. There are no formal proceedings.
Submissions will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind setting. After submission, all authors will automatically receive an invitation for the reviewer pool, into which they can opt-in. Many student and postdoc authors who review for WiML will be eligible for travel funding (see further details below).
Submission page: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/WiML2019
(Submission is now open!)
Style guidelines:
-
Abstracts must not include identifying information.
-
Abstracts must be no more than 1 page (including any references, tables, and figures) submitted as a PDF. Main body text must be minimum 11 point font size and page margins must be minimum 0.75 inches (all sides).
-
Do not include any supplementary files with your submission.
Content guidelines:
-
Your abstract should stand alone, without linking to a longer paper or supplement.
-
You should convey motivation and give some technical details of the approach used.
-
While we acknowledge that space is limited, some experimental results are likely to improve reviewers’ opinions of your paper.
Acceptance criteria:
All accepted abstracts must be presented by authors who identify primarily as female or nonbinary. Abstracts will be reviewed by multiple reviewers, who will use the following criteria:
-
Is this abstract appropriate for WiML? I.e., does it describe novel research or an interesting application in machine learning or related fields?
-
Does the abstract stand alone?
-
Does the abstract adequately convey the material that will be presented?
Examples of accepted abstracts from previous years can be found here, and advice on writing a one-page
abstract can be found here. Due to the volume of submissions anticipated, we are unable to review any submitted materials besides the requested abstract.
TRAVEL FUNDING
Registration for WiML is free. Travel funding is available for presenting authors. To qualify, the author must be a student, postdoc, or equivalent position (equivalent positions include unemployed recent grads and early career researchers from underrepresented geographical areas), identify primarily as female or nonbinary, have an accepted abstract, and review for WiML. The amount of the travel funding varies by the author’s geographical location and the total amount of funding WiML receives from sponsors. In the past, funding ranging from $300-$1000 has been given. WiML travel funding is administered as reimbursements after the workshop and no funding is allocated before the workshop.
If you are attending NeurIPS, we also encourage you to apply for NeurIPS’ volunteering and travel funding opportunities, which are separate and independent of WiML travel funding. Check the NeurIPS website directly for details.
AREA CHAIRS
If you are interested in being an area chair, please fill in the application here. The area chairs must identify primarily as female or nonbinary. The role of area chairs is to evaluate the reviews, write a final meta-review and suggest an accept/reject decision for each abstract. We expect each area chair to be responsible for up to 10 one-page abstracts.
ORGANIZERS
-
Sarah Aerni (Salesforce)
-
Nezihe Merve Gürel (ETH Zurich)
-
Michela Paganini (Facebook AI)
-
Forough Poursabzi-Sangdeh (Microsoft Research)
Questions? Check out the FAQs or reach us at wiml2019[at]wimlworkshop[dot]org
PLATINUM SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
SUPPORTER
We gratefully acknowledge support for participant travel from:
Committee
ORGANIZERS
WiML 2019 Reception Organizers
Diversity and Inclusion Chair
Danielle Belgrave, Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research
Supervolunteers
We would like to acknowledge and warmly thank our super-volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure a high quality un-workshop.
Belen Saldias, MIT
Elre Oldewage, University of Cambridge
Mandana Samiei, McGill and Mila
Niveditha Kalavakonda, University of Washington Seattle
Weiwei Zong, Henry Ford Health System
FAQs
Do you have a list of members? How can I join WiML?
WiML doesn’t have “members” per se, any women working in machine learning can be part of the WiML network. We have a mailing list for anyone to post announcements of interest to the WiML network and an opt-in, necessarily incomplete directory of women working in machine learning.
How can I join the WiML mailing list?
Join the mailing list directly here.
What kind of events do you organize?
Our flagship event is the annual WiML Workshop, typically co-located with NeurIPS, a machine learning conference. We also organize an “un-workshop” at ICML, as well as small events (e.g. lunches and receptions) at other machine learning conferences, such as CoRL, COLT, etc. Check out our events page for up-to-date listings of events.
Do you have local meetups?
No, but check out WiMLDS (website, Twitter), another organization that supports women in machine learning by organizing local meetups.
How do I reach the WiML network?
Use our mailing list.
How can I sponsor WiML?
Thank you for your interest in sponsoring WiML! See this page for more information.
I am looking for an invited speaker / panelist / area chair / program committee member etc. Can WiML help me?
Use our directory of women in machine learning or post this opportunity to our mailing list.
I want to circulate a job posting. Can WiML help me?
Post directly to our mailing list.
How can I support WiML?
You can:
-
Post interesting opportunities and job postings to our mailing list.
-
Use our directory of women in machine learning to find invited speakers, panelists, area chairs, program committee members, etc, or post these opportunities to our mailing list.
-
Sponsor us. See this page for more information.
-
Volunteer at one of our events. Check out our events page for up-to-date listings of events.
-
Apply to be an area chair or reviewer at WiML Workshop (see this year’s workshop website for info).
-
Take pictures at our events and share with us (tag @wimlworkshop on Twitter).
-
If you see us mentioned in the media, send us a link at info@wimlworkshop.org.
And many others!
How did WiML start? What's the founding story?
Hanna Wallach, Jennifer Wortman Vaughan, Lisa Wainer, and Angela Yu shared a room at NIPS 2005. Late one night, they talked about how exciting it was that there were FOUR female students at NIPS that year. They tried to list all the women in machine learning they know of and got to 10, then started talking about creating a meeting or gathering for all these women and perhaps others that they didn’t know about. Jenn, Lisa, and Hanna put together a proposal for a session at the 2006 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing that would feature talks and posters by female researchers and students in machine learning. The 1st WiML workshop was co-located with the 2006 Grace Hopper Celeberation. In 2008, WiML Workshop moved to NIPS (renamed NeurIPS in 2018) and there has been a WiML Workshop at NeurIPS every year since. In 2020, WiML introduced an “un-workshop” at ICML based on the concept of an “un-conference”, a form of discussion on a pre-selected topic that is primarily driven by participants. Read more WiML history here!
I am a man. Can I attend WiML?
Yes. Allies are welcome to attend! Note, however, that all speakers and poster presenters will primarily identify as women, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming, as our goal is to promote them and their work within the machine learning community.
What are the mentorship roundtables?
Each table seats 8-10 people (including mentors), with two mentors leading the discussion on a particular topic at each table. WiML attendees rotate between tables every 15-20 minutes. This allows attendees to gain exposure to different topics, and mentors to meet a large number of WiML attendees.
Is WiML an archival venue?
No, WiML is a non-archival venue. This means that, if your contribution is accepted, we will not be asking you to submit a camera-ready version of it, nor will we publish it anywhere (neither online nor in proceedings of any sort). We will only make the title and authors’ names available in the program book.
I have a question that isn't answered here. How do I reach you?
We receive a lot of email. Help us help you by reaching out through the appropriate channels.
-
Job posting, announcement, CFP, etc: Post directly to WiML mailing list.
-
Have event pictures to share: post on Twitter and tag @wimlworkshop
-
Workshop enquiries: workshop@wimlworkshop.org
-
If you are a company interested in sponsoring WiML: sponsorship@wimlworkshop.org
-
Any other enquiries: info@wimlworkshop.org
If you email us, don’t cc multiple email addresses — this saves us time routing your email to one mailbox, and reduces the chances of your email getting lost. Thank you in advance!