TPRC Graduate Student Workshop

The TPRC (Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy) is planning a half day morning workshop, September 24, 2026 for graduate students that attracts around 20 students annually the day before its annual conference.  The workshop is open to doctoral students in an accredited program in any country whose research is within TPRC’s mission.  This year TPRC will have papers on issues covering Broadband Deployment, Access and Digital Divide, Criticality of Infrastructure; Antitrust and Competition Policy; Privacy, Data Protection and Digital Trust, Cybersecurity Policy; Social Media Platform Policy and Regulation; ICT and Sustainability; Pandemic and Disaster Response; ICT and Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion; Policy and Governance of Emerging Technologies (Quantum Computing, Blockchain, Web3, Metaverse, etc.); Analysis and Management of Complexity in Sociotechnical Systems; Spectrum Management and Wireless Policy; Social Dimensions of Communications and Internet Policy; Policies Governing the Digital Economy; Satellites and Space Economy; and Geopolitics, Digital Sovereignty, and Tech Regulation.

Students are accepted based on a short abstract of their research, accomplishments and alignment of their research with TPRC interests. Accepted students will present their research, receive advice and feedback, build networks with other students and with mentors from academia and industry. Participation in the Graduate Student Workshop is free, but no funding is available for travel and accommodation. Accepted students will receive complimentary registration and an early orientation to the TPRC54 Conference, September 25-26, 2026 which is also in Washington, DC.

The Graduate Student Workshop is designed to serve both early career graduate students (in their first two years of the doctoral program or pre-dissertation stage) and senior graduate students (whose dissertation proposals have been approved). 

The workshop will begin with short presentations by all students; more senior graduate students will present a research project that is currently in progress, and early career graduate students will present their research agenda for group discussion with each other and with mentors to receive specific and customized feedback. This is followed by a working lunch session with a presentation by academic mentors on issues encountered by graduate students and tips on how to address them. In the afternoon, students are welcome and encouraged to join a TPRC tutorial on a current topic. 

Applications are due before June 19.