PhD Forum

The ETS 2027 PhD Forum provides a unique opportunity for doctoral students to present their ongoing research, exchange ideas with leading researchers on multidisciplinary topics from academia and industry, and become part of the international ETS community.

The PhD Forum is specifically designed for PhD students who are seeking to receive constructive feedback from the community, discuss technical challenges, explore future research directions, and establish valuable professional connections. We particularly encourage submissions from students working not only on traditional test topics, but also on neighboring research areas where testing, validation, reliability, safety, security, and quality assurance play a fundamental role.

About the PhD Forum Award

To recognize outstanding research and encourage excellence among young researchers, the PhD Forum Award will be assigned to one of the participants.

The award committee will evaluate the accepted contributions based on the originality and potential impact of the research, the quality and clarity of the submission, and the candidate's ability to effectively communicate their research vision during the PhD Forum.

The winner will be announced during the ETS 2027 Closing Session and will receive formal recognition from the ETS community.

In addition, the author of the winning contribution will be invited to prepare a 2-page paper for publication in the official ETS 2027 conference proceedings, providing an opportunity to further disseminate their work to the broader community.

Who Should Submit?

The PhD Forum welcomes submissions from PhD students at any stage of their doctoral studies. Early-stage students with a clear research vision are encouraged to participate, as are more advanced students seeking feedback before completing their dissertation.

Simultaneous submissions under this category and the McCluskey Best Doctoral Thesis Award are prohibited.

We especially encourage contributions from various research topics including (but not limited to):

Electronic test, diagnosis, DFT and design validation
Functional verification and hardware debugging
Hardware security, trust and privacy
Functional safety and dependable systems
Reliability, aging and fault tolerance
AI for EDA, testing and validation
Machine learning hardware and AI accelerators
Computer architecture and heterogeneous computing
Embedded and cyber-physical systems
Automotive, aerospace and industrial electronics
Analog, mixed-signal and RF systems
Semiconductor technologies and manufacturing test
Chiplets, 3D integration and advanced packaging
Quantum computing hardware
Electronic design automation (EDA)
Emerging computing paradigms and architectures

Interdisciplinary research is strongly encouraged. Contributions that bridge multiple communities or introduce methodologies from neighboring fields to address challenges relevant to ETS are particularly welcome.

Why Participate?

Participants will have the opportunity to:

Present their research to an international audience of experts;
Receive constructive technical feedback from senior researchers;
Discuss research methodology and future directions;
Build connections with other PhD students from across Europe and beyond;
Meet researchers from leading universities, research institutes, and semiconductor/EDA companies;
Increase the visibility of their work within the ETS community.

For many participants, the PhD Forum serves as an entry point into the ETS community and often leads to future collaborations, internships, and career opportunities.

Submission Guidelines

Authors should submit a 2-page extended abstract (IEEE two-column conference template), including references. The official template can be downloaded from IEEE Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings.

The submission should clearly describe:

The research problem and its motivation;
The current state of the art;
The proposed research objectives;
The methodology and planned approach;
Preliminary results (if available);
The expected scientific and practical impact.

Work that is still in progress is welcome. Novel ideas, ambitious research directions, and challenging problems are encouraged even if complete validation is not yet available.

Accepted contributions will be presented during the ETS 2027 PhD Forum session through: