Awards

ITS Rising Stars in Research Program

Highlighting Future Leaders in Media, Communication, and Intelligent Technologies

The International Telecommunications Society’s (ITS) Rising Stars in Research Program celebrates early-career scholars and researchers whose work explores the evolving intersections of communication, digital media, artificial intelligence, and information technologies.
This program provides a platform for young researchers to share insights, spark dialogue, and build cross-disciplinary networks. It aims to encourage innovative thinkers to reimagine how we connect, communicate, and compute in a rapidly changing world through presentations and discussions.

Target Research Areas

1. Governance, Ethics, and Policy
2. Leveraging AI: Benefits, Risks and Unintended Consequences
3. Digital Inclusion, Economy, and Society
4. Security, Sovereignty, and Resilience
5. Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies
6. Media and Communication Futures
7. Other emerging research in areas covered by the International Telecommunication Society

Maximum number of award recipients: 5

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must be currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program or have obtained their Ph.D. within the past five (5) years, and must be 40 years of age or younger at the time of application.

Benefits

Each participant in the Rising Stars in Research Program will receive the following support:

1. One-year ITS membership,
2. conference registration fee,
3. round-trip economy airfare,
4. four nights of hotel accommodation,
5. USD300 stipend for local expenses, and
6. Visa application fees (excluding transportation and other incidental costs related to the Visa application process).

The total financial support is expected to be capped at a maximum of $3000 per award recipient, but may be lower depending on expenses such as individual airfares.
Participants are required to obtain approval from the ITS Secretariat for their travel plans before making reservations.

Obligations

1. Participants will present their papers in a Rising Stars in Research Program session and receive feedback from assigned discussants, along with comments and questions from the audience.
2. After the conference, participants must submit their papers to Telecommunications Policy, the official journal of the ITS, for publication review.
3. Participants should stay for the entire duration of the conference and take an active part in other conference sessions and activities.

Application Guidelines

Applicants must follow the procedure outlined below.

The deadline for submitting application documents is January 6, 2026.
The following documents must be submitted to the Conference Secretariat by email at apply[at]its2026tokyo.org (replace the "[at]" with the "@" symbol.) by that date:

1. Abstract
2. Application Form
3. Approval/endorsement letter from the applicant’s Ph.D. supervisor or the department head of the applicant’s institution
4. A copy of the student ID (for students) or copy of diploma/official certificate (for Ph.D. holders)

A copy of the Abstract must also be filed by way of EasyChair before the January 6, 2026 deadline, together with any other submissions normally transmitted to Conference organizers via the EasyChair portal.

In order to be considered an official applicant, each individual applying for this award must submit their full paper by no later than May 1, 2026, as the Selection Committee will limit its review and decision-making process to only those papers received on or before the May 1 submission deadline.

Successful applicants will be notified by May 31, 2026, following which they will be provided instructions for completing the program registration process.

Rules & Guidelines

It is incumbent upon all recipients to comply with the following obligations. Please note that only single-authored research papers are accepted.

• Make your own flight arrangements within reasonable parameters and obtain your travel visa (if needed) in a timely manner.
• Stay for the entire duration of the conference.
• Attend conference-related activities and events deemed necessary by the conference committee.
• Allow ITS to post your paper and presentation slides on the online conference program.
• Permit ITS to use your image and likeness, be it photo or video, on the ITS website, social media, and other materials used to promote the Rising Stars in Research Program and ITS conferences.
• Promote the conference as a whole, and your participation pre-, during, and post-conference on social media and other marketing platforms, e.g., university/institution website, newsletter, or professional societies’ platform.
• Serve as an “ambassador” for ITS and the Rising Stars in Research Program in the future.

Best Student Paper Award

The 25th ITS Biennial Conference will present the Best Student Paper Awards.
The winners will receive a certificate and an additional prize. The Awards are generously sponsored by TELUS Corporation, Canada, and other contributors.

• The award will be presented for outstanding papers written by students (single authorship).
• The award-winning papers will be selected by the Organizing Committee from among the full papers submitted to the conference.
• The winners will receive a certificate and a monetary prize.
• The award ceremony will take place during the closing session on July 1st.