Dear ISCA members:

Welcome to the next installment of ISCApad for March 2020!   As always, this edition has a number of updates from the community including upcoming meetings, job openings, theses, and announcements. Clearly, the COVID-19/Coronavirus outbreak has been in the news and impacting many logistics for conference/workshops worldwide including our INTERSPEECH, as well as all forms of human engagement – including speech communication & interaction.

INTERSPEECH-2020: [http://www.interspeech2020.org/] (Oct. 26-29, 2020, Sept. 14-18, 2020), still in Shanghai, China. Our next flagship conference, INTERSPEECH, will still take place this fall in Shanghai, China. As noted in recent emails, postings on ISCA Facebook & Twitter feeds, the ISCA board has been closely monitoring the COVID-19/Coronavirus situation in Shanghai and considering its ramifications for INTERSPEECH-2020. This includes extensive discussions with the IS-2020 Organizing Committee, as well as monitoring the WHO (World Health Organization) status on COVID-19 [https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019]. After discussion with the organizers, we have determined to keep the location in Shanghai, but to shift the dates of the conference and the associated deadlines in order to allow more time for the situation to settle down, as well as providing the organizers with additional time to make their preparations.

INTERSPEECH-2020 will now take place on Oct. 26-29, 2020 at the Shanghai International Convention Center, with tutorials on Oct. 25. The submission and review process has also been updated with the following timeline:

• May 8, 2020 Paper submission deadline

• June 6, 2020 Show and tell submission due

• July 24, 2020 Paper acceptance/rejection notification

• Aug 10, 2020 Notification about ISCA Travel Grants

• Aug 24, 2020 Early-bird registration deadline

• Sep 23, 2020 Standard registration deadline

Authors who have a paper accepted to INTERSPEECH-2020 will have the option either to attend physically, or to attend remotely. Remote attendance would also be associated with a reduced registration fee.

INTERSPEECH-2020 PROCEEDINGS: In the event that the ISCA INTERSPEECH-2020 physical conference would need to be canceled due to COVID-19, ALL accepted papers will be published in the standard format in the Proceedings of INTERSPEECH-2020 as usual (i.e., including release on ISCA Archive). The INTERSPEECH-2020 Organizing Committee has established an internationally respected Technical Committee, and as commitment to our ISCA Membership, we encourage all researchers in the field to submit your papers for consideration for IS-2020.

The on-site conference format will serve as our base experience, noting that all steps possible will be taken to ensure a safe and scientifically invigorating conference experience. In order to support those who may have constraints and are not able to attend physically, an add-on option would allow authors to participate remotely. Hence, as an author, you have the option to (i) physically attend IS-2020, (ii) present remotely (options are being worked out for both oral and poster presentation formats by the IS-2020 Technical Committee in collaboration with the ISCA Board), or if you are not able to attend/participate, we would still publish the accepted papers. Note that a reduced registration rate will still be required for remote attendance and for those authors not able to attend the conference. Full rates would apply for those physically attending.

2020 ISCA MEDAL FOR SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT:

So, now I would like to include some very positive news! Over the past few months, the ISCA Board has sought out nominations for the ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement. We received a large number of nominations and went through an extensive review process by the ISCA Awards Committee and all ISCA Board members (several rounds of voting to narrow to three finalists, and then additional discussions). 

I am pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the 2020 ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement is

Prof. Janet Pierrehumbert (Oxford e-Research Centre; Oxford Univ.). This is the highest ISCA award for science achievement, and certainly well deserved for the remarkable contributions Prof. Pierrehumbert has made to the field of speech communications, and in particular to Phonology. The text below highlights the medal:

The ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement recognizes and honors an individual each year who has made extraordinary contributions to the field of speech communication science and technology. The award of this ISCA Medal has been established since 1989. The ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement is presented to the recipient by the ISCA President at the INTERSPEECH opening ceremony, where the Medalist also delivers a keynote speech.

Please join me in congratulating our 2020 ISCA MEDAL FOR SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT recipient! Prof. Pierrehumbert will be giving the opening keynote address at INTERSPEECH-2020 this fall.

Workshops and Challenges surrounding INTERSPEECH-2020: we also realize there are numerous workshops and challenges which surround the INTERSPEECH-2020 conference. The IS-2020 Organizing Committee as well as the ISCA Board are well aware of these satellite events, and are working with the organizers to facilitate an effective transition to the new dates in Oct. 2020.

Latest Updates: Please keep informed of the latest events on the ISCA Webpage, INTERSPEECH-2020 webpage, and ISCA Facebook and Twitter feeds (@ISCAFOX).The Board and the IS-20 Organizers will continue to monitor the situation and will communicate any further changes as soon as possible. Our goal is to ensure a safe and technologically invigorating conference experience. We look forward to welcoming you this October – with the safety of our membership at the forefront.

We look forward to your participation in ISCA and INTERSPEECH-2020! Until the next ISCApad, be safe and stay connected to our community!

John H.L. Hansen (ISCA President)