Doctoral Consortium

The ECIS 2026 Doctoral Consortium will take place prior to the ECIS conference. It starts on Friday morning, 12 June 2026, and ends Sunday afternoon, 14 June 2026.

The Doctoral Consortium aims to facilitate a collegial, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating environment where doctoral students who are currently working on a dissertation in the area of Information Systems can share their work, receive constructive feedback from both mentors and peers, and build lasting relationships within the IS community.

The consortium is designed for students who successfully defended their thesis proposals before June 2026 and who are actively engaged in conducting their dissertation research. Students who have completed their dissertations by June 2026 or who are close to completion will not be accepted.

Participation in the Doctoral Consortium is by invitation only and relies on a nomination process.
Eligible candidates must be enrolled in a university within AIS Region 2 (Europe, Africa and the Middle East). Each university may nominate only one candidate and must guarantee sufficient funding to support the nominee’s participation. This funding should cover the student’s travel expenses, registration for the ECIS 2026 conference at the reduced student rate, room and board
during the main ECIS 2026 conference.

The ECIS conference will cover the following costs: room and board during the consortium and local transportation from the consortium site to the ECIS conference venue.

In line with ECIS 2026’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, we added four extra slots for students from underdeveloped countries in AIS Region 2. We therefore welcome applications from PhD candidates at universities in AIS Region 2 countries that are traditionally underrepresented at ECIS conferences.

Consortium Faculty

Chairs

Michel Avital
(Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)

Alessandra Lazazzara
(University of Milan, Italy)

Mentors

Abayomi Baiyere
(Queen’s University, Canada)

Nicholas Berente
(University of Notre Dame, USA)

Leona Chandra
(University of Agder, Norway)

Carol Hsu
(University of Sydney, Australia)

Elena Karahanna
(University of Georgia, USA)

Stefan Seidel
(University of Cologne, Germany)

Dov Te’Eni
(Tel Aviv University, Israel)

Virpi Tuunainen
(Aalto University, Finland)

Keynote Speaker

Youngjin Yoo
(London School of Economics and Political Science, UK)

Consortium Location

The doctoral consortium will take place at Villa Gallarati Scotti Meeting Center, a beautifully restored 18th-century villa situated in the vicinity of Milan. This historic venue offers an inspiring and serene setting for scholarly exchange and collaboration.
More information is available here:
https://www.chateauform.com/en/house/la-villa-gallarati-scotti/

The map below shows the location of the Doctoral Consortium venue in proximity to Milan and its two main international airports.

Important Dates

Nomination deadline:
15 February 2026
(midnight CET)
Notification of acceptance:
31 March 2026
Consortium:
12-14 June 2026

Nomination Requirements

The consortium is designed for students who are at least midway through their PhD program. They should have successfully defended their dissertation proposal and be actively engaged in conducting their research.

Students who will have completed their dissertations before the consortium or who are close to completion will not be considered for participation.

The nomination requirements are as follows:

A student must be nominated by a representative of his or her institution. Self-nominations will not be considered.
Only one student may be nominated by an institution (i.e., university, school)..
The nomination letter should be written by one of the following: the student’s supervisor, the director of the IS doctoral program, the Dean of the College or Faculty, or the IS department’s chairperson.
The nomination letter should build on the template provided and the nominating faculty should attest that the student is the only nominee of the institution.
Additionally, the nomination letter must pledge the financial resources for the nominee to attend the Doctoral Consortium and the ECIS conference.

Nomination and Submission Procedure

English is the language of the doctoral consortium and all submitted materials.

The nomination package should include the following components, compiled into a single PDF file:

Nomination Letter
Nominee Information Sheet Form, including a brief abstract of the dissertation (up to 250 words)
Extended abstract of the student’s dissertation proposal (up to 3000 words, excluding references. See details below)

The submitted materials must be uploaded as a SINGLE PDF FILE using the ECIS 2026 conference paper submission system and directed to the “ECIS 2026 Doctoral Consortium“

The nomination package must follow the submission guidelines and must be received by the nomination deadline. Nomination packages that are incomplete, in other file formats, received after the deadline, or composed of multiple files will be declined.

Nomination letter

Nomination Form

Dissertation Proposal Extended Abstract Format and Instructions

The Dissertation Proposal Extended Abstract should outline the candidate’s research in the form of an abbreviated dissertation proposal. It must include a cover page with the following information:

Title of the proposal
Information about the candidate, including name, university affiliation, name of dissertation supervisor, website address, and contact information: email address, mailing address, and phone numbers.

The proposal extended abstract should include:

Research motivation
Research question(s)
Theoretical framing
Research design and methodology
Preliminary findings, and expected contributions to the field of IS.

The document should also include a one-page progress report as an appendix, indicating the estimated completion date and the work that remains to be done as of February 15, when the application was submitted.

The extended abstract may not exceed 3,000 words, excluding references.

Selection process and related information

Selection to the ECIS Doctoral Consortium is primarily based on merit. Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by the consortium faculty. Participants will be selected based on the quality of the proposed research, its potential significance and contribution to the IS discipline, the contribution the student is likely to make to the consortium, and the potential benefit of the consortium to the student’s research.
Participation is limited to 20 students and the doctoral consortium committee will balance the quality of the proposals with candidates’ backgrounds and research interests in order to enact AIS’s values around diversity and inclusion.
The language for the Consortium is English, and all submitted materials must be in English. Nominating a student to the doctoral consortium implies that the student has sufficient proficiency in English and will be able to participate effectively in the presentations, discussions, and other activities.
Nominating a student to the doctoral consortium obliges the institution to fund the student’s travel to the consortium location and conference attendance for the entire duration of the event.
Notifications of acceptance or otherwise will be sent via e-mail to all applicants by 31 March 2026.
There is no registration fee for the Doctoral Consortium. Also, room and board at the consortium are provided courtesy of ECIS 2026. However, all participants are required to register for the main conference and are advised to take advantage of the early-bird rate.

Travel and Visa Information

Participants are expected to arrive at the doctoral consortium venue by 10:00 AM on Friday, 12 June 2026.

The consortium site is located approximately 25 km from Milan Linate Airport (LIN) and 75 km from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP). The train journey from Milano Centrale or Milano Porta Garibaldi to Arcore takes approximately 25 minutes. From Arcore railway station, the Doctoral Consortium venue can be reached by taxi in about 10 minutes.

To ensure a smooth start on Friday morning, we highly recommend that participants stay overnight on Thursday, 11 June, at the Cosmo Hotel Torri.
The hotel is located approximately 3km from the consortium venue and we secured special discount rates for Doctoral Consortium attendees:

139.00 per night for a double or twin room

129.00 per night for a double room for single use

To book your room, please send an email to info@cosmohoteltorri.it and include the following in the subject line: “DC ECIS 2026 – Villa Gallarati Scotti.”

Complimentary shuttle transportation from Cosmo Hotel Torri to the consortium venue will be provided on Friday morning.

Following the consortium, organized transportation will be available from the consortium site to the main conference venue in Milan.

Participants traveling from outside the European Union may be required to obtain a visa to enter Italy. Please check the latest visa requirements with the Italian embassy or consulate in your country. We recommend applying well in advance and ensuring that your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your intended date of entry into the EU.

Conference dates

Doctoral Consortium