<h1>CoNEXT 2026 Shadow TPC</h1>
<h2>Why join a Shadow TPC?</h2>

<p>The CoNEXT 2026 Shadow TPC, organized as part of the SIGCOMM Board initiative on community-building, provides an educational opportunity for junior researchers, including PhD students, postdocs, and early-career faculty, to get familiar with the academic review process from a reviewer's perspective and get better prepared for their research careers. Participants read papers at the submission stage, experience the peer-review process as a reviewer, and discuss academic work with fellow Shadow TPC members.</p>

<p>The Shadow TPC's peer-review process closely resembles that of the actual TPC, including paper bidding, two rounds of reviews, and an online Shadow TPC meeting. The two TPCs run independently and on isolated HotCRP instances. Shadow TPC reviewers cannot request external reviews and abide by the same rules and restrictions that apply to the actual TPC members, including anonymity, confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest rules. Each Shadow TPC member is expected to handle 5 to 8 papers across the two review rounds.</p>

<p>Shadow reviews have no bearing on the main TPC's decisions. Authors choose at submission time whether to make their paper available to the Shadow TPC. Shadow reviews are released to opted-in authors after the main CoNEXT 2026 notifications.</p>


<h2>Who can apply</h2>

<p>The Shadow TPC is open to:
<ul>
	<li><b>PhD students</b> with at least one published or submitted paper in a networking, systems, security, or Internet measurement venue.</li>	
	<li><b>Postdocs and early-career faculty</b> who have not previously served on the CoNEXT main TPC.</li>	
	<li><b>Industry researchers</b> at an equivalent career stage.</li>	
</ul>
</p>

<p>Past reviewing experience helps but is not required. We are particularly interested in applicants whose research areas align with the CoNEXT 2026 call for papers, including measurement, transport and protocols, in-network computing, mobile and wireless networks, AI for networking and networking for AI, datacenter networks, and Internet architecture.</p>


<h2>How to apply</h2>

<p>Submit your application via the <a href="https://forms.gle/UZ7DxHMgmK8DzzZB9" target="_blank">form</a> by <b>May 31, 2026</b> [firm deadline].</p>

<p>The form will ask for:
<ul>
	<li>A short <b>CV (1 to 2 pages, PDF)</b>. PhD applicants should include the name and email of their advisor so we can confirm advisor support.</li>	
	<li>A <b>motivation statement of at most 300 words</b> covering: which CoNEXT topic areas you can review, any reviewing experience you have, and what you want to take away from the Shadow TPC.</li>	
</ul></p>

<p>By submitting an application you commit to the <a href="https://www.acm.org/code-of-ethics" target="_blank">ACM Code of Ethics</a> and to the ACM Publication Policy on peer review, including the rules on confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and use of generative AI in reviewing.</p>

<p>Selection will be made on the basis of topic coverage, motivation, and reviewer diversity (career stage, institution, geography, and gender).</p>

<h2>Important Dates</h2>

<table class="table table-hover" border="1">
            <thead>
              <tr bgcolor="#dae8fc">
                <th><b>Phase</b></th>
                <th><b>Date</b></th>
              </tr>
            </thead>
            <tbody>
              <tr>
                <td>Application Deadline</td>
                <td>May 31, 2026</td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td>Notification</td>
                <td>June 3, 2026</td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td>Review assignment</td>
                <td>June 8, 2026</td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td>Online Shadow TPC meeting</td>
                <td>September 9, 2026</td>
              </tr>
            </tbody>
        </table>

<h2>Contact</h2>
<p>For any questions about the Shadow TPC, please contact the chairs</p>
<p>Nitinder Mohan, TU Delft (nitinder.mohan@tudelft.nl)</p>
<p>Qiao Xiang, Xiamen University (xiangq27@gmail.com)</p>
