MECC 2021 Author Information

The MECC 2021 registration is open now!! Please register here: https://ifac.papercept.net/registration!
Advanced registration rate (July 8 – Sept. 10): Full member: $200; Non-member: $250; Student/Retiree: $100.
Onsite registration rate (Sept. 11 – onwards): Full member: $250; Non-member: $350; Student/Retiree: $150.
For questions regarding registration, please contact Registration Chair: Jason Siegel ([email protected]).

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1. Submission instructions:
    Please submit all MECC 2021 manuscripts, session proposals, and nominations through the IFAC PaperCept website (please visit ifac.papercept.net and click on the “log in” link for MECC 2021).
2. Formatting instructions:
    Please make sure that all your submissions to MECC 2021, including both initial and final submissions, are written in English and comply with the IFAC submission formatting requirements. Per IFAC publication requirement, the page size of all submissions needs to be A4 (not US letter size). For more information, including Word and LaTeX templates, please visit the MECC 2021 submission instructions page on PaperCept (by visiting ifac.papercept.net and navigating to link titled “Submit a contribution to MECC 2021”). Word and LaTeX paper templates are available here.
3. Copyright conditions
    All publication material submitted for presentation at an IFAC-sponsored meeting (Congress, Symposium, Conference, Workshop) must be original and hence cannot be already published, nor can it be under review elsewhere. The authors take responsibility for the material that has been submitted. IFAC-sponsored conferences will abide by the highest standard of ethical behavior in the review process as explained on the Elsevier webpage (https://www.elsevier.com/authors/journal-authors/policies-and-ethics), and the authors will abide by the IFAC publication ethics guidelines (https://www.ifac-control.org/events/organizersguide/PublicationEthicsGuidelines.pdf/view).
    Accepted papers that have been presented at an IFAC meeting will be published in the proceedings of the event using the open-access IFAC-PapersOnLine series hosted on ScienceDirect(https://sciencedirect.com/). To this end, the author(s) must grant exclusive publishing rights to IFAC under a Creative Commons license when they submit the final version of the paper. The copyright belongs to the authors, who have the right to share the paper in the same terms allowed by the end user license, and retain all patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights (including research data).
4. Submission and registration policies:
    Please keep in mind the MECC 2021 paper length limits:
    • Initial paper submissions can be up to 8 pages long.
    • Final paper submissions can be up to 6 pages long at no extra charge. Papers exceeding this 6-page limit will incur a charge of $200 for each extra page, up to a maximum length of 8 pages.
    Please register for MECC 2021 prior to uploading final papers:
    • At least one of the authors listed on the paper must pay the full registration fee in order to be able to upload the paper. Any full registration payment can be used for uploading papers, regardless of whether it is for on-site or online attendance, and regardless of whether it is at the member or non-member rate.
    • Student registrations cannot be used for uploading papers.
    • Up to 4 paper uploads are allowed per full registration.
5. MECC 2021 encourages all attendees to become IFAC Affiliates:
    IFAC Affiliate registration forms are available at: IFAC Affiliate registration forms.
 

Submission Types

The MECC 2021 submission website on PaperCept accepts multiple different types of submissions. Please see the descriptions of these submission types below.
 
1. Contributed papers
    A contributed paper is intended to be a self-contained, full description of completed work (i.e., not an extended abstract). All contributed papers will be peer reviewed. Contributed papers that are accepted for inclusion in the conference proceedings will be assigned to different conference sessions based on their topics.
2. Invited sessions/papers
    Invited session proposals
    An invited session proposal is a brief document that presents a unified theme bringing together up to 6 invited papers into a cohesive session. The proposal should list the proposed invited papers (titles and abstracts at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive topic of interest to the community. All invited session proposals will be peer reviewed. Upon submission of an invited session proposal, a session code will be generated by PaperCept. Authors must use this session code to link their invited papers to the corresponding invited session proposal. If an invited session proposal is accepted, then all of the corresponding invited papers that receive an acceptance decision will be assigned to the accepted invited session. If fewer than 6 papers submitted under the invited session code are accepted, additional papers may be assigned to the invited session if they are relevant to the session’s topic. If an invited session proposal is rejected, then any accepted invited papers linked to the invited session proposal will be assigned to other sessions.
    Invited papers
    Invited papers are linked to an invited session proposal upon their submission. As with contributed papers, an invited paper is intended to be a self-contained, full description of completed work. A unified peer review process will be used for both contributed and invited papers. However, if an invited paper is accepted for inclusion in the conference proceedings and the associated invited session proposal is also accepted, the paper will automatically be assigned to the corresponding invited session.
3. Frontier sessions/papers
    Frontier session proposals
    A frontier session is similar to an invited session in the sense that it should bring together up to 6 papers to discuss a cohesive topic of interest to the community. In addition, the topic of a frontier session should represent an emerging frontier of research and discovery, e.g., a genuinely new area of research of interest to the MECC 2021 community. Just like an invited session proposal, a frontier session proposal should list the proposed session papers (titles and abstracts at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive topic of interest to the community. In addition, the frontier session proposal must explain the novelty of the proposed session’s research topic. All frontier session proposals will be peer reviewed. Upon submission of a frontier session proposal, a session code will be generated by PaperCept. Authors must use this session code to link their papers to the corresponding frontier session proposal. If a frontier session proposal is accepted, then all of the corresponding frontier papers that receive an acceptance decision will be assigned to the accepted frontier session. Moreover, if fewer than 6 papers submitted under the frontier session code are accepted, additional papers may be assigned to the frontier session if they are relevant to the session’s topic. If a frontier session proposal is rejected, then any accepted papers linked to the frontier session proposal will be assigned to other sessions, potentially in the form of an invited session. Finally, the conference’s organizing and program committees may choose, based on the outcomes of the peer review process, to re-designate a contributed or invited session as a frontier session if the topic of the session is deemed sufficiently novel and timely.
    Frontier papers
    Frontier papers are linked to a frontier session proposal upon their submission. As with contributed and invited papers, a frontier paper is intended to be a self-contained, full description of completed work. A unified peer review process will be used for contributed, invited, and frontier session papers. If a frontier session paper is accepted for inclusion in the conference proceedings and the associated frontier session proposal is also accepted, the paper will automatically be assigned to the corresponding frontier session.
4. Workshops
    Workshop proposals
    A workshop is a pre-conference event, either half-day or full day, that introduces its audience to a cohesive topic of relevance to MECC 2021. A workshop can cover either a well-established topic or an emerging/frontier topic of interest to the MECC community. Moreover, a workshop can cover a scientific research topic or a topic of broad societal impact relevant to the MECC community. A workshop proposal should list the proposed workshop presentations (titles and presenters at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive workshop. Please contact Dr. Neera Jain ([email protected]), the MECC 2021 Workshops and Tutorial Sessions Chair, for additional information and instructions prior to proposing a workshop or tutorial session.
    Workshop presentation abstracts
    Workshops at MECC 2021 will not have peer-reviewed paper proceedings. However, every talk at a MECC 2021 workshop will be advertised on the MECC website. To this end, for every talk at a MECC 2021 workshop, the conference organizers expect the speaker(s) to upload a document listing: their names/affiliations, the title of their talk, and a an abstract (no more than 250 words) of this talk. Every workshop proposal, when uploaded to PaperCept, will generate a workshop code. The speakers at the workshop are asked to upload abstracts of their talks to PaperCept, and link these abstracts to the corresponding workshop code.
5. Tutorial sessions
    Tutorial session proposals
    A tutorial session is a regular-length (i.e., 2-hour) session, within the main MECC 2021 program, that introduces its audience to a cohesive topic of relevance to MECC 2021. A tutorial session can cover either a well-established topic or an emerging/frontier topic of interest to the MECC community. Moreover, a tutorial session can cover either a scientific research topic or a topic of broad societal impact relevant to the MECC community. A tutorial session proposal should list the proposed tutorial presentations (titles and presenters at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive tutorial session. Please contact Dr. Neera Jain ([email protected]), the MECC 2021 Workshops and Tutorial Sessions Chair, for additional information and instructions prior to proposing a workshop or tutorial session.
    Tutorial session presentation abstracts
    Tutorial sessions at MECC 2021 will not have peer-reviewed paper proceedings. However, every talk at a MECC 2021 tutorial session will be advertised on the MECC website. To this end, for every talk at a MECC 2021 tutorial session, the conference organizers expect the speaker(s) to upload a document listing: their names/affiliations, the title of their talk, and a an abstract (no more than 250 words) of this talk. Every tutorial session proposal, when uploaded to PaperCept, will generate a tutorial session code. The speakers at the tutorial session are asked to upload abstracts of their talks to PaperCept, and link these abstracts to the corresponding tutorial session code.
6. Special sessions
    Special session proposals
    A special session is a regular-length (i.e., 2-hour) session, within the main MECC 2021 program, that helps build the MECC 2021 community. Examples of special sessions include industry-focused sessions, sessions organized by funding agencies, events serving students and young members, etc. A special session proposal should list the proposed special session presentations (titles and presenters at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive special session. Please contact Dr. Bryan Rasmussen ([email protected]), the MECC 2021 Invited and Special Sessions Chair, for additional information and instructions prior to proposing a special session.
    Special session presentation abstracts
    Special sessions at MECC 2021 will not have peer-reviewed paper proceedings. However, it is possible for special sessions to include presentations/talks. Every talk at a MECC 2021 special session will be advertised on the MECC website. To this end, for every talk at a MECC 2021 special session, the conference organizers expect the speaker(s) to upload a document listing: their names/affiliations, the title of their talk, and a an abstract (no more than 250 words) of this talk. Every special session proposal, when uploaded to PaperCept, will generate a special session code. The speakers at the special session are asked to upload abstracts of their talks to PaperCept, and link these abstracts to the corresponding special session code.
7. Student paper award nominations
    MECC 2021 is proud to host a student paper competition. Nominations for this competition will be submitted through PaperCept. Instructions for paper nominations will be included here and announced to the MECC 2021 community prior to March 1, 2021. Please check this web page for additional information. Also, please contact Dr. David Hoelze ([email protected]), the MECC 2021 Students and Young Members Chair, for additional information and instructions.
8. Conference paper award nominations
    MECC 2021 is proud to host a conference paper competition. Nominations for this competition will be submitted through PaperCept. Instructions for paper nominations will be included here and announced to the MECC 2021 community prior to March 1, 2021. Please check this web page for additional information.