UAI 2021 Discussants

Purpose

We aim to foster debate among attendees and provide a lively conference environment. Papers will be presented in 8-minute or 1-minute talks in a single plenary track. For each 8-minute talk, we assign a person, called the discussant, who will highlight the key points of the paper, put it in a broader context, and suggest the most important follow-up directions, all from the discussant's perspective. Being a discussant is a great way to learn about papers and to engage with other people at the conference.

Responsibility

The assigned discussant will, before the conference, read the corresponding paper thoroughly and prepare a (maximum 2-slide) PDF presentation that must be submitted by July 14th. After the presentation of the paper, the discussant will give a live (maximum) 2-minute discussion, followed by 5 minutes of live Q&A. The format of the discussant talk is free, as long as the discussant provides a polite and constructive view of the work, supported by one or two slides.

Selection Process

On June 23rd, the organizers will send a form to all participants who registered for the conference by June 11th and declared interest in being a discussant. On this form, candidates can select sessions (based on topics) for which they could be one of the discussants. Based on the answers, the organizers will assign discussants to papers by June 30th.

Sponsors