Call for Project Proposals: IEEE SPS SigMA Program - Signal Processing Mentorship Academy

Call for Project Proposals

Signal Processing Mentorship Academy (SigMA) Program

Application Deadline: 2 November 2025

What is it?

Signal Processing Mentorship Academy (SigMA) is a mentoring program sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS).

• SigMA helps you establish a connection with a mentor at another institution.
• You and your mentor work on a research topic in signal processing, write a paper together, and submit it to a special poster session at IEEE ICASSP 2027.
• IEEE SPS provides funding for you to attend ICASSP (mandatory) and, optionally, to visit your mentor’s laboratory.

Who can apply?

Applications are invited from undergraduate and graduate student members of the IEEE SPS. The applicant must be an IEEE SPS Member in good standing at the time of the application. Each mentor and mentee can only submit one project proposal. In each project, mentors and mentees must be from different institutions, and preferably from different countries.

How do I apply?

Students interested in participating in the program must go to the program website page, fill out the pre-registration form, and look for the list of available mentors and their research areas. Then, they shall contact a mentor from the list to express their interest. After agreeing to a plan, both must write a two-page (maximum) project proposal (minimum 11-point font, minimum 2.5 cm margins, A4 or 8.5x11 paper). The proposal should cover the following points:

• Name and affiliation of the student and potential mentor.
• Start and end dates of the project.
• Brief outline of the aim of the project.
• Rough outline of the project planning.
• Plan and budget to attend ICASSP (mandatory) and for an optional visit to the mentor’s lab. The budget must be between $2,000 and $4,000.[1]
• Overview of the resources needed for the project and a statement from the mentor about their ability to provide them. [2]
• Brief narrative of how this project would benefit the student in their future career in signal processing.

The evaluation criteria include:

• Feasibility of the project topic and project planning.
• Overall quality of the project.
• Potential impact of the project on the student’s future career.

If the student does not find a suitable mentor in the provided list, they might invite additional mentors to register for the program by 14 September 2025. The instructions for the mentors can be found here.

The list of Potential Mentors for the program here.

For students who have not decided on a mentor by mid-September, there will be a connecting event on 22 September 2025 (tentative date), where registered mentors will introduce themselves to potential candidates. More information on the event can be found on the program website.

All the project proposals should be submitted by email to sp-sigma@listserv.ieee.org.

What will happen if my application gets accepted?

• Students and mentors will prepare a research plan and conduct their research remotely over a nine-month period (starting in January, 2026).
• The mentor shall provide data, computing capability, and (non-mandatory) contacts with senior students.
• After nine months, the research is concluded by writing a paper that will be submitted to a special poster session at ICASSP 2027.
• Additional training opportunities, in the form of webinars may be provided to participating students.
• In case the paper gets rejected, it will not be published in the conference proceedings and will be eligible for submission to another venue. However, it will still be presented at an event during ICASSP 2027.
• The student must use the project funds to attend ICASSP 2027.
• The student may use the remaining project funds to visit the mentor’s laboratory.v
• Mentors and mentees are invited to take part in a yearly event at ICASSP 2027, where current and former participants of the program and their mentors can meet and network.
• An extra event might be planned during ICIP, depending on the number of projects related to image and video processing.
• Participating students will be encouraged to attend the Women in Signal Processing Lunch and the Student Job Fair, which are held during ICASSP and ICIP.

IEEE SPS SigMA Committee

• Maurício do V. M. da Costa (Chair)
• Ruchy Pandey
• Ryan M. Corey
• Odette Scharenborg
• Tirza Routtenberg
• Lucas Thomaz (ex-officio member)