We invite proposals for Community Contributed Themes (CCT) that address emerging interdisciplinary topics. Selected CCTs will be added to the General and Special Themes as options for abstract or paper submission. Depending on the number of submissions to each accepted CCT, one or more oral or poster sessions may be organized for that theme.

Proposal Guidelines

To improve efficiency and reduce technical program fragmentation, proposers should follow the guidelines below:

• Proposals should complement existing General and Special Themes with a topic of community interest
• Organizers should identify at least five potential submissions through community engagement
• Organizers should be available to attend IGARSS 2027 in person and serve as chairs of their resulting session(s) and, if willing, to chair other sessions within the General and Special Themes
• Organizers should be prepared to coordinate with organizers of similar proposals because the Technical Program Chairs will merge overlapping CCT proposals
• Proposals should include organizers from different organizations to broaden the pool of potential submissions
• Joint CCT proposals from a senior researcher and an early-career researcher are encouraged to support mentoring
• All submissions to accepted CCTs will be subject to the same peer review process as other IGARSS submissions

Proposal Content

• Organizers: Chair and Co-Chair with affiliations, contact information, and brief summary of expertise and conference organization experience
• Session Overview: Title, scope, importance, and an explanation of how the proposed theme complements the General and Special Themes
• Related General or Special Theme: The most closely related theme (see list here)
• Related Technical Committee: The GRSS Technical Committee, if the proposal is submitted under the auspices of a specific Technical Committee
• Potential Contributions: A list of at least five potential submissions, each including the lead author, organization, and tentative title or topic
• Session Format Preference: Oral or poster, subject to final assignment by the Technical Program Chairs
• Keywords: Up to 5 terms

Selection Criteria

• Priority will be given to interdisciplinary topics, emerging technologies, and underrepresented research areas
• Proposals addressing too narrow topics or duplicating existing General or Special Themes will be automatically rejected
• Similar CCT proposals will be merged; the Technical Program Chairs will work with proposers to consolidate them
• Sessions resulting from accepted CCTs may be assigned an oral or poster format

CCT proposers will be notified of the selection outcome by Tuesday, 3 November 2026.

Questions regarding Community-Contributed Themes may be directed to cct@2027.ieeeigarss.org.