Evaluation Committee Chairs

What is it about?

The CLTD has been running since 2015 within the framework of CLEI. Submitted theses must have been defended between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025 (strict deadline), be approved at the time of submission, and have been written at CLEI member institutions. Along with an abstract of no more than 20 pages, the approval certificate and a list of articles published or under evaluation that report contributions from the thesis must be submitted. The three best theses will be awarded, based on the evaluation of the program committee and the CLTM chairs. The thesis is an individual project and therefore does not allow co-authorship. Abstracts submitted jointly will not be considered.

Contest Objectives

The objective of the competition is to identify and promote the best regional doctoral theses in Computer Science, Computing, or other related areas, from an Ibero-American university member of CLEI, in one of the disciplinary areas defined in the computing curricula established by the IEEE/ACM.

Important Dates

• Deadline for paper submissions: May 18, 2025
• Notification of acceptance: July 6, 2025
• Submission of final version (camera-ready): August 10, 2025

Participation Process

Applicants who have met all the requirements for a doctoral degree within the period from (To be defined) to a doctoral program at an Ibero-American or Caribbean university that is a member of CLEI are eligible to participate. Submissions must be individual (not group) submissions. Applicants must have fully completed their curriculum, including a thesis defense before an examining committee.

To participate in the competition, each applicant must submit a summary of their thesis with only themselves listed as the author.

Contributions will be judged by an Evaluation Committee based on the quality and relevance of the research, the appropriateness of the chosen methodology, original contributions, publications in international conferences and prestigious journals that demonstrate the impact of the thesis in their field of expertise, or patents demonstrating the relevance of innovation. The Evaluation Committee will select three finalist theses for the award.

Each submission must contain the following material in PDF format:

• An extended abstract, in Spanish, Portuguese, or English, of a maximum length of 15 pages, including figures and bibliographic references, in the CLEI Electronic Journal submission format.
• A PDF file with the complete list of articles and/or patents and/or academic awards and distinctions that originated from the thesis work and that have been published in international and national journals and conferences. In each case, the complete list of authors and information on the publication’s ranking (using the CORE and SJR indexes) must be included.
• A digital version of a certification issued by the degree-granting institution, indicating that the applicant has effectively met all the requirements for obtaining a doctoral degree within the period stipulated in this competition.
• A cover letter from the applicant, containing information on the thesis title, the first and last names and email addresses of the thesis supervisor and co-supervisor (if applicable), the degree obtained, and the university that awarded it. In this letter, the applicant must explicitly state that they are submitting the documentation to participate in CLTD 2025.
• A letter of endorsement from the representative of the applicant’s university, stating that the institution is a CLEI member and is up to date with payments.

The aforementioned documents must be submitted through EasyChair, sending a single compressed file (.zip or .rar), which must be named <Name>_<Surname>.zip or <Name>_<Surname>.rar.

A set of selected papers, including the three award-winning authors, will be invited to be published in a special edition of the CLEI Electronic Journal. Invited authors must submit an improved English version that differs by at least 30% from each of their existing publications. The paper will undergo a new evaluation process by peer reviewers assigned by the CLEI Electronic Journal.

Awards

The prizes will consist of a CLEI diploma indicating their place in the competition. The prizes will be awarded to the winners in person after they deliver a 30-minute presentation during the awards ceremony held at the LI Latin American Informatics Conference (CLEI 2025). Failure to deliver an oral presentation will result in the winner’s ineligibility for the corresponding prize or publication in the Latin American Informatics Conference proceedings.

Finalists Support

Finalists in the Latin American Master’s Thesis Competition will receive financial support to cover their travel expenses (airfare and accommodation) of up to USD 900. This support will be delivered in cash at the conference or via bank transfer afterward. Finalists must submit receipts for their respective expenses, and actual expenses will be covered up to the stated maximum.

Program Committee Members

• Gabriela Marin (Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
• Francisco Tirado (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España)
• Benjamín Barán (Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay) 
• Francisco Mata (Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
• Luca Cernuzzi (Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”, Paraguay)
• Rodrigo Santos (Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina)
• Sergio Ochoa (Universidad de Chile, Chile)
• Adenilso Simao (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brasil)
• Héctor Cancela (Universidad de la República, Uruguay)
• Esteban Clua (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil)
• José Aguilar (Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela)
• Horacio Legal (Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay)
• Luis Alfonso Ureña-López (Universidad de Jaén, España)
• Edgar Casasola (Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
• Karzalin Olcoz (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España)
• Francisco Quiles (Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, España)
• Juan Touriño (Universidad de la Coruña, España)
• Diego Pinto (Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay)
• Ana Maguitman (Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina)