Important Dates

Note: all deadlines are “anywhere on earth” (UTC-12)

September 18, 2026: 
Electronic applications due 

November 6, 2026: 
Notification of acceptance or rejection

November 13, 2026: 
Talk title and abstract, and speaker bio and photo due to AAAI

November 20, 2026: 
Camera-ready versions at the AAAI CRC site

December 14, 2026 (Tentative):
Links to video of selected talks due to AAAI for review. Details about video format and content will be announced after acceptance.

February 18-21, 2027:
Conference Dates

New Faculty Highlights: Call for Proposals

This year, AAAI is continuing its invited speaker program, highlighting AI researchers who have just begun careers as new faculty members or the equivalent in industry. 

New Faculty Highlight talks will be allotted 20-30 minutes each (final duration will be informed with the notifications); the aim for these talks is to broadly survey the candidate’s research to date. Several talks will be released online and publicized each day of the AAAI conference, following which they will be available archivally as part of the conference program. Invited speakers will be further invited to contribute an article to a corresponding series in AI Magazine. 

To qualify, applicants must have completed their PhD on or after January 1, 2019, and started their first faculty position or a broadly equivalent position in industry (e.g., a position in a research lab that involves independent research and publication at AI venues) between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2026.

We invite applications from qualified researchers. All documents must be in PDF format and use the AAAI 2027 Author Kit. Applications should consist of:

• a cover letter (at most 2 pages) that explains the promise and impact of the candidate’s research to-date (e.g., publications in top-tier forums, citations, awards, adoption or application by others, deployed systems, broader impacts) and future plans in AAAI format;    
• the candidate’s CV in your preferred format;  
• a link to the candidate’s Google Scholar profile or equivalent at the top of your CV;  
• and a one-page statement in AAAI format, describing the work to be surveyed in the talk. A second page is permitted for references only.

Applications are due on or before September 18, 2026. The final selections are competitive and will be done based on the strength of the candidate’s track record, and the promise of the research plan. Selected applicants are required to attend AAAI-27 and present their talks in person, enabling meaningful interactions with conference attendees and increasing the visibility of their research within the AI community.

For More Information 

Inquiries concerning submissions and suggestions for the new faculty highlight program may be directed to the program co-chairs at aaai27nfhchairs@aaai.org. All other inquiries should be directed to AAAI at aaai27@aaai.org.

New Faculty Highlight Co-Chairs 

Yuhong Guo (Carleton University, Canada)

Scott Sanner (University of Toronto, Canada)