Q) How large must a team participating to SCORE be?

The minimum number of people in a team is 3, in order to guarantee that project development involves real teamwork. The maximum number of people in a team is not restricted, but we strongly encourage teams to have no more than 5 members.

Q) Do I have to be a student to take part in SCORE? What kind of student?

Yes, you must be a full-time student, and you must provide a proof of this fact when submitting your project. We allow both undergraduate and Master's students, but no PhD students. Teams can mix undergraduate and graduate students.

Q) Why not PhD students?

It is a matter of fairness, as PhD students are usually well versed in software engineering theory and practice, having studied the subject in great depth both in classes and during their research activity, which gives them an unfair advantage over much less experienced competitors.

Q) I am currently a student at Master’s level, but I will receive my degree in the year 2017, then I will start a PhD program. Can I still be part of a team participating in SCORE?

Q) I am currently a student at undergraduate/Master’s level, but I will graduate in the year 2017, and then I will start working for a company. Can I still be part of a team participating in SCORE?

It depends on when the summary report is submitted. We will check the status of the members of a participating team at the time of the submission of the summary report (which can be any time between July 2017 and January 2018). If you are still a student at the undergraduate/Master’s level at that time, then you (and your team) will be allowed to participate in SCORE 2018.

Q) Can members of the same team come from different institutions or countries?

Yes they can. Diverse teams are very welcome, although SCORE does not provide any mechanism to form or facilitate the interaction in such teams, so the team formation and management is up to the team members themselves.

Q) Is it required for each team to have a reference faculty member? Is it advised? What is a faculty advisor's role?

There is no mandatory requirement on having a reference faculty member, although it is fine (and probably useful) if teams have one. It has to be understood that the faculty referent must be at most a general advisor, and must not participate actively in the development of the project by the team.

Q) What happens if a team composition changes after the team has registered?

A limited amount of changes in the team composition are allowed even after registration. For instance, the team may grow in size, or one person may be replaced. The contact person, however, cannot be changed. We also require that changes in team composition be promptly reported by updating the registration data in EasyChair.

Q) I teach a Software Engineering course at my University. Can my students develop SCORE projects within the course framework and timeline?

Absolutely! This is allowed and encouraged, is an excellent way to reach a large base of potential (and talented!) participants, and it is a great way for instructors to provide challenging projects to their students.

Q) How can I accommodate SCORE within my course schedule?

The SCORE timeline is designed to allow a project to be undertaken in summer or fall 2017, to match well with most university course schedules. The target SCORE project size is approximately a standard one-term team project.

Q) How is the evaluation process managed?

The evaluation is a two-phase process. First every team delivers a summary report (the deadline is 15 January 2018, but reports can be delivered earlier; see here for suggestions on the production of the report). The report will be evaluated by members of SCORE's Program Committee. Based on this first evaluation, a subset of the teams will be invited to submit full project documentation (see here), which will be used by the PC to select the finalists (to be invited to ICSE) and the winners (from among the invited finalists). The final evaluation may also depend on the teams' oral presentations given at ICSE: suggestions will be given to the finalists on how to organize their presentations.

Q) Can my team send the application code/test results/verification results, instead of (or in addition to) a 20-page document, as the summary report?

No, you will be allowed to submit only the 20-page report. You will be asked for additional, more in-depth information and deliverables for your project only if you are selected as semi-finalist for the second phase of the evaluation.

Q) Does this mean that we can delay doing the implementation until we are selected as semi-finalists for the second phase of the evaluation process?

No. Given the short time (about a month and a half, from mid-January to March 2018) between the summary report and the final deliverable, it is expected that your project will be completed in all its aspects and fully documented by the time you submit the summary report. The report also documents your development process, which must have actually occurred.

Q) We are registered for the SCORE contest; do we have to wait until January 2018 to submit our summary report, even if we have finished it well in advance?

No, you don’t have to wait until January 2018 to submit the project's summary report. If your project is completed earlier than the submission deadline, you can submit it when you are finished. When you are ready, please submit to EasyChair.

Q) We have already submitted the summary report for our project, but submissions are still open: can we submit a new version of the report?

Yes, you can modify your submission and send us a new, revised summary report as long as submissions are still open. Only your latest submission will be considered for evaluation (and will have to respect all criteria for eligibility for evaluation, including those on team composition).

Q) We have submitted the summary report well in advance of the January 2018 closing date for submission: will you evaluate our project before January/February 2018, and notify us if we have been selected to send the final deliverable before 5 March 2018 notification date?

No. To coordinate the program committee (PC) work, to be considerate to the PC members' own need to schedule their reviewing, and to be sure that all reviews are equitable, all reviewing will take place between the report submission deadline and the notification deadline (5 March 2018).

Q) If our team is selected as finalist in April 2018, we’ll have a relatively short time to arrange our trip to Gothenburg, Sweden. In particular, we may have trouble getting visas to travel. What can we do about that?

If your team is selected for submitting the final deliverable, you have a good (approximately 50%) chance of being selected as finalist. Hence, we suggest that you tentatively start making your travel arrangements as soon as you are selected as semi-finalist in March 2018. In addition, if you think the process for getting your visas may be particularly long, notify us as soon as possible, possibly when submitting your first summary report. ACM issues visa support letters after conference registration. We will do our best to notify the finalists as soon as possible, and to help making their travel arrangements in time. More information about this issue will be made available when the submission deadlines are approaching.