ALTA Fellows

2026: To be announced at ALTA 2026

ALTA Fellows Program

The ALTA Fellows program intends to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the association or to the field of language technology (i.e. computational linguistics and natural language processing) in general. The program was launched in 2026 and shaped along the fellowship program of the ACL with minimal adjustments.

Selection Criteria for the Fellows

A person shall be qualified as a candidate for being ALTA Fellow if the candidate has made significant contributions in areas including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Scientific and technical excellence: Important technical contributions to computational linguistics. This should be interpreted in a broad sense to include research and technical development, contributions to academic, government or industrial group efforts, and release of software and resources. Evidence of technical contributions is typically in the form of technical results, publications, patents, and awards but other relevant forms of evidence should be considered as well.
2. Service excellence: Extended service to ALTA or other scientific organizations whose mission aligns with that of ALTA. This includes being a member of a board or executive committee, being the editor of a journal, serving in major conference chair positions, or doing other voluntary work of significance for the organization.
3. Enabling excellence: Significant educational and outreach activities with broader impact. This includes contributions to improve the visibility and impact of computational linguistics in society as a whole, such as the development and promotion of educational programs, raising awareness of equity and diversity issues, building bridges between academia and industry, or collaborating with government agencies and other pro-societal organizations.

Qualified candidates are furthermore expected to observe accepted professional and ethical standards both within and outside their scientific activities.

Procedure for Selecting New Fellows

1. Nominations for new Fellows can be made by any current ALTA member and need to be supported by recommendations from two additional ALTA members. Current ALTA members can nominate up to one candidate and write a recommendation letter for up to two candidates in a given year. Note: Members of the Fellow Selection Committee are not allowed to make nominations or recommendations while serving on the committee.
2. To be eligible, the nominee must be a current member of ALTA. Note: Members of the ALTA's Executive Committee and Fellow Selection Committee are not eligible to become Fellows while serving.
3. Nominations and supporting recommendations must be emailed to exec@alta.asn.au. The email should clarify who the nominated candidate is, and must include the two recommendation letters.
4. The deadline for nominations each year is 30 September.
5. The selection of new fellows from the pool of nominees is handled by the ALTA Fellow Selection Committee. The committee will consist of the current ALTA president, one past president, and one ALTA Fellow. Until a fellow is selected and accepted to be part of the committee, other past ALTA presidents will cover their role. The ALTA Executive Committee is responsible for creating the selection committee.
6. The Fellow Selection Committee is charged with soliciting a large and diverse pool of candidates and with making the final selection in accordance with the criteria stated above.
7. The Fellow Selection Committee should provide whatever explanations and supporting documentation the Executive Committee requires.
8. The Executive Committee aims to ensure consistency and clarity in the decision process, and they should not overrule the Fellow Selection Committee's proposal or advance alternative candidates.
9. The number of new fellows appointed in a year should not be more than two.
10. Nominators should be informed about the outcome of their nominations, but without specific information about why a particular nominee was not elected.