Emerging Scholar Awards
The program recognizes both In-Person Emerging Scholars and Online-Only Emerging Scholars, ensuring that researchers unable to travel can still hold a visible and valued role in the conference. Across all formats, Emerging Scholars participate fully in the life of the event: they chair parallel sessions, help guide and sustain discussion, and serve as bridges between established and early-career colleagues from different regions, institutions, and disciplines.
As part of CGScholar’s Event (KX) environment, Emerging Scholars contribute to a wider knowledge experience that links conference activity, community engagement, and publication. Their work is shared through Presentation Pages, digital media, and discussion spaces; they receive structured support to develop their research through the Network’s journals and book imprint; and they gain sustained visibility within the worldwide scholarly community formed around the Research Network.
The Award includes complimentary conference registration and Research Network membership, along with formal recognition during the conference proceedings. Emerging Scholars enter a supportive, scholar-led community in which they can build connections across disciplines, regions, and generations of researchers. Professional development, mentoring encounters, and opportunities for collaboration are integrated into the conference and the Network’s year-round activities.
Award recipients are expected to: attend an orientation and training session (typically the day before the conference), and participate fully throughout the conference by fulfilling assigned chairing and discussion-leading responsibilities.
The Emerging Scholar Award is open to researchers currently enrolled in a graduate studies program or identifying as early-career scholars in a field relevant to the conference. Applicants should demonstrate strong potential for scholarly contribution and a commitment to participating in the collaborative ethos of the Network.
For each conference, a small number of Emerging Scholar Awards are given to outstanding graduate students and emerging scholars who have an active research interest in the conference themes. Emerging Scholars perform a critical role in the conference by chairing the parallel sessions, providing technical assistance in the sessions, and presenting their own research papers. The 2026 Emerging Scholar Award Recipients are as follows:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Chen Xinyue is a PhD student at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University. Her doctoral research examines the screen image of jingying nüxing (精英女性, often translated as “elite women”) in contemporary Chinese television drama, analysing how neoliberal ideology and gender politics shape representation, production, and audience engagement in the streaming era. Alongside her academic work, she has professional experience in film and television as a screenwriter and producer, with projects broadcast on major networks and streaming platforms. Her creative work has received recognition at industry and film festivals.
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Zhixuan Ke is a PhD student at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She holds an MA in Design Products from the Royal College of Art. Her work sits at the intersection of color design, product design, and visual culture. With a strong interest in contemporary design practice, she explores how new tools and media influence the way designers develop ideas, communicate visual direction, and shape user experience. She is passionate about design-led research and interdisciplinary collaboration, and is committed to connecting critical thinking with practical making in both academic and applied contexts.
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Liu Qiaofang is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research centers on Spring Festival color culture, illustration, and visual communication, with a particular focus on how cultural meanings are constructed, transmitted, and reinterpreted through color in cross-cultural contexts. She employs semiotic and narrative approaches, together with practice-based research, to examine the role of illustration in cultural storytelling and contemporary image-making. She has a background in art and design education, with experience in illustration teaching and design practice, and has participated in exhibitions and academic projects related to visual culture.
As an Emerging Scholar, I found the IMAGE conference really refreshing and rewarding, as it was an intimate experience that allowed me to have depth of engagement with fellow conference attendees. The breadth of disciplines and the quality of conversations fostered is really commendable, and I look forward to being in ongoing community with the scholars and artists I met over the two days of the conference."
Presenting my paper to an interdiciplinary audience and recieving their feedback has provided me with valuable input into the ways of approaching my future research."
I really loved being an active participant in the operational side of the conference. It made this conference stand out for me in comparison with other conferences at which I have attended and presented papers."