Call for Submissions

This year, we would like to encourage submissions that highlight the progress we’ve made as a community in the past 10 years and to show how this work fits into the conference vision, which consists of two themes:

• RSEs as part of the research journey
• Enhancing credit and reproducibility: research software quality, performance, and evidence

Or contributes to answering this year’s key questions:

• How can we define the quality of research software?
• What forms of evidence best encompass the novelty, rigour, and impact of research software?
• How can we ensure that credit systems, institutional policies, and research assessment frameworks evolve to recognise these contributions?

Categories for Submission

You can find the various ways of contributing to the conference below:

• Talks and Walk-Throughs - Presenter-led
• Workshops and Birds of a Feather (BoF) - Interactive or community-led
• Posters
• Research Software Publications
• Special Submissions and Other Formats

Talks and Walk-Throughs

A talk or walk-through is a 15 or 30 minute session, given by one or more speakers, to a live audience of in-person and online attendees. These presentations are intended to inform, educate, and share ideas with an audience of peers, experts, or other interested parties in the field of Research Software Engineering. Where possible, presentations will be grouped together on similar topics.

More details on talks and walk-throughs

Workshops and Birds of a Feather (BoF)

Workshops and BoFs are longer sessions that are interactive or community-led, designed around audience participation. You might, for example, want to teach a new skill using hands-on practical exercises or build a community by providing a space for discussion, networking and collaboration. These sessions are available in 90 or 180 minute slots.

More details on Workshops and Birds of a Feather (BoF)

Posters

RSECon26 will feature posters and a poster reception. Poster submissions are unique in that they allow the audience to digest the information at their own pace. One can present detailed technical information alongside striking graphics to let attendees get to know the work. At the reception you will have the opportunity to talk to people about your poster and answer questions in an informal setting. There will be an opportunity to pitch posters to the conference audience in advance of this. Prizes will be awarded to the top posters. See the specific poster page for more information.

More details on Posters

Research Software Publications

As a way to encourage RSEs to disseminate their research software, we are opening, for the first time, RSECon Research Software Publications. This submission type will be done in partnership with the Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS).

More details on Research Software Publications

Special Submissions and Other Formats

If you have a suggestion for another format that isn’t listed here, then please get in touch with the programme team at [email protected] well in advance of the submission deadline. We will particularly welcome non-standard formats for submissions celebrating 10 years of the conference, or if you can show how they will help highlight our themes.

Catering for a Hybrid Conference

This conference is a hybrid event and some members of the audience will be attending remotely. We are aiming to provide an equivalent experience for online and in-person attendees. We will provide guidance to assist accepted presenters in achieving this.

Although the preference is for content to be delivered in person, to ensure that the conference is accessible to all presenters, we will accommodate sessions that are led remotely. The in-person management of this content can be supported by the conference team. Where a submission has multiple contributors, some of whom will be attending the conference in person, we would expect them to manage the delivery themselves.

Peer Review

All conference submissions will undergo a peer review process, where the submitted work is evaluated by others in the community for its significance, quality, and relevance to the field of research software engineering. Based on the reviews, conference organisers decide whether to accept the submission for inclusion in the conference programme. You will be notified by email by the 1st of June 2026 with the outcome of the peer review and selection process.

Uploading of Materials and Wider Dissemination

For RSECon26, accepted submissions will be asked to upload their slides, posters and other materials directly to Zenodo ahead of the conference. This new process will allow submitters to modify their materials as necessary before the morning of their presentation. All material should be shared under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence unless an alternative open licence is agreed upon in advance with the conference committee. We will accept materials by email for exceptional cases or if the submitter does not wish to make the materials publicly available. Further instructions will be provided once a submission has been accepted.

Following the conference, recordings and other materials generated during the conference will be shared via YouTube and other applicable platforms, under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence unless an alternative open licence is agreed upon in advance with the conference committee.

Mentorship

Upon request, we will endeavour to provide mentors who can help you make the best of your session. Mentors can help by reviewing draft slides, listening to a rehearsal, providing advice on making the material engaging, reviewing adherence to accessibility guidelines, advising on hybrid delivery, etc. You can let us know during your submission if you feel you would benefit from having a mentor to help you prepare.

Accessibility Needs

Ensuring accessibility in conference sessions is crucial for providing an inclusive environment where all participants can fully engage and contribute. If your submission is accepted, you will be required to follow our accessibility guidelines when preparing for the conference. If you require assistance in meeting these guidelines, members of the conference committee are on hand to provide support. Please use the submission form to explain how you will ensure that your session meets the accessibility guidelines.

If your submission is successful, we will invite you to also specify any adjustments that will improve your experience as the presenter. We will do our best to cater to these, but we cannot guarantee fulfillment of all requests. If you would like to discuss any of these aspects, please contact our EDIA chair at [email protected].