Volunteer Role Description

Who are RSECon26 volunteers?

Volunteers for RSECon26 come from many different backgrounds, ages, and experiences. We value our volunteers, from those who participate in set-up and assistance on the days to the weeks put in by our organising committee, and everyone in between. We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to providing an inclusive volunteering experience regardless of sex, age, race, religion, gender identity or any other protected characteristic.

We have two types of volunteer roles we have open for RSECon26: those assisting on-site at our conference facilities and remotely via our online conference platform. Thank you for considering being a part of our volunteer team at RSECon26.

What do volunteers do?

Volunteers work in a team with rotating assignments so that they can attend different sessions of the conference, whilst participating in a wide range of tasks to help deliver a successful conference. While this list is not exhaustive, in the past our in-person volunteers have:

Assisted with pre-conference set-up

• Putting up signs/posters throughout the venue.
• Preparing the cloakroom.
• Setting-up the front desk with name badges and information for the conference attendees.
• Setting up rooms for the conference sessions, including workshops/walkthroughs, and checking equipment is working.

Helped on the front desk

The desk will be manned throughout the conference as a first point of contact for all conference attendees:

• Registering conference attendees.
• Handing-out name badges.
• Helping with general information and directions.

Managed the cloakroom

Conference attendees will be able to check their coats and bags to be stored in the cloakroom:

• Handing out tickets for each item and checking attendees are picking up the correct items.

Supported the delivery of sessions in collaboration with Session Chairs

• Helping people in and out of the session.
• Seating late entries after the doors have closed.
• Providing additional assistance on AV or Q&A running or troubleshooting.
• Moderating questions submitted by the audience on Slido according to the Conference’s code of conduct.

Assisted with evening social events

• Directing guests to the venue
• Welcoming guests to the venue and distributing drink/food tokens
• Directing and assisting guests as appropriate

What skills, experience and attributes do I need?

We ask that you are:

• Friendly and enthusiastic about creating a warm and welcoming environment for a successful conference.
• Willing to work as part of a team.

Who will I be volunteering with?

You’ll be volunteering as part of the team making the event happen, working with other volunteers and the RSECon26 committee to create a great experience for participants. Come, join in, and gain valuable experience.

How much time will I be expected to give?

Our main goal is to work with you and ensure you have a positive experience. We will try our best to ensure our volunteers are able to participate in the conference by scheduling shifts well in advance. Volunteers will have the opportunity to adjust their schedule if it conflicts with existing commitments (such as presenting a paper at the conference). As we have pre, during, and post-event volunteer tasks for both in-person and online roles, each assignment will have expectations set for volunteers to agree to prior to a volunteer starting their shift. You will be expected to commit between 15 and 20 hours in total across the three days for either in-person or remote roles.

The conference is taking place at the University of Sheffield between the 9th and 11th of September 2026, with satellite events and the welcome social taking place on Tuesday 8th. The in-person volunteer team will gather on Tuesday afternoon, before the conference begins, for an on-site induction. All volunteers will be expected to attend an hour-long online induction session with the Volunteer and Hybrid teams ahead of the conference to gain familiarity with the roles and responsibilities of the role.

What benefits do I get from volunteering?

• Complimentary conference ticket
• Opportunity to meet people in the RSE network
• Gain valuable organisation experience
• Opportunity to attend some sessions you are interested in*
• Amazing t-shirts to represent the RSECon26 team! (this is optional due to sensory sensitivities)

*We will do our best to accommodate any requests to attend specific sessions!

What is the selection process?

We welcome as many people to apply to volunteer as possible! In the past, this sometimes meant that we received more applications than available positions. In this scenario, we will initially apply the following selection criteria:

Following that we will judge candidates on their suitability to the available roles, based on the responses provided in the application.

What will RSECon26 look like for the volunteer team?

The details below are based on our preliminary programme and are subject to change. All deadlines are 23:59 BST.

Conference week

These roles will be rotated throughout the day, no one will be expected to be doing any particular role for the entirety of the conference (or even a whole day at a time), your downtime and self care is essential to a successful conference.

You will be responsible for ensuring your attendance at your allocated shifts and communicating any absences/issues that arise with the volunteer committee. This is facilitated by checking in with the team 20 minutes before your shift. There may be some ad hoc briefings to address any operational issues that may arise during the conference.

During evening social activities:

• Help direct attendees to venues
• Administrative tasks e.g handing out food/drinks tokens etc., likely only at the start

For the rest of the social activities we’ll get to enjoy ourselves along with the rest of the attendees.