Friday, May 03, 2019

Call for Topics and Speakers - UKSG (Brighton, UK - March 30th-April, 2020) @UKSG

The UKSG Committee invites you to suggest topics and speakers for our 2020 Annual Conference, to be held in Brighton from Monday 30th March to Wednesday 1st April 2020.

The conference attracts delegates from across the global knowledge community, including librarians, publishers and intermediaries.  It provides a much-respected forum for discussing trends, showcasing initiatives, finding out about current practice across sectors, and connecting with other professionals.

Suggestions are invited for topics for plenary sessions, breakout sessions and lightning talks; in all cases, we welcome suggestions of speakers alongside topic ideas. Please submit your suggestions via the UKSG website: http://bit.ly/2VHBgkZ

The Committee encourages you to get as much relevant and engaging information as possible into the abstract in order to help with their selection.  Feedback from our recent 2019 conference in Telford suggests delegates are also interested in hearing about (in no particular order):

  • Inclusion and equity in practice
  • Teaching and Learning Support
  • Research Data Management
  • REF support
  • Further Education – best practice and experience
  • Text & Data Mining
  • Open Science
  • AI & Machine Learning
  • Voices of Researchers and those responsible for research support


To have a truly engaging conference, UKSG believes we need to hear from people with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds - and we particularly want to encourage and include those from under-represented communities. We are not there yet. As well as supporting all plenary speakers and lead breakout speakers with a free place and expenses, we are looking at expanding our list of sponsored places to support early career and target those from under-represented communities to attend.  If you have something interesting to say but do not feel you are ready to present a plenary or break-out session we can provide mentors to help you prepare, or please consider presenting a shorter lightning talk.

The deadline for suggestions is Friday 7th June. We will aim to contact you by the end of July to let you know if your idea has been taken up.  If you need any assistance with any aspect of your submission, please do not hesitate to contact me.

**NB: This is a call specifically for the UKSG Annual Conference in Brighton , 30th March-1st April 2020 and is not associated with the UKSG One-Day Conference (London, November 2019) **

Bev Acreman
UKSG news on Twitter: @UKSG