Call for Proposals – OPEN NOW!
SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL
We are now accepting submissions for speaking and presenting opportunities at the SCIENCE TALK ‘27 annual science communication conference. This year, we’re focused on moving beyond conversation to application. We’re looking for presentations that show us what works, what we’re learning, and what communicators can put into practice to make their work more effective.
Submission deadline: September 30, 2026
INTRODUCING SCIENCE TALK ‘27 TRACKS
This year, SCIENCE TALK ‘27 features five professional science communication tracks to ensure attendees from all walks of scicomm are represented and able to find presentations that can map to their area of practice. This year’s tracks are:
- Content Creation & Public Engagement
- Science Policy & Civic Science
- Institutional & Industry Science Communication
- The Science of Science Communication / Research
- Science Stories & More
Within each professional track, there are four types of speaking opportunities available:
- Short Talks | 20 or 40 minutes
- Focused presentations sharing research, ideas, strategies, frameworks, or practical case studies.
- Workshops | 60-90 minutes
- Interactive sessions designed to help participants build skills and leave with tools they can use.
- Panels | 45-minute moderated session
- Moderated conversations bringing together three to four perspectives around a shared question, challenge, or area of practice.
- Posters & Art | 90-minute networking poster session
- Science communication research, project case studies, infographics, creative work, STEM art, and other visual approaches to sharing your work.
**Proposals should connect to one of our five conference areas.**
HAVE YOU LEARNED SOMETHING THAT COULD HELP OTHERS COMMUNICATE SCIENCE BETTER?
We’re looking for compelling ideas, research, case studies, tools and lessons that can help advance the practice of science and technology communication.
That might be new research that changes how we understand audiences. A communications strategy that produced surprising results. An experiment that failed—and taught you something worth sharing. A new approach to AI, visualization, storytelling or public engagement. Or a hard-earned lesson from communicating consequential science and technology in the real world.
The strongest proposals will help attendees think differently or communicate more effectively because of what you learned—not just explain what you did.
We’re especially interested in:
- Practical strategies and approaches attendees can apply
- New research with clear implications for communication practice
- Candid case studies—including what didn’t work
- Emerging challenges facing science and technology communicators
- Perspectives from industry and professional practice
- Approaches that bridge research and real-world application
- Ideas that challenge conventional science communication wisdom
FIVE TRACKS. ONE QUESTION:
How do we turn ideas, evidence, and experience into better practice?
Choose the track that best fits your work.
CONTENT CREATION & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Create communication people choose to engage with.
Explore how science and technology communicators earn attention and create meaningful participation in an increasingly fragmented, visual and algorithm-driven media environment.
Topics may include storytelling, short-form video, social media, visualization, immersive and interactive experiences, audience strategy, community engagement, co-creation, accessibility, AI-assisted content creation and designing communication for how people actually consume information.
Best for: Creators, digital strategists, designers, educators, public-engagement practitioners, journalists and anyone experimenting with new ways to connect people with complex ideas.
SCIENCE POLICY & CIVIC SCIENCE
Move evidence into decisions—and bring people into the process.
Explore the intersection of science, public policy, civic participation and public trust. How can communicators help evidence travel effectively among scientists, policymakers, communities and the public without oversimplifying uncertainty or politicizing the science itself?
Topics may include communicating uncertainty and risk, evidence-informed policymaking, public participation, community engagement, misinformation, polarization, crisis communication, advocacy versus communication, science funding and communicating science in contested environments.
Best for: Policy communicators, government professionals, researchers, journalists, civic-science practitioners, nonprofit leaders and communicators working where science meets public decision-making.
INSTITUTIONAL & INDUSTRY SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Communicate complex science and technology where the stakes are real.
Science communication doesn’t happen only in laboratories, universities and museums. It shapes business decisions, reputations, investment, innovation, regulation, workforce engagement and public acceptance of emerging technologies.
This track explores strategic communication inside and around companies, research institutions, government organizations and other complex enterprises.
Topics may include communicating AI and emerging technology, engineering and technical storytelling, executive communication, thought leadership, reputation and trust, internal communication, communicating innovation, responsible technology, crisis and risk communication, translating technical expertise for decision-makers, and demonstrating the business value of communication.
Best for: Corporate and institutional communicators, technology and engineering communicators, public affairs professionals, communication leaders, technical experts, agency professionals and anyone translating complex innovation for consequential audiences.
THE SCIENCE OF SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
Put evidence behind the practice.
What does research tell us about how people actually encounter, interpret, remember, trust and act on scientific information?
This track connects science communication research with practice—turning evidence about communication into approaches communicators can actually use.
Topics may include trust and credibility, misinformation, judgment and decision-making, cognitive science, attention and memory, framing, visual cognition, behavior change, audience research, message testing, uncertainty, evaluation and measurement, and the effects of AI-mediated information environments.
We’re particularly interested in work that closes the gap between what research discovers and what practitioners can do differently because of it.
Best for: Researchers, behavioral scientists, communication scholars, evaluators, practitioners applying evidence-based approaches, and anyone interested in understanding not simply whether communication works—but why.
SCIENCE STORIES & MORE
Make room for the unexpected.
Some of the most interesting ideas don’t fit neatly into a category.
This track is home to powerful science stories, unconventional formats, interdisciplinary work, creative experiments and emerging ideas that expand our understanding of what science communication can be.
Topics might include journalism, podcasts, film, art, performance, humor, personal narrative, speculative communication, unconventional collaborations—or something we haven’t thought of yet.
Surprise us.
Best for: Storytellers, artists, journalists, creators, experimenters and anyone pushing beyond traditional definitions of science communication.
WHAT MAKES A STRONG SCIENCE TALK PROPOSAL?
We’re looking for sessions that deliver insight + application.
Before submitting, ask:
What’s the idea?
What will attendees learn that they probably don’t know already?
Why does it matter now?
How does it connect to a challenge or opportunity facing science and technology communicators today?
What can people do with it?
What will attendees be able to apply, test, reconsider or do differently after your session?
Research is welcome. Case studies are welcome. Provocative ideas are welcome. Lessons from failure are welcome.
Sales pitches aren’t.
We built SCIENCE TALK to be a place where science communicators can compare notes, learn from one another, and make the work better together.
If you have something our community can learn from, we hope you’ll bring it to Chicago!
