CODATA and the World Data System are pleased to announce the themes and launch of the Call for Sessions, Presentations, and Posters for the SciDataCon component of International Data Week 2025. Please forward this announcement to your communities and networks!
Call for Sessions, Presentations, and Posters: SciDataCon 2025, part of IDW 2025
We invite session proposals as well as abstracts for presentations and posters at International Data Week’s SciDataCon 2025: ‘Data for Positive Change’ taking place 13 – 16 October in Brisbane, Australia.
The deadline for proposals for sessions and individual presentations is 23:59 AEST (Brisbane timezone) on Tuesday 15 April 2025. The deadline for posters is 23:59 AEST on Thursday 15 May 2025.
Submit proposal at https://scidatacon.org/event/9/abstracts/.
To do so, you should sign up and create an account in the SciDataCon conference system.
Needless to say, this is not the same as registering for International Data Week 2025. The IDW conference registration is available at https://idw2025.org/registration/.
About International Data Week and SciDataCon
IDW takes place every two years and is the leading international conference on research data. It is jointly organised by the International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA). It combines the RDA Plenary Meeting, the biannual meeting of this international member organisation working to develop and support global infrastructure facilitating data sharing and reuse, with SciDataCon, the scientific conference addressing the frontiers of data in research organised by CODATA and WDS.
The Australian Research Data Commons is delighted to be hosting the IDW conference for the first time in Australia.
The IDW 2025 theme of ‘Data for Positive Change’ highlights our commitment to the role of data in instituting change by empowering communities and advancing research. The program features an array of keynote talks, workshops, and interactive sessions led by eminent, as well as emerging experts, in the field. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking discussions, gain insights from cutting-edge research, and share their own experiences and innovations in using and sharing research data.
SciDataCon 2025: Themes
The overarching theme of International Data Week and SciDataCon 2025 is Data For Positive Change.
SciDataCon2025 Specific Themes
These themes are specially designated as important themes for 2025. The first four themes align with the broader International Data Week plenary themes, and an additional two themes were introduced by the SciDataCon Program Committee.
- CAREful Indigenous Data Governance
- Rigorous, responsible, and reproducible science in the era of FAIR data and AI
- Open research through Interconnected, Interoperable, and Interdisciplinary Data
- Empowering the global data community for impact, equity, and inclusion
- Infrastructures to Support Data-Intensive Research – Local to Global
- The Transformative Role of Data in Sustainable Development Goals and Disaster Resilience
SciDataCon Persistent Themes
These themes typically carry over from one SciDataCon to the next, with minor refinements to allow for changing expectations over time.
- Data and Research
- Data Science and Data Analysis
- Data Stewardship
- Policy and Practice of Data in Research
- Data and Education
- Data, Society, Ethics, and Politics
- Open Data, FAIR Data, Innovation, Industry and Development
See a detailed description of the SciDataCon 2025 themes.
The description is intended to illuminate topics tied to the theme, but the topic list is not meant to be exhaustive or limiting. Please note, however, that the simple presentation of research results is not in scope. The primary focus should always be on the data issues in different fields of research.
Please note that the SciDataCon 2025 organisers will be accepting proposals for sessions and individual papers simultaneously. The deadline for submission of proposals is 15 April 2025. The deadline for posters is 15 May.
SciDataCon Call for Proposals
If you have not already done so, you will need to create a user account in SciDataCon Indico to be able to submit a proposal. See the Create Account option in the side menu.
Please note that creating such an account is not the same as registering for the conference.
It is essential that you select the intended contribution type (Session, Presentation, or Poster) from the dropdown menu in the submission form. Note that the peer review will be organised based on the contribution type; an incorrect classification of your contribution type may impact the result of the reviews. Detailed guidance on the submission form completion can be consulted here.
Session Proposals
Sessions at SciDataCon explore research and practice. Sessions may include presentations of original research, interesting data practices, or a mix of the two. Sessions may be structured around conventional presentations and discussion, or they may take more interactive formats, including panels and interactive workshops. All session proposals will be peer-reviewed. They should be compelling and of interest to the global data community. The format, structure, and outcomes should be clearly expressed.
Your proposal should:
- Session proposals should explicitly address one or more of the SciDataCon 2025 conference themes.
- Explain the significance of the issues to be tackled in the session.
- Provide a clear description of the approach, structure, format, and suggested agenda for the session (90 minutes in duration). The proposed session structure should allow sufficient time for interaction and discussion with participants and the audience.
- Provide information about proposed speakers and the subject of their papers.
- Be submitted as a contribution type ‘Session’ to allow for adequate review
- Be no shorter than 300 words and no longer than 900 words.
- Onsite attendance of a minimum of one speaker per accepted session is required.
Suggested session types:
- Research Presentations
- Practice Presentations
- Mix of Research and Practice Presentations
- Panel Discussion
- Ignition/Lightning Talks and Structured Discussion
- Group Discussions (World Café)
- Workshop Session (state format)
- None of the above (you may suggest an alternative format, but you should describe it clearly)
Submitting an abstract: presentations and posters
Presentation abstracts must be submitted as the ‘Presentation’ contribution type in the submission form.
Abstracts will be peer-reviewed for individual quality and, if accepted, will be assigned to an accepted session or grouped into thematic sessions by the SciDataCon Programme Committee.
Accepted abstracts will be available from the conference website and will form a persistent collection, so please consider the following guidelines carefully:
- Please submit your proposal of a length appropriate to the intervention. The proposal for a research paper should be 600-900 words and for a practice paper 300-600 words. These are guides, please use your judgement. We strongly discourage proposals of more than 900 words or less than 300 words.
- The proposal should clearly specify the core idea, the context of the research or practice, and the audience to whom it is relevant. Insufficiently developed proposals will not be selected.
- Onsite attendance of a minimum of one speaker per accepted paper is required.
Poster abstracts must be submitted as the ‘Poster’ contribution type in the submission form.
Accepted posters will appear in a dedicated IDW 2025 poster session, combined with the posters accepted for RDA Plenary. Posters can often be a more effective way of communicating key technical features of a paper and providing a visual summary that really engages the viewer.
For a Poster Abstract, we suggest 300-600 words and certainly no more than 900 words in length. Onsite attendance of a minimum of one speaker per accepted poster is required.
Key Dates
- October 2024 Early Bird registration for IDW2025 opens
- 14 January 2025, release of SciDataCon 2025 call for sessions, presentations, and posters
- 15 April 2025, 23:59 AEST (Brisbane), deadline for submission of proposals for sessions and presentations
- 15 May 2023, 23:59 AEST (Brisbane), deadline for poster proposals
- Mid April – end May 2025, review period
- 31 May 2025, notification of authors
- 16 June 2025, programme for IDW2025 (including SciDataCon2025) published
- 15 July 2025, speaker (sessions, presentations, posters) registration deadline
- 15 July 2025, Early Bird registration closes
- 13-16 October 2025, SciDataCon2025 as part of IDW2025