A live conference presentation
Present as part of the main conference programme on Saturday 12 or Sunday 13 June 2027.
Call for Papers 2027
New Insights,
Shared Purpose
Contribute to The Together Conference 2027.
Call for Papers opens Monday 5 October 2026.
- Call for Papers opens
- Monday 5 October 2026
- Submission deadline
- Friday 18 December 2026
What we are looking for
Different perspectives, new thinking and shared learning
New Insights, Shared Purpose is about creating space for different perspectives, new thinking and shared learning across sign language interpreting and translation.
At the centre of our professions is a shared purpose: supporting communication, improving access and enabling fuller participation. How we understand and carry out that work is shaped by our training, experience, research, communities, languages and professional contexts.
For 2027, we are looking for contributions that help us look more closely at practice, introduce new ideas or evidence, question assumptions, share learning from experience, or consider how the professions are changing.
We welcome proposals based on research, reflective practice, lived experience, professional projects, case studies or professional learning.
Possible topics
Topics might include
- interpreting and translation theory
- ethics and professional decision making
- education, assessment, mentoring and supervision
- Deaf interpreters and sign language translators
- co-working and team interpreting
- remote interpreting, VRS and VRI
- artificial intelligence and new technologies
- language, culture and identity
- wellbeing and sustainable practice
- equality, diversity and inclusion
- international perspectives
- emerging issues affecting the professions
This list is not exhaustive. If something is happening within your research, work, community or area of professional interest that you believe our audience should be discussing, we would like to hear about it.
Your proposal does not need to provide a definitive answer. Some of the most useful professional conversations begin with a question, an observation, emerging research, or an experience that encourages us to think differently.
Ways to contribute
Three ways to contribute
An Extended Conference presentation
Extended Conference contributions are pre-recorded with the conference team ahead of the event and released for Enhanced ticket holders to watch between Monday 5 July and Sunday 18 July 2027.
This gives us space to include additional contributions beyond the main conference weekend, while giving attendees more opportunities to continue their learning.
A poster contribution
Share research, a project, an initiative, a case study or another area of professional interest through a digital poster. Posters will be available for conference attendees to explore online.
You can indicate on the submission form which format or formats you would like to be considered for.
Preparing your proposal
Submission guidelines
Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, or approximately 5 minutes if submitting your proposal in a signed video format.
Your submission should give the Review Panel a clear understanding of:
- what your presentation or poster will explore
- why the topic is relevant
- the main ideas, research, experience or evidence informing it
- what attendees are likely to gain from it
Presentations may take different forms, including research presentations, case studies, reflective practice, panel discussions or other formats appropriate to the topic.
Please complete all sections of the submission form.
Plan your submission
Key dates
- Call for Papers opens
- Monday 5 October 2026
- Submission deadline
- Friday 18 December 2026
- Review process
- January 2027
- Conference
- Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 June 2027
- Extended Conference viewing period
- Monday 5 July to Sunday 18 July 2027
All proposals must be received by the submission deadline. Late submissions may not be considered.
The assessment process
How submissions are reviewed
All conference proposals go through an anonymised review process.
Submissions are considered by our Review Panel, which brings together Deaf and hearing sign language interpreters and translators with a range of professional experience and perspectives.
The panel reviews proposals against agreed criteria rather than the identity or professional profile of the person submitting them.
The Review Panel considers
- relevance to New Insights, Shared Purpose and the wider aims of the conference
- clarity of the proposed contribution
- originality or the perspective it brings to the discussion
- relevance and value to sign language interpreting and translation
- connection between the proposal and professional practice, research or lived experience
- what attendees are likely to learn, consider or take back into their own work
Following the review process, successful contributors may be offered a place within the live conference programme, Extended Conference programme or poster programme.
The conference programme is developed from the submissions received, with consideration also given to creating a broad programme that represents different subjects, perspectives, professional roles, countries and stages of professional experience.
Meet the 2027 Review Panel
Our Review Panel brings together professionals with different experiences and perspectives from across sign language interpreting and translation. Each member reviews submissions independently as part of our anonymised assessment process.
Thinking of submitting?
Your perspective belongs in the conversation
A new insight can come from research, many years of practice, somebody entering the profession, lived experience, another country or professional context, or simply looking again at something we think we already understand.
You do not need to be an academic or an experienced conference presenter to submit.
If you have an idea, piece of research, experience or perspective that could contribute to New Insights, Shared Purpose, we would be very pleased to hear from you.
Prepare to contribute to The Together Conference 2027.
Call for Papers opens Monday 5 October 2026.