Call for research abstracts for Educational Research Conference

The Department of Education and Youth has announced the first Annual Educational Research Summit will be held on Tuesday, 18 November in Croke Park, Conference Centre. Researchers and policymakers and practitioners involved in research, are invited to respond to the call for abstracts for this event.

This first annual summit will take place at an exciting time for education, with the launch of the National Convention on Education by Minister McEntee, an inclusive dialogue on the future of education in Ireland. The Convention, to be chaired by Professor Anne Looney, will consider the strengths of Ireland’s education system, the areas where challenges have been increasing over time, and examine opportunities that are arising which should be availed of.

The first annual Educational Research summit will comprise two sessions, a morning Research Showcase session and an afternoon Futures Thinking session. The morning Research Showcase session will involve presentations and research projects exploring Ireland’s educational research ecosystem. The afternoon will comprise a Futures Thinking session at which questions about developments in education will be discussed. This session is intended to enable a rich discussion and garner views from the diversity of participants present as input into the department’s framing of its future research activities.

The summit will also serve as a platform for the launch of a Futures Oriented Educational Research Network which will bring together policy makers, researchers in higher education institutions, education practitioners, research funders, and think tanks and policy advisory organisations. The network’s future focus will be vital given the challenges facing society today.

The futures oriented educational research network will comprise three transdisciplinary themed sub-groups: Visions of Future Educational Systems; Future Schools and Educational Settings; Future Educational Outcomes. Each of these themed sub-groups will bring together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to conduct activities which have a systemic focus i.e. each sub-group aims to bring together research from different research areas relevant to the theme’s holistic focus.

Participants at the Summit will comprise a mix of policy makers, researchers, and practitioners.

Abstracts are invited from researchers, including academic researchers, policy makers involved in research, and education practitioners involved in research, to submit a short abstract relevant to the network’s themes.

Submissions received will be reviewed for potential presentation at the event, as well as being collated into a summary report to be issued to delegates prior to the event. Abstracts will also be shared with colleagues in the Department of Education and Youth.

Abstracts are invited which showcase examples from both ‘research-to-policy’ and ‘research-to-practice’, illustrating the breadth of collaborations already in place between policymakers and researchers in higher education institutions and school practices, and showing the diverse range of educational research taking place in Ireland.

Abstracts must be submitted through the online abstract submission system by September 30, 2025, 23:59 GMT. The online form for abstract submissions can be accessed here: https://forms.office.com/e/M2wm6BfpyG

Abstracts should be maximum 700 words (including references) and should describe the key research area, theory, methods, findings, and potential implications.

Abstracts must also indicate the theme within which the research falls. Please chose only one theme per abstract submission.

The following are the research themes for the Summit. While the titles of the themes are fixed, the additional text is meant to be indicative only and can encompass wider research areas as appropriate. The overall context for this call is for research that can inform how our education system can best respond to the challenges which children and young people face growing up in a rapidly changing world – including technology/AI, climate change, and a range of social challenges.

1. Visions of Future Educational Systems

Areas within the scope of this theme could include: Horizon scanning; international responses of school systems to multiple crises and approaches to futures planning; future workforce planning; impacts of technology on education futures; responses to disruptions including climate change and AI

1. Future Schools and Educational Settings

This theme brings together research on the various aspects of the school system, or other educational settings including youth work and early years, in a holistic and future-focused way. Areas within the scope of this theme could include: curriculum development; innovative educational practices; future of the school built environment; leadership and governance; future learning communities.

1. Future Educational Outcomes

This theme focuses on the changing educational outcomes required to address changing societal trends. Areas may include: Future of and innovative approaches to assessment; excellence and inclusion; holistic outcomes including mental health and wellbeing, resilience, cognitive outcomes, and competencies for democratic citizenship; and future metrics for resource allocation and educational evaluation.