Call for Papers: Research Ethics Colloquium 2025

Annual Research Ethics Colloquium  

Submissions closed on Friday 11 April 2025

The Department for Continuing Education is pleased to issue a call for papers for its second annual Research Ethics Colloquium, taking place on Friday 13 June 2025.

 The colloquium is a forum for higher education postgraduate students, administrators and academics to share their perspectives on and experiences of current research ethics issues, with emphasis on the everchanging landscape of AI in lifelong learning. 

View full colloquium details.

Submission categories

Five different types of papers are sought. Responses may be on any subject relating to ethics within academic research. However, during the responses’ evaluation, preference may be given to those which engage convincingly with the topic of research ethics and Artificial Intelligence.

Submissions are invited from those at all stages, and from all varieties, of professional engagement with academic research, from masters-level graduate students to senior academics and course administrators to senior leadership. The review process will then look where possible to facilitate selecting speakers reflecting such diverse professional perspectives.

The five types of papers are:

1. Formal academic papers

Respondents are invited to submit an abstract of up to 250 words for a formal academic paper. The intention is for the paper to be delivered by a single speaker within twenty minutes. Approximately 10 minutes of Q&A, or discussion, will then follow.

2. Symposiums

A pre-arranged group of respondents are welcome to propose delivering a suite of three formal academic papers on a similar theme across a 90-minute session. As one collective submission respondents are asked to provide:

  • An abstract of up to 200 words for each formal academic paper
  • Up to 100 words outlining the symposium’s proposed theme and how it will tie together

Within the session outline, respondents may wish to indicate the prospective order in which the papers will be delivered and to detail any previous experience that the group has of presenting or working together.

3. Workshops

Respondents who have a theme and structure around which they would like to host a dynamic 90-minute workshop are asked to get in touch with an abstract of up to 250 words outlining the proposed session. The outline should include the session theme, key proposed questions or topics, and the envisioned number of workshop participants. It should also address how the session will cater to both in-person and online participants.

4. Live poster presentation

The intention is for posters to be available to view throughout the day of the colloquium. This will be in a location or locations subject to confirmation, but which may be open to those staff members, academics, and students passing through the Department as well as to colloquium attendees. A poster Q&A will also be hosted during the event’s lunch session (tentatively scheduled for 12:30 to 13:30). Each poster should aim either to ask and answer a specific research ethics-related question, or to offer informed commentary on a topic relevant to the ethics of research. In either case, they should aim to do so in a visually engaging way.

Respondents are invited to submit an abstract of up to 150 words for a poster presentation. This should outline key features of the poster’s intended content and design, an explanation of the poster’s rationale, and an outline of why its subject warrants attention.

If a poster is selected for presentation at the colloquium, respondents will be asked to provide a physical A1-sized colour version of their poster for display as well as a digital version of the same, preferably in PDF format. If financial or other circumstances make providing a physical version of the poster infeasible, the department may be able to arrange for the posters to be showcased via other means, though this cannot be guaranteed.

Following the colloquium, the department may ask all respondents to the live poster presentation call for papers about their interest in their posters being displayed either physically within its premises or through digital channels.

5. Student-centred debate

Postgraduate students either at the University of Oxford or other institutions are invited to express interest in taking part in a student-centred debate on ethical issues connected to the use of AI within research, tentatively scheduled for the colloquium’s Strand 1 at 11:00-12:30 (see the tentative programme outline). Responses are welcomed from those who are curious about the meaning and implications of AI in the context of research but who do not have strong familiarity with AI tools, as well as from those who regularly engage with AI in personal, professional, or academic capacities.

Those interested in taking part in such a debate are asked to submit up to 100 words summarising up to three key arguments they would like to make in it. Responses’ persuasiveness and cogency, as well as ensuring that a range of perspectives and participants are represented amongst any debate participants, may be taken into account during their evaluation. To aid this, respondents are asked to include details of their degree programme and institution, as well as of their familiarity with AI tools, in the biography of up to 50 words included with their response.

How to make your submission

Submissions closed on Friday 11 April 2025

To respond to the call for papers, please send the following to rec2025@conted.ox.ac.uk by Friday 11 April 2025:

  • An email with a subject line detailing the call to which you are responding, eg ‘Call for Papers Response – Formal Academic Papers’ or ‘Call for Papers Response – Live Poster Presentation’.
  • A brief biography outlining the nature of your engagement with academic research and ethics (up to 50 words).
  • The material listed below for your chosen category. 

1. Formal academic papers

An abstract of up to 250 words.

2. Symposiums

  • An abstract of up to 200 words for each proposed paper.
  • Up to 100 words outlining the symposium’s proposed theme and how it will tie together.

3. Workshops

An abstract of up to 250 words outlining the proposed session, including:

  • The session theme
  • Key proposed questions or topics
  • The envisioned number of participants
  • How the session will cater to both in-person and online participants

4. Live poster presentation

An abstract of up to 150 words explaining the poster’s rationale and why its subject warrants attention.

5. Student-focused debate

Open to postgraduate students only.

  • Within the brief biography requested above, respondents are asked to detail their degree programme and institution and to outline briefly their familiarity with AI tools.
  • Up to 100 words summarising up to three key arguments that respondents would like to make in a student-focused debate on ethical issues connected with the use of AI in research.

 

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