STS NL Conference, April 15-17, 2026
Knowledge & Technology in Times of Global Shifts
Submission closed
The Conference
The Netherlands have for long been one of the places where conversations in Science and Technology Studies (STS) take place. In 1986, STS graduate training started, feeding into the formation of the Netherlands Research School for Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC). This STS infrastructure became well known through the many contributions from international scholars who served as participant, speaker or anchor teacher and is carried today by 12 research organizations in the Netherlands. In recent years, the STS field has been expanding globally and rapidly, epitomized by the more than 3300 participants registered for the EASST-4S meeting that recently returned to Amsterdam. Glad as we are about this expansion of researchers doing STS, we also perceive the need for more bounded, regionally focused platforms for scholarly exchange.
Therefore, on April 15-17, 2026 we invite you to the STS NL Conference 2026 at the University of Twente, preceded by an early stage researcher event on April 14! The conference is the first of a series aimed to create a vibrant platform for researchers interested in Science and Technology Studies, whether they are based in the Netherlands or abroad. The conference is organized by the Netherlands Research School for Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC) and hosted by the Knowledge, Transformation & Society (KiTeS) Group of the University of Twente. The conference will be held onsite at our green university campus in Enschede.
Knowledge & Technology in Times of Global Shifts
While the STS field is expanding globally and the central role of knowledge and technology in global and local socio-political dynamics is more apparent than ever, the status and legitimacy, the modes of production, their use and instrumentalization are at the same time contested and disparate. Global crises - climate, biodiversity, (geo)political, energy, raw materials, and many more - are proliferating as well, but they are also controversial and unfold against global shifts and uncertainties in centres of power, economy and global relations. It has been a topic of debate whether STS, with its dedication to detailed, local studies, is well equipped to account for global dynamics. At the same time, it is exactly the openness for the unexpected, for considering processes at different scales, for dynamics of coproduction, that may be a crucial asset. The sensitivity for more or less hidden forms of power, for considering technoscience as agential beyond solutionism, for diverse ways of thinking, making and doing, and for studying the non-obvious can provide a productive angle on shifts, opening up relevant action repertoires.
We invite participants to reflect on these shifts, their implications, and how STS scholars can relate to them, be it for science and technology studies as a field, or their specific research topics. In particular, contributions may address the following questions:
- How are knowledge production and innovation, its places, actors, networks, infrastructures, governance and institutions, and what counts as legitimate knowledge changing?
- What kind of knowledge and technologies are adequate to address global crises? And which forms of knowledge and technologies may be unproductive or induce a mere shift of problems?
- What can we learn from former crises and shifts in centres of power, economy and global networks and relations?
- How can anticipatory practices related to science and technology account for heightened and radical uncertainties? How are established imaginaries and discourses changing, who influences them, and what can be the role of STS-inspired work?
- What are adequate moments or ‘timings’ for fostering more positive changes?
- What is the potential of participatory forms of knowledge production such as citizen science and transdisciplinary research for science to integrate local and practical knowledge when addressing global crises?
- How does the rise of big tech companies relate to shifts in power over data and infrastructure for research and innovation?
- Which new forms of colonialism are emerging in the formation, use and governance of knowledge and technology, and how do old forms persist? What are promising countermovements and how can more just relations be enabled?
- When are shifts associated with ‘crises,’ when as transformation, and to what is the framing ‘crisis’ attributed?
This is not meant as an exclusive focus. We welcome contributions covering the wide range of science and technology studies, from different societal domains and technology fields, such as health, energy, agriculture, art, knowledge dynamics, nature-society relations, innovation processes, governance, futures and anticipation, finance, and many more.
Call for Tracks: procedure and deadline
Submissions to the conference will be organized in two steps. We are now inviting proposals for tracks. The submission system will open September 22, 2025 on the conference website: https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/sts-nl2026/submission/. Deadline is October 24, 2025. This will be followed by a call for abstracts of contributions, which we expect to open end of November and close early January 2026.
- Tracks cover topics that are expected to attract contributions for at least one, but typically multiple sessions, including contributions from organizers and other participants. We expect tracks to be organized by multiple researchers, preferably, but not necessarily from different organizations. One person can only be main organizer of one track and co-organize a second.
- Proposals for tracks may include different types of sessions such as full or early-stage research paper sessions, workshops, policy dialogues or debates (contributions to tracks will be invited and selected in a 2nd step via a call for abstracts).
- Proposals should contain a title, organizers’ details, and 200-400 words abstract, including a description of the track topic and the type of contributions envisaged (presentations, workshop etc.).
- Organisers of selected tracks will be asked to provide guidance for participants applying through the conference call for abstracts, and then support the conference by reviewing the papers submitted to their track and curating the sessions (order of contributions, how to distribute time for questions, invite discussants, etc).
Please, submit your proposal on the submission page by October 24, 2025 at the latest. Organisers will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals in November.
If you need technical support with proposal submission, please contact the Easychair support (help menu). For other questions, please contact sts-nl2026@utwente.nl.
Organizing Committee
The conference is organized by the Netherlands Research School for Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC) and hosted by the Knowledge, Transformation & Society (KiTeS) Group of the University of Twente.
Members of the organizing committee:
Kornelia Konrad (Chair, University of Twente)
Thelma Arko, University of Twente
Vivien Butot, University of Twente
Gabrielle Canalli, Federal University of Paraná, University of Twente
Efe Cengiz, University of Groningen
Laurens Hessels, Rathenau Instituut & University of Leiden
Jarno Hoekman, Utrecht University
Lotte Krabbenborg, Radboud University
Victoria Kreikle, University of Twente
Inge Leurs, University of Twente
Marieke Meesters, University of Twente
Barend van der Meulen, University of Twente
Marije Miedema, University of Groningen
Efi Nakopoulou, University of Twente
Fenna Nijboer, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Alexandria Poole, University of Twente
Celine Rooze, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Peter Stegmaier, University of Twente
Esther Turnhout, University of Twente
Andreas Weber, University of Twente
Teun Zuiderent-Jerak, VU Amsterdam