All calls for conference participation are now closed.
Call for Volunteers
Call now closed! Deadline: April 9th, 2024
The Design Research Society (DRS) welcomes student volunteers for its 2024 conference from June 23rd-28th in Boston, MA, hosted by Northeastern University.
This hybrid event will encompass workshops, conversations, presentations, and social activities, providing a rich platform for learning and networking within the international design research community.
Volunteers play a crucial role in the conference's success, offering support in technical aspects, conference guidance, and event planning and operations. This opportunity is ideal for students looking to engage with the design and research community, gain experience in event management, operations, and logistics, and enjoy Boston's cultural offerings. Volunteers are expected to dedicate 20-30 hours during the week of the conference, contributing both in person and online. If you already know your availability during the conference dates as indicated above, please include this information in your application.
Join us to make the DRS 2024 conference a memorable experience while connecting with peers and professionals from around the globe.
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Participation for DRS2024 will include a wide variety of formats:
• Theme Tracks aim to capitalize on emerging and specialized research networks, including participation from DRS Special Interest Groups. Theme Tracks contain a curated set of related Research Papers (Call now closed; Theme Tracks have been published).
• Research Papers represent novel and rigorous contributions to design knowledge and can be submitted to the open call or a specific theme track (Call now closed; notification of acceptance have been sent).
• Conversation Sessions provide an opportunity for a structured discussion exploring emerging themes in design research (Call now closed; notification of acceptance coming soon).
• Workshops provide practical experience for participants to engage in methods and research outcomes (Call now closed; notification of acceptance coming soon).
• Labs offer an opportunity to conduct design research through engagement with local organizations (Call now closed; notification of acceptance coming soon).
• A PhD Consortium event to help develop the next generation of design researchers, building new capabilities and critical thinking through mentorship and collaboration (Call now closed; notification of acceptance coming soon).
THEME TRACKS
Call now closed! Deadline: June 16th, 2023
Submit your track proposals here:
https://www.conftool.pro/drs2024/index.php?page=submissions
To capitalize on emerging and established research topics alike, we welcome proposals for theme tracks of full papers related to any area of design research, including those covered by existing Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and other coordinated efforts by design scholars to address themes beyond, in collaboration with, or across the current SIGs. These sessions will be managed by participating sub-chairs, who will be responsible for coordinating the general paper submission, peer review, and final program processes. Sub-chairs will be responsible for proposing and allocating reviewers and curating final conference sessions.
To allow us to publicize theme tracks prior to the full paper deadline, theme track proposals should be submitted to the conference submission system by the deadline of June 16th 2023 AoE (Anywhere on Earth). Theme track submissions are welcomed from existing SIGs, in collaboration with existing SIG conveners and other researchers, or from new groups of researchers unaffiliated with existing SIGs, proposing emerging or synergistic research themes relevant for the DRS community.
We hope the conference themes of Resistance, Recovery, Reflection, and Reimagination can inspire your theme track ideas. Please submit a 1-2 page document in Word or pdf format. The proposal should include:
• The title of the theme track
• The names of the proposed sub-chair(s) for the session
• Five potential reviewers who could be involved in the paper review process
• A description of the theme track (250 words maximum)
• A few references to indicate the theme track's scope
• Examples of past theme tracks are available on the DRS 2022 web site: https://www.DRS2022.org/theme-tracks/.
Submit your track proposals here:
https://www.conftool.pro/drs2024/index.php?page=submissions
RESEARCH PAPERS
Call now closed! Deadline: October 31st, 2023
DRS2024 invites paper submissions in an open call and a set of theme tracks. We embrace research addressing, critiquing, describing, and using design in the widest possible sense, with interdisciplinary work particularly encouraged. Further details about theme tracks have been announced.
Full papers up to 5000 words should adhere to the conference paper submission guidelines included in the template. All submissions must be in the English language. We welcome submissions from authors with formal academic affiliations or professional organization affiliations, as well as authors that are independent researchers.
Authors of accepted papers are required to register and present their work at the conference, either physically or virtually according to the hybrid nature of the event. All accepted papers will be published in the DRS Digital Library and available to view approximately one month before the beginning of the conference.
The paper submission system is open and abstracts must be submitted by October 13 2023 AoE, followed by a full paper submission by October 31st 2023 AoE. Abstracts will not be reviewed after submission, and will only be used by the program committee to ensure track fit prior to the full paper deadline.
Download the Word (docx) template for papers submissions
CONVERSATIONS
Call now closed! Deadline: January 19th, 2024
The DRS Conversation format provides a valuable and high-quality format for structured discussions that advance emergent forms of design research. DRS Conversations provide an innovative venue for work that is not easily captured or conveyed by a research paper, focusing on engagement among design researchers and practitioners on topics of relevance to the field. Proposals will be reviewed by the Conversations committee. Initial Conversations proposals are due on January 12th 19th, 2024 AoE, and should follow the guidelines in the DRS2024 Conversations template. The final submission for accepted Conversations will be made after the conference, including relevant details of the discussion that occurs during the actual conversation. Final submissions will be published in the DRS Digital Library.
Please ensure you have followed the guidelines in the DRS2024 Conversation template.
WORKSHOPS
Call now closed! Deadline: January 19th, 2024
DRS Workshops provide a space for practical engagement and experimental sessions for conference participants. Workshop proposals will be reviewed by a jury. Workshop proposals are due on January 12th 19th, 2024 AoE. Submissions will be published in the DRS Digital Library.
Please ensure you have followed the guidelines in the DRS2024 Workshop template.
LABS
Call now closed! Deadline: January 19th, 2024
DRS Labs is a format that encourages design researchers to engage with local organizations in a defined project. In this way the conference can bring direct benefit to the local region and demonstrate the potential that design research can bring.
DRS Labs can be projects of any size. Proponents of a lab are expected to collaborate with a local partner (e.g. a university or other educational institution, citizens groups, local stakeholders) in the weeks prior to the conference in any form they find appropriate (face-to-face, online, hybrid). During the conference, labs participants and their local partners will convene and then share outcomes with DRS2024 attendees. Labs should be framed within the topics proposed by DRS2024 organizers in collaboration with local stakeholders. Explore the topics and challenges here.
Lab proposals will be reviewed by a jury. The Labs proposals are due on January 12th 19th, 2024 AoE, and should follow the guidelines in the DRS2024 Labs template. A report detailing the proposal, the preparation, the results, and the discussion that occurs during the lab experience will be published in the DRS Digital Library after the conference.
Please ensure you have followed the guidelines in the DRS2024 Labs template.
PHD CONSORTIUM
Call now closed! Deadline: January 19th, 2024
DRS2024 will feature an innovative and welcoming PhD Consortium event with the objective of sharing and discussing theoretical, empirical and practice-based doctoral work, discussing many of the topical issues of conducting a PhD in design research. The event activities will be designed to generate knowledge about cutting-edge practices and resources for doing a PhD, and will include mentoring by research leaders. The event aims to provide a supportive and engaged environment in which to share practices, experiences, dilemmas, failures, and doubts in order to contribute to the wider PhD design research community.
Participation is limited, consortium applications will be reviewed by a jury. Applications are due on January 12th 19th, 2024 AoE, through ConfTool. A directory including participant information and interests will be published and shared with all participants.
Please ensure you have filled out the supplemental application questions using the DRS2024 PhD Consortium template.
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