Mobile Menu

The Call for Open Panels is Open!


Please view the call for open panels and submit your proposals here.

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the Call for Open Panels for the 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) 2026 conference, to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Toronto from October 7–10, 2026. The theme TechnoPower • Technoscientific Futures emphasizes that —science, technology, and innovation are not neutral; as STS scholars, we understand them as socially, culturally, and economically constructed and deeply entangled with a specific form of technoscientific power.


Submissions for open panel proposals opens December 22, 2O25 and closes on February 2, 2026.

Open Panel Types


There are two types of Open Panels:

  • Traditional Open Panels 
    Composed of academic paper presentations, possibly followed by reflections by a discussant. 
  • Combined Format Open Panels 
    Includes academic paper presentations and experimental formats of knowledge expression, such as dialogue sessions, theater experiments, workshops, etc. For example, you could have one session with academic papers, a second session for a workshop, and a third session for a dialogue as part of the same Open Panel. Describe the types of submissions you welcome in the long abstract field of the panel submission form.

Submissions Instructions:

  • Panel title
  • Name/s and email address/es of panel convenors
  • Short abstract of fewer than 300 words
  • Extra details of fewer than 300 words. Include a brief discussion of its contribution to the field.

Please Note:

  • Combined Format Open Panels must be open to submissions during the Call for Abstracts dates.
  • Stand-alone workshops or roundtables can be submitted during the Call for Abstracts, which opens on March 3, 2026.

Accepted Open Panel topics will be included in the general Call for Abstracts, where authors can propose their papers or other types of contributions. Convenors of Open Panels must agree to receive abstract proposals during the Call for Abstracts, must be able to review the submissions they receive within two weeks, and are responsible for determining which abstract submissions will be accepted into their session. Panels can extend across a maximum of four 90-minute sessions, containing up to twenty papers/contributions.

Submission and meeting questions can be directed to meeting@4sonline.org