International Materials Education Symposium 2026

Call for Abstracts (Talks and Posters) for IMES 2026 is OPEN

Registrations and submission of abstracts for an oral or a poster presentation are now open (See Important Dates below).

IMES 2026 Tentative Session Themes

The Scientific Committee would like to invite participants to share their ideas and experiences relating to:

• Materials science within multidisciplinary education – holistic program review
• Novel materials and emerging applications
• Risk, responsibilities, ethics and potential of AI in education
• Designing for Social and Environmental Sustainability: Equity, Materials, and Education
• New and emerging teaching & learning techniques: frameworks for effective and aligned materials education
• Universal design of learning for inclusivity
• STEM and outreach activities
• Knowledge, competences & skills in Materials for employability in industry

Please submit your abstract through this :

Abstracts should be no more than 200 - 300 words and ideally contain the following:

• Background and motivation
• What was done? Methods used and why?
• Results, i.e., include some evidence and analysis. What was found?
• Conclusions and significance, including wider application

Important Dates

• September 1st 2025 – Call for abstracts open
• November 23rd 2025 – Talk abstract deadline

• December 8th 2025 – Speakers notification and program announcement
• 31st January 2025 – Early-bird registration and poster abstracts deadline

Notes on Payments and Discount Codes

• The registration fees for this event vary based on your chosen participation, allowing flexibility to select options such as the insightful 2-day symposium, engaging 1-day workshop, and the delightful symposium dinner, ensuring attendees can tailor their experience to suit their preferences.
• ‘EARLY-BIRD’ code: Early bird registration ends at midnight GMT on Saturday, January 31st, 2026.
• ‘EARLY-CAREER’ code: Early-career discount is aiming to encouraging young academics under 35 who are starting to teach in universities to come and share their experiences. To combine with the early-bird discount, please use the code ‘EARLY-CAREER+EARLY-BIRD’, which will end at midnight GMT on Saturday, January 31st, 2026.
• ‘PhD-S’ code: PhD Symposium discount is aiming to encouraging PhD candidates who are supporting teaching in universities to come, share their experiences and learn from the community.
• ‘PhD-W+S’ code: PhD Workshop+Symposium discount is aiming to encouraging PhD candidates who are supporting teaching in universities to come, join the workshops, share their experiences and learn from the community.

Electronic Travel Authorization is a digital permission to travel to the United Kingdom (U.K.) and is part the U.K. government’s plans to strengthen their border through digitalization.

• required for travelers who currently enter the U.K. visa-free (such as U.S. and E.U. nationals).
• linked to passports electronically.
• provide provisional permission to enter the U.K., but it is not a guarantee or promise of entry.
• have time restrictions based on the nature of your visit.
• required when transitioning through the U.K.

View a list of eligible nationalities and how to apply

Three workshops will be organized on the day preceeding the conference, April 14th. All workshops have limited capacity and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Be sure to register early to secure your spot! Details of the workshop will be provided shortly, which will cover the following areas:

1. Teaching Materials with Ansys Granta EduPack

2. Teaching simulation with Ansys tools

3.Fab Lab Visit in the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge

Instructors: Dr Darshil U. Shah and Luke Lupton from the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge

We invite you to join Dr Darshil U. Shah and Luke Lupton for a 30-minute tour of the Digital Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) and Studio Spaces in the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge. This session offers a practical, behind-the-scenes view of how architectural education integrates materials, design, and educational innovation.

This visit will showcase how hands-on tools and inspiring spaces spark creativity, encourage experimentation, and build material literacy.

Key Highlights

• Digital Fabrication Laboratory, the Fab Lab

Explore a cutting-edge workshop boasting CNC routers, 3D-printers, woodworking tools, and more — used by students to rapidly prototype architectural concepts.

Learn how teaching technicians and supervisors foster hands-on learning through machine inductions and ongoing support.

• Studio Spaces

Tour the dedicated studios where architecture students work daily — complete with personal drawing boards, storage, desktop computers loaded with design and drafting software (e.g., Rhino, AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite), and informal gathering spots with refreshments.

These spaces together illustrate how physical infrastructure and materials technologies support student learning — precisely the interdisciplinary, materials-focused education championed by IMES.

The Materials Education Symposia philosophy

• To share ideas, innovations, experiences, successes and failures

• To provoke productive discussion around these issues

• To expand the links that form such a key feature of the Materials Community

The symposia foster an atmosphere of community amongst educators involved in teaching undergraduate materials science across disciplines including engineering, design, and science.

IMES 2025 Scientific Committee

• Paloma Fernández Sánchez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Jessica Gwynne, University of Cambridge
• Kathryn Jackson, University of Sheffield
• Alison Harvey, University of Manchester
• Robert Thompson, University of Cambridge
• Darshil U. Shah, University of Cambridge
• Deborah Blaine, University of Stellenbosch
• Barbara Del Curto, Politecnico Di Milano
• Sepideh Godrat, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
• Tatiana Vakhitova, Ansys Academic Program

Please feel free to reach out to: if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge in April 2026.

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Host or Publisher Ansys Inc. with University of Cambridge