Call for Abstracts

International Conference of Critical Student Partnerships

A critical forum for students-as-partners scholarship — convened alongside the Critical Learner Partnerships journal, so accepted work has both a place to be argued in person and a permanent, citable home.

This call is being designed in the open. Submissions are not yet open — the scope, formats and dates below are indicative and will be finalised with the founding committee. Register your interest to present and you'll be first to hear when it opens.

Welcome

Press play for a short welcome.

What sets it apart

Students present as partners — and are recognised as partners.

Where students co-created the work, they co-present it and are named for it — not thanked from the podium, recognised on the program and in the record. Joint authorship with students, industry and community partners is not just welcome here; it's the point. Early-career researchers and research students are actively encouraged to lead.

The inaugural theme

Inaugural theme · proposed

Contradictions and Chaos, outside and within

The conference that launches NTLSN: convening the sector around students as partners — and the contradictions and chaos we navigate, beyond the academy and inside it. Grounded in our national benchmarking of student-partnership models. Contributions are invited under four strands:

Critical digital partnership — power, voice and agency in digital learning
Critical digital design — designing with students, not just for them
Students as partners — co-creation, not consultation
Contradictions & chaos — the tensions we navigate, within and beyond

Present and be reviewed. Every accepted presentation can request formative (developmental) or summative (evidence-grade) peer review, across the same dimensions as NTLSN's national benchmarking Exchange — and accepted work can carry a DOI for a permanent, citable record. Subscribers attend free.

What you can submit

Submissions can take the form of research presentations, case studies, discussions, workshops or innovative formats. Choose the type that fits your contribution:

🎙️

Showcase Presentation

A standard oral presentation of research, practice or a case study, with time for questions.

🔄

Roundtable Discussion

A facilitated conversation around a live question. Describe the key take-aways for participants (max 100 words).

👥

Panel Discussion

Up to 5 panellists (list names & affiliations); advise whether you need 20 or 40 minutes.

⏱️

Pecha Kucha

A fast, visual format — a tight story told against timed slides. Ideal for works-in-progress.

📌

Poster

A visual contribution for the poster session — strong for early findings and student-led work.

🤝

Partnership Reflection

A co-authored staff-and-student reflection on a real partnership — its power, its friction, its learning.

How abstracts will work

The abstract maximum word count is 250 words. Separately, advise how your abstract aligns to the conference theme (an additional max 100 words).
You may be the lead on one presentation only, regardless of the presentation type — though you can co-author others.
Joint authorship with students, industry and community partners is strongly encouraged, and co-presenting students are named and recognised on the program.
Early-career researchers and research students are warmly encouraged to contribute — mentoring and an abstract-writing guide will be offered.
All accepted abstracts are eligible to be developed into a full paper for the Critical Learner Partnerships journal — free to read, free to publish, no fees ever.
Students who partner in the work can keep a portable Student-Partner Contribution Record — recognition that travels with them.

Key dates (indicative)

Call for abstracts opens

2026 — register interest to be notified

Abstract submissions close

Indicative — to be confirmed

Notifications issued

After review, staged

Conference

2027 · location to be confirmed

Enquiries. For questions about abstract content, the scope, or getting involved in the founding committee, contact sdianati@live.com.au. We're happy to talk through an idea before you write it up.

This is a call in design, not yet open for submission. Themes, formats, word limits and dates above are indicative and will be finalised with the founding conference committee. What is fixed is the principle: critical scholarship on partnership, students recognised as partners in the work they present, and open infrastructure that never owns your contribution.

◇ AI field guide — count the em-dashes in this call (—). Reviewers, take note — the machine has a punctuation habit, and now so do you.

A planned open initiative from NTLSN.com · convened alongside the Critical Learner Partnerships journal · presented, reviewed and published with students. Submission & review will run on proven open-source infrastructure (pretalx-class tooling for the conference; OJS for the journal).