Call for Proposals 2026

The PIDfest 2026 Call for Proposals is now open!

PIDfest 2026 will take place in Leiden, The Netherlands, from October 27-29, 2026. It is intended to be a global meeting place for everyone who cares about keeping knowledge connected - across people, systems, disciplines, borders, and time. Our goal is to grow a broader, more diverse, more global Persistent Identifier community, from first-timers to infrastructure leaders.

Our theme this year is Keeping Knowledge Connected, and the Call for Proposals is open now through March 22. We welcome proposals from all PID enthusiasts, wherever you are on your PID journey – and in a range of session formats, including short talks, panels, workshops, “birds of a feather” sessions, interactive presentations, lightning talks, and posters. Please note that you must be able to deliver your presentation in person.

If you have an idea that doesn’t fit neatly into one of these formats, we’d still love to hear about it. We may even be able to connect you with other interested groups with whom you share a synergy and potential for a successful session.

Who should submit?

We welcome submissions from anyone who is using – or planning to use – PIDs, including:

• People relatively new to persistent identifiers who are exploring where they fit in their work

• Practitioners embedding PIDs in research workflows, repositories, CRIS systems, publishing, or policy 

• Anyone interested in improving how they track research

• Publishers and associations looking to better understand their communities through PID connections

• Data scientists and bibliometricians

• Infrastructure builders and PID service providers including instruments, research hardware, facilities, etc

• Funders, institutions, and national or regional initiatives

• Researchers and practitioners from adjacent domains 

• …and more!

What we're looking for

We want to hear from a mix of voices, experiences, and formats - not just polished success stories. The PIDfest programme will be organised around three themes:

1. Strengthening Community: energizing a global PID community collaborating across disciplines, sectors, and regions.

2. Addressing Challenges: confronting barriers to PID adoption and sustainability.

3. Demonstrating Value: showcasing tangible and potential benefits of PIDs for all stakeholders

We’re interested in proposals that share:

• Practical use cases and implementations

• Lessons learned - including challenges, failures, and course corrections

• Approaches to governance, sustainability, trust, and equity

• Regional, national, or community-driven PID strategies

• New perspectives on how PIDs support research in a changing world (e.g., AI, geopolitics, open science)

• …and more!

Honest, reflective contributions are just as valuable as success stories!

How to submit your proposal

Please see our brief writing guide for proposals for ideas on how to pitch your session. When you’re ready you can submit your proposal here (please note that you will need to set up an account on the SURF platform where the proposal form is hosted – you will then be able to access and edit your proposal any time before the deadline).

The Call for Proposals will remain open through March 22. All submissions will be anonymised and reviewed by the Programme Committee, who aim to contact everyone about their decisions by April 30.