February 17, 2021

The Annual Meeting Program Committee invites submission for professional oral and/or poster research presentations, panel discussions, workshops, or symposia. Conference program submissions are open to all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, ethicists, and communicators worldwide. Membership in Sigma Xi is not required for contributing to or attending the Annual Meeting. Contributed content will be scheduled, either virtually or in-person, for either November 5 or November 6, 2021.

About the Conference

The 2021 conference theme is Roots to Fruits: Responsible Research for a Flourishing Humanity, How scientific virtues serve society. The conference will take place November 4 –7, 2021 at The Conference and Event Center in Niagara Falls, New York. The conference is an international forum for researchers, ethicists, educators, and science communicators to examine what it means to conduct ethical, responsible research across science and engineering disciplines. Sessions will be organized under the following tracks. 

• Responsible Research and Discovery: Sessions and case studies on the broader societal impact of scientific discoveries and emerging issues in scientific integrity from different perspectives, including researchers, policymakers, and funding agencies.

• Responsible STEM Education: Sessions that focus on the cultivation of the scientific character virtues and values; examine the role of the scientific community in protecting science education against policies that undermine scientific evidence; and introduce a comprehensive approach to STEM education that addresses equity and inclusion and promotes excellence in research.

• Responsible Technology Innovation: Sessions that examine how to build values into the design process, including emerging ethical challenges associated with new technologies such as gene editing, artificial intelligence, robotics, data mining and privacy, and facial recognition.

• General Research Ethics: Sessions on the broader ethical challenges facing the research community such as science and human rights, implicit biases, making the case for basic research, ethic of transitional medical research, authorship, intellectual property, and environmental ethics.

• Science Communication, Education, and Public Engagement: Sessions on the science and best practices of science communication, social responsibilities of researchers in engaging with the public and policy makers, ethical considerations in Citizen Science, and integrating ethics training in STEM education.

• Research Enterprise and Professional Development: Sessions on pursuing both academic and non-academic STEM careers, cultivating effective interdisciplinary collaborations, leadership training, science policy, publishing, mentorship, and diversity & inclusion.

Submissions are due Friday, April 2, 2021. For more information, please visit the Call for Submissions web page.

If you have any questions, please contact the conference event organizers at meetings@sigmaxi.org.