Thursday 2 May – Friday 3 May 2024, West Midlands 

May 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the UK’s Concordat on Openness on Animal Research. To celebrate this important landmark for the world’s first transparency agreement, Understanding Animal Research is delighted to host a first-of-its-kind conference dedicated to openness in animal research. 

The Openness in Animal Research Conference 2024 is not just for Concordat signatories. We hope to bring together colleagues from across the world who have a professional interest in openness and improving laboratory animal welfare, whether or not they have an openness agreement in place or are working towards one. The conference will be an opportunity to get together, share ideas, celebrate the achievements of the Concordat, and look forward to the next ten years. We hope to see you in 2024!

 

Registration

Early bird rate | Available until Monday 25 March 2024 – £330
Standard rate | Available from Tuesday 26 March 2024 – £390

Limited on-site accommodation is available.
1 x double bedded en-suite room including breakfast – £145 per night

Conference dinner and entertainment – £55

All prices are inclusive of VAT at the current UK rate.

REGISTER NOW

 

Conference programme

The programme features presentations, workshops and posters from scientific communicators supporting openness in animal research across four continents. There will be sessions dedicated to a wide range of communication activities including lab tours, digital projects, public engagement, writing skills, social media, and much more. 

Every openness agreement in the world will be represented during the conference, including the soon-to-be-launched US agreement. We will also hear how the commercial sector is overcoming its unique barriers, how organisations that don’t carry out animal research are supporting openness, and how interdisciplinary thinking can improve transparency.

DOWNLOAD CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

 

Call for oral abstracts and workshop submissions - NOW CLOSED

Do you have practical advice on how to communicate openly about animal research? Does your organisation have an innovative, openness in animal research case study to share with the bioscience community? This is your chance to help conference attendees embed change within their organisations.

Abstracts (oral and poster) and workshop proposals should be education-driven and provide practical examples of activities that support openness. The conference is intended to provide a learning opportunity for anyone with a professional interest in openness, so instead of focusing on why openness is important, we want to provide case studies and practical advice, encouraging attendees to implement change within their organisations.

Examples can include but are not limited to the use of new media including websites, podcasts, videos, and social media; traditional media engagement; internal engagement; public engagement, and countering opposition. We are also interested in how the harms and limitations, as well as the benefits, of animal research, have been communicated within these activities.

Submissions will be selected on originality, potential impact, communication, learning and education.

 

Poster abstracts - NOW CLOSED

Abstract submission deadline | Monday 25 March 2024

Posters will be available to view throughout the programme.
A dedicated poster session will be held on Thursday afternoon and will offer a chance for interaction and discussion between poster authors and attendees. Poster prizes will be presented during the conference dinner.

 

Oral abstracts - NOW CLOSED

Abstract submission deadline | Monday 2 October 2023

These will be presented within a panel discussion and will run as 60-minute sessions involving 3-4 people speaking back-to-back for 12-15 mins each, with time at the end for Q&A and speaker discussion. The organisers will group selected speakers into 60-minute panel sessions.

 

Workshops - NOW CLOSED

Deadline for submission | Monday 2 October 2023

Workshops will be run as 50-minute or 1-hour 50-minute sessions.
Audience interaction is actively encouraged within your workshop programme.

 

Sponsor the conference

We have different packages available for sponsorship and trade opportunities. Please get in touch with Hannah (hhobson@uar.org.uk) to request details. 

 

Stay informed on conference news

Sign up for the Openness in Animal Research conference mailing list to receive updates on conference news.