Expressions of interest to be received 31 October 2025
Decision to be announced 5 December 2025
The UKAIS invites expressions of interest to host the annual conference and doctoral consortium in 2027. The conference and doctoral consortium bring together scholars and doctoral candidates working broadly in the area of Information Systems. It has become increasingly popular year on year and always receives a very positive response from the community. We are delighted to be inviting expressions of interest to host the next conference and doctoral consortium in 2027. More information about the 2024 and 2025 conferences and doctoral consortia can be found here: https://www.ukais.org/ukais-conference/ukais-2025/ and https://www.ukais.org/ukais-conference/ukais-2024/.
Outlined below is a draft specification for what hosting the conference and doctoral consortium would require. If you and your institution would be interested in hosting the conference and doctoral consortium on this basis, we invite you to submit an expression of interest (EOI). The UKAIS Board of Directors will choose the venue for the 2027 conference and doctoral consortium based on a review of the submitted EOIs. Your EOI should include the following information:
- An overview of your institution and its capacity and experience in administering such events.
- Why you want to host the conference and doctoral consortium.
- What added value you bring. Especially why your institution would be an attractive venue to prospective delegates.
- An estimated conference and doctoral consortium preparation timeline.
- Proposed dates to host the conference and doctoral consortium. The conference and doctoral consortium should take place at the end of April or early May 2027. The conference dates must consider the Easter period to avoid any issues.
- How accessible the venue is (both in terms of being accessible for those with special needs, but also convenient access to mass transit and transportation hubs).
- You must include cost models based on different scenarios i.e., indicative costs for room hire, daily delegate catering rate (i.e., a buffet lunch once a day over three days as well as tea and coffee twice a day over three days), local admin support, delegate packs, technology costs, and any other associated costs based on 40-60 delegates, 60-80 delegates, 80-100 delegates, and 100+ delegates.
- The cost model should also provide an indicative cost for a gala dinner. The gala dinner could be hosted by your institution, or it could be hosted by a restaurant in the local area. You could outline more than one option for hosting the gala dinner.
- Your institution’s event hire terms and conditions, including the cancellation policy (should it be unable to host the event), any insurance requirements, and the conditions for UKAIS paying the institution for hosting the event.
- Details about local accommodation for delegates.
If you are interested in submitting an EOI or if you have questions, please get in touch with the UKAIS President, Oliver Kayas (o.g.kayas@ljmu.ac.uk).
Please send your expression of interest to Oliver Kayas (contactus@ukais.org).
Basic specifications for the host institution
| Date | Mid April to early May 2027. |
| Duration | Three days (one day for the Doctoral Consortium and two days for the Conference). |
| Language | The language of the conference is English. |
| Capacity | 150-person capacity Lecture Theatre with full AV. Plus, a minimum of 5 fully AV equipped rooms available nearby with 30+ capacity each. |
| Atrium/Foyer | To cater for lunch/tea and coffee breaks – near to breakout room. |
| Catering | Two teas and coffee per day. One buffet lunch per day. Plus, a conference gala dinner on day two (i.e., day one of the Conference). |
| Accommodation | It is easier if delegates arrange their own accommodation at local hotels, but this requires the venue to be a reasonably large city. If the host institution can arrange accommodation that is fine, but we would advise against this because the administration can be difficult, and it often requires a firm block-booking months in advance and payment up front. |
Conference organisation
- There will be at least two conference chairs who will be UKAIS board members.
- Two colleagues from the host institution will also be conference chairs.
- The UKAIS conference chairs will support the host institution in providing feedback and advice during regular organising committee calls.
- Final decisions about the conference theme, registration fees, budget, programme, etc., will be made by UKAIS. UKAIS will be responsible for determining the keynotes, award ceremonies, and promoting the conference.
Structure of conference
The event will run for three days. On day one, a doctoral consortium will take place. Historically, the number of delegates in attendance for the doctoral consortium on day one will be approximately 20 (plus approximately 10 academic staff to facilitate the consortium e.g., chair streams, keynote speakers).
The conference will then take place on days two and three. Historically, the number of delegates in attendance for the conference on days two and three will be approximately 80 (plus approximately 15 academic staff to facilitate the conference e.g., chair streams, keynote speakers).
The host institution would be responsible for:
- Reporting on budget, planning, and preparation of milestones for UKAIS in advance of the conference and doctoral consortium.
- Securing lecture rooms, break out rooms, meal facilities, and catering on time.
- Producing an accommodation and travel guide to be listed on the UKAIS website.
- Publicising the conference and doctoral consortium through social media and mailing lists.
- Creating the conference pack containing a programme booklet including abstracts, delegate list, timetable etc.
- Organising the conference gala dinner.
- All preconference administration and communication including answering delegate’s queries and sending out emails to the delegates with info about the conference and doctoral consortium and communication with the keynotes with regards to scheduling, travel, and accommodation. Also preparing letters to satisfy visa requirements for international delegates.
- Management of front desk and onsite logistics throughout the conference.