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Call for Sessions

Call for sessions is closed.

Session submissions are now under review.
Notifications of sessions review outcome out: Friday, 19 December 2025.

RDA’s 26th Plenary meeting (RDA VP26) will be held as a fully virtual event on the event platform Whova [hu:va] between 16-20 March 2026.

RDA Groups and RDA members are invited to submit a session proposal indicating an interest in organising a meeting for the RDA’s 26th Plenary.

RDA Plenary Meetings are working group meetings that bring together our unique community of diverse data professionals.

Learn more about RDA Plenary Meetings

Session submission overview

  • 10 breakout spaces are scheduled over four days.
  • Between 5-8 sessions will be included in each breakout space. (The number of breakout sessions in each breakout space will depend on a number of session submissions).
  • Each breakout session will last 90 minutes and will cover 3 global time zones.
  • There will be no repeat sessions and no poster session.
  • Times are in Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).   

Registration

Group chairs and presenters of accepted sessions will be required to purchase a ticket to participate at VP26.

VP26 registration fees have not been increased since the last virtual plenary (VP24, April 2025) to make the Plenary more accessible.

Registration fees can be viewed here.

Submission timeline

Deadline for submissions: Friday, 21 November 2025, 23:59 UTC
Notifications of sessions review outcome out: Friday, 19 December

VIEW FULL VP26 TIMELINE

Breakout Session Slots

To help you join breakout sessions in the time zone that works best for you, please see:

  • Breakouts 3, 6, 9 at 07:00-08:30 UTC for Europe to Africa / Asia / Oceania time-friendly zone; 
  • Breakouts 1, 4, 7, 10 at 13:30-15:00 UTC for the Americas to Africa / Europe time-friendly zones; 
  • Breakouts 2, 5, 8 at 22:30-00:00 UTC for Asia / Oceania to the Americas time-friendly zones.

Submission Process

RDA Working and Interest Groups, Communities of Practice, and Birds of a Feather applicants are invited to submit one of the session submission forms below. We also accept joint submissions from multiple groups. The form includes questions about your group(s), session overview, draft agenda and presenters. You will also be asked to select which breakout spaces are the most suitable for your group(s).

Please note: Registration fees are not collected during the submission – this is a separate step.

The submission process is as follow:

  • Session submission forms can be submitted by group chair(s) only.
  • A session submission webpage will be automatically generated upon submission completion. It’ll be linked automatically to your group’s webpage and will be visible to all group members.
  • A submission is editable by any group chair. There are two ways to edit your submission:
    • Log-in to www.rd-alliance.org > Navigate to My Profile > Plenary Participation > Session Entries > Open your session > Edit.
    • Log-in to www.rd-alliance.org > Navigate to your group’s webpage > Plenaries > Open your session > Edit.
  • All submitted sessions are subject to a review by the RDA Secretariat and Technical Advisory Board (TAB). Session submissions review criteria can be viewed here.
  • Approved sessions will be allocated to breakout spaces (part of the programme) based on your indicated date and time preferences where possible.
  • Please keep in mind that the RDA Plenary meetings are working meetings, so when applying, take into account the need for a well-thought-out agenda, a diverse line up of speakers, and time for discussion and networking. 

Submit your session proposal here (CLOSED)

Birds of a Feather Session Application Form

This form is for individual RDA members who seek an opportunity to consider potential topics that could be recommended for the creation of new Working and/or Interest groups. Topics should be sufficiently distinct from the work of existing groups or BoFs held at recent plenaries.

Groups Session Session Application Form

This form is for Working, Interest Group and Community of Practice who would like to hold a session where existing and and new RDA members will have an opportunity to learn about the groups’ objectives and progress to date and in achieving deliverables, while also collaborating to determine and implement next steps regarding adoption and other related activities. The format of the meeting is typically interactive and informational.

Joint Groups Session Application Form

This form is for meetings that combine multiple Working and/or Interest Groups to explore potential synergies, share findings and coordinate efforts.

Questions or concerns related to the call for sessions can be sent to [email protected]