Author: Joan Murphy

UK-IE DHA Community Interest Group Call [Now Open]

UK-IE DHA Community Interest Group Call

UK-IE DHA is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for new Community Interest Groups (CIGs).

CIGs are community-driven groups organised around a shared research interest, a community of practice, or a key issue within digital humanities. They are central to our aim of fostering a more inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable community.

We warmly invite proposals for new groups. Before applying, please read the full call and complete the application form available here: https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2026/05/14/cfp-new-cigs-2026/

Key information

  • Deadline: 23:59 (GMT), Monday 29 June 2026
  • Format: PDF submission via email to uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk
  • Notification of outcomes: Friday 24 July 2026
  • Similar proposals may be combined where appropriate

About CIGs

CIGs are flexible and community-led, designed to evolve alongside the field. They:

  • run initially for at least 18 months
  • are open to unlimited participation
  • are shaped by the needs of their members
  • foster communities of practice across the UK and Ireland

We currently have 5 CIGs and will add up to 5 new groups in this round.

Support available

Successful groups receive:

  • access to the CIG Funding Scheme (expanded via thanks to our recently announced UKRI grant)
  • promotion via our channels
  • a dedicated presence on our website
  • opportunities to participate in Association events
  • access to peer support via the Collective
  • opportunities for collaboration and advocacy

If you have any questions, please contact uk-ie.digitalhumanities@sas.ac.uk.

MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference – Media and Sustainability [Calls closes May 25th]

MeCCSA Postgraduate Network Conference

We are pleased to say that due to exceptional demand, we are extending the deadline to submit an abstract for the 2026 MeCCSA Postgraduate Network Conference, which will take place on 9th September 2026 in the Minghella Studios, University of Reading. The new deadline is Monday 25th May 2026.

This year’s theme is Media and Sustainability and invites postgraduate researchers to explore how media industries, forms, cultures, and research practices endure, adapt, resist or reimagine themselves within unstable or emerging environments. We also encourage reflection on the sustainability of academic and creative labour, and the infrastructures that support media work.  

Participants are encouraged to interpret the conference theme broadly and creatively. Submissions from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives are warmly welcomed, including practice-based work.  

Possible areas of interest include, but are not limited to:  

  • Sustainable media industries: policy, production cultures, funding, and independent practice. 
  • Sustainable creative and research methodologies: slow scholarship, decolonial and feminist methods, ethics of care, collaboration and community partnership. 
  • Environmental sustainability and media: climate communication, ecocinema, eco-media, green production, and environmental representation.  
  • Sustainable archives and preservation: memory, heritage, obsolescence, and care for audiovisual materials.  
  • Sustainable digital technologies and infrastructures: platforms, AI, media infrastructure, resource extraction, and the environmental costs of data.  
  • Sustainable identities and communities: queer, Indigenous, diasporic, and disabled media-making. Visibility, survival, and continuity.  
  • Sustaining the self: wellbeing, burnout, emotional labour, and the lived realities of postgraduate research.   

In recognition of the diverse ways postgraduate researchers work and communicate research, we invite proposals in a range of formats, including:  

  • Paper presentations (15 minutes) 
  • Panel proposals (typically 3-5 named contributors) 
  • Practice-based or creative contributions, including film, audiovisual work, performance or artistic practice 

We particularly welcome work-in-progress and contributions from early-stage postgraduate researchers.  

Submission deadline: Monday 25th May 2026 at midday (GMT)

Submission link: Microsoft Form

Further details can be found here. Alternatively, feel free to email us with any questions.

UK-IE DHA – Pilot small grants scheme info session [18 May @ 11am, online]

UK-IE DHA – Pilot small grants scheme briefing session

We will be holding a briefing session for our pilot small grants scheme on the 18 May between 11.00 & 12.00 (GMT). The session will be hosted by Prof. Jane Winters and Dr. Valentina Vavassori, who will highlight the types of projects we’re looking for and the application criteria. Please come with your questions and ideas! 

The scheme is aimed at early career researchers and practitioners based in the UK and/or Ireland, including independent researchers. Applicants may include collaborators or partners based elsewhere, but the lead applicant must be from Ireland or the UK.

We define early career as:

  • Individuals within eight years of receiving their PhD, or equivalent professional training (e.g. an Archives and Records Association or CILIP accredited course or apprenticeship), or
  • Individuals within six years of their first academic or professional appointment.

These timeframes exclude any periods of career break. A career break is defined as an extended period during which you have not been actively engaged in scholarly research, teaching, or a GLAM-sector role. This may be due to caring responsibilities, parental leave, health reasons, or other circumstances not listed.

What the grant can support

The grant can be used flexibly to support activities such as:

  • Research assistance
  • Travel and accommodation
  • Mentoring or guidance
  • Caring costs
  • Other costs clearly justified by the project

To register for the briefing session: https://www.sas.ac.uk/digital-humanities-research-hub/events/briefing-session-small-grants-scheme-uk-ireland-digital-humanities-association.

To see the full funding announcement: https://digitalhumanities-uk-ie.org/2026/05/01/2026-small-grants-scheme/.

DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase [May 26 @2pm, DARIAH Annual Event, Rome]

DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase

The DARIAH-EU Community Engagement Working Group and the DARIAH-Campus Editorial Board invite participants to join us during the DARIAH Annual event in Rome for a DARIAH-Campus Open Education Resource Showcase. 

This event will take place on Tuesday 26th May from 2-3.30pm in the Aula Bisconti in the main conference venue.

Please register your intention to attend by completing this form by Friday 22nd May.

This event is targeted at early career researchers, practitioners and those who are currently engaged in training provision as educators (e.g. lecturers, academics, trainers) as well as postgraduate students and lifelong learners. 

The session will showcase DARIAH-Campus resources through demonstrations from leading educators, using examples from their own teaching practices. Following the demonstrations a moderated discussion will afford the DARIAH-Campus team the opportunity to gain a deeper insight from the community in how they engage with Open Education Resources (OERs) such as those available on DARIAH-Campus.  Potential topics of discussion will include:

What formats work best?  

How are training materials identified?  

What sources are trusted for recommendations in OERs?

Participants in the workshop will leave with a deeper understanding of using DARIAH-Campus as a resource for teaching, training and learning and will also have played an active role in informing and shaping the direction of DARIAH-Campus and the development of training materials in current and future projects (e.g. ATRIUM, ARTEMIS, ECHOES).

Gamifying Digital Preservation: An Introductory Twine Workshop [May 12 @10am, online]

Gamifying Digital Preservation: An Introductory Twine Workshop

May 12, 10:00-12:00 UTC+1

The Digital Repository of Ireland is hosting a webinar on May 12th that may be of interest if you’re planning on attending their DPASSH (Digital Preservation in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) conference in late June! 

This 2 hour online workshop led by Francesca Mackenzie (National Archives UK), Lotte Wijsman and Susanne van den Eijkel (National Archives NL) is designed to guide participants in creating text‑based adventure games using Twine, a free and accessible tool for building interactive stories. Prompts, templates, and example structures will be provided to help participants shape their projects and develop their skills. Alongside technical learning, the workshop encourages a playful approach to thinking about digital preservation challenges, offering a creative space to re‑imagine familiar workflows and concepts.

Register:

https://dri.ie/events/gamifying-digital-preservation-an-introductory-twine-workshop