The purpose of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) is to promote research or study into or about the activity of design in all its many fields of application, through encouraging collaboration on an international level between its member societies. The biennial IASDR Congress is the most important shared event for member societies to disseminate the research of their members. Therefore the conference should cover as wide a range of topics as possible in line with member societies’ interests. Also, the Congress must satisfy the member societies in terms of quality and active participation and interchange between conference delegates.

Congresses are held every two years, in the ‘odd-numbered’ years – i.e. 2015, 2017, etc., and usually in the second half of the year (autumn/fall in the northern hemisphere). Each previous Congress has lasted 4 days and events have grown in numbers of presentations and delegates. Growth in the size of the Congress indicates the growth of design research on an international scale, but continued growth in numbers is not a requirement for all future Congresses; it is more important to maintain or improve quality.

The most recent Congress, in Tokyo, Japan, August 2013, was opened by His Imperial Highness, the Crown Prince, and was attended by 800 delegates from 40 countries. In total, 499 oral presentations were made, together with a further 74 poster presentations. A public exhibition was held in parallel to the conference. On the day before the conference, research workshops and a doctoral colloquium were hosted.

The IASDR Board keeps peer review processes under consideration, and to simplify the process and assure quality, the Board now requires that only full papers are invited for submission, thus eliminating the first round of submissions of proposals or abstracts. 

General principles for Congress organisation include:

IASDR does not have funds to support or underwrite the Congress. The host organisers should assume a comfortable financial ‘break-even’ point in terms of numbers of delegates, bearing in mind a reasonable registration fee for academic delegates. The guiding principle is that the conference organisers must not feel pressured to compromise the standards of peer review in order to meet their registration targets. 

IASDR requires a contribution of 5% of the delegate fee income from Congress registrations, in return for its member societies’ promotion of the event.

The planning and programme committees must include suitable representation of members from the IASDR Board and member societies. An outline of the conference management structure should form part of the proposal.

The standard of papers accepted must be of a high quality and a rigorous reviewing process must be implemented. IASDR member societies are expected to be involved and to assist in the reviewing process (e.g. providing lists of reviewers known to be rigorous and reliable). The peer review process should be overseen by a nominee. appointed by the IASDR Board

If there is a conference theme it should not be exclusive and the emphasis should be on a broad-based event which provides an overview of the international state of the art in design research. The conference title should be of the form:- IASDR 2017:[host city or country]. Doctoral and other workshops are welcome additions to the main programme.

The conference location should provide a unified site where all activities can take place within a compact area, allowing delegates easy access to all sessions and freedom to move around between conference sessions as they choose. The location should provide a good range of convenient accommodation and opportunities for social activities. Creating an excellent social environment should be part of the plans.

Because of the mixed international audience, all communication and information, including the conference website, must be clear, straightforward and accessible. The principal Congress language must be English.

The conference organisers must pay attention to the financial and scholarly imperatives that must be met for international contributors to have the opportunity to take part, an important aspect of which is the peer review and publication process (e.g. ISBN number). An acceptable format for publication of the proceedings to delegates is a printed summary booklet with a full version in CD or similar electronic format. The full conference proceedings publication must be available at the event. The proceedings must also be widely accessible in an agreed long-lasting format, for example a website or archive which constitutes an enduring record that is publicly accessible. 

It is expected that the successful bidder for IASDR 2017 will make an announcement at the 2015 event in Brisbane. Accordingly, sufficient time has been allowed for this call and the subsequent approval process, for the successful bidder to prepare an announcement presentation and to attend the 2015 event.

 
Key Dates:

Invitation to submit proposals	March 2015
Expressions of interest		12 June 2015
Detailed proposals			28 August 2015
Notification of successful bidder	14 September 2015
Presentation at Brisbane Congress	November 2015
Fully developed plan to be agreed	April 2016
Event website, public announcement	June 2016
Call for papers				September 2016
(provisional deadlines that may be revised once the conference dates are confirmed)

_______________________________________________________________ 

Check list for the proposal:

Title/ theme (if there is a theme proposal)
Location
Dates and timetable 
Principal organiser
Structure of planning/organising committee(s)
Strategy for reviewing and selecting papers
Facilities: Plenary venue and parallel-track accommodation, daytime catering, conference dinner/event, availability of accommodation at a range of prices, social facilities in the area, additional events (e.g. industry or cultural tours)
Any necessary logistics (e.g. transporting delegates to and from the conference venue)
Plan for dissemination of proceedings
A cost and pricing structure (including a break-even number of delegates)
Statement that the host institution will support the event and accept the financial risks involved.

Enquiries

For further enquiries or to send proposals, please email:

Professor David Durling FDRS PhD
Secretary General, IASDR
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.iasdr.org <http://www.iasdr.org/>




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