‘Voices’, the theme of the 9th Art of Research conference, addresses the various voices that constitute research through arts, design, and architecture. It enquires particularly about the potential of such research to engage with contemporary discussions and affect our current condition. The theme explores the diversity of terminologies, territories, frameworks, practices, and research formats, as well as how artistic research is employed, adapted, and translated into other fields of research and practice.
Submission Types
The Art of Research welcomes novel, unpublished submissions to three contribution formats. Contributions will first be screened by conference chairs, and those that do not meet the requirements will be desk-rejected. All valid contributions will undergo a strict, double-blind review by at least two reviewers. An international team of chairs will be responsible for the various submission types. All accepted and revised contributions will be published in full in the conference proceedings under the ISSN 2984-0724. Thus, it is essential that all contributions strictly follow the conference templates and are free from language and referencing issues. Language revision is the author’s responsibility, and we strongly suggest this be carried out by a language professional before final submission.
Submissions will be reviewed based on novelty and contribution to advancing the field, adherence to the conference theme, the quality and rigour of the research, and clarity in scope and communication.
Paper templates will be available from the conference website in February 2026.
(1) Full Papers (3000–5000 words)
Full papers present original research results, positioned and contextualized within existing research. They should directly and clearly respond to one or more of the conference themes. Accepted contributions must address the suggested reviews and be fully language-checked before resubmission. All full papers undergo double-blind peer review by a minimum of two reviewers. A third reviewer will be involved when necessary. Full papers should have a minimum of 3000 and a maximum of 5000 words, excluding references and abstracts.
(2) Explorative Papers (1000-1500 words)
Explorative papers are academic publications that explore emerging research topics and approaches not yet fully established in the academic context. All explorative papers undergo blind peer review by a minimum of two reviewers. A third reviewer will be involved when necessary. The format of the exploratory papers follows that of an academic research paper. All explorative papers should have a minimum of 800 and a maximum of 1500 words, excluding references and abstract.
(3) Explorative Exhibitions (800-1000 words)
The format of the explorative exhibition proposal follows the guidelines of the explorative paper. In addition, the exhibition proposals must include a visual and textual description of the artefact, following the template guidelines. Exhibition proposals need to clearly state the research context in which the work has been produced and what is being explored through it. All exhibition proposals undergo blind peer review by at least two reviewers. The exhibition team will also evaluate and curate the final conference exhibition. Exhibition proposals will be reviewed based on their contribution to advancing the field, quality and artistic value, and clarity in scope and communication. All exhibition proposals will have a minimum of 800 and a maximum of 1000 words, excluding references, image captions, and abstracts. In case of acceptance, please note that the transportation of the artwork(s) is the author’s responsibility.
The deadline for paper submissions: 15 March 2026 (anywhere on Earth)
Conference dates: 25-27 November 2026
Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
See here for details: https://events.aalto.fi/en/3X3IKxA7/g/82Z1zDshz8/art-of-research-2026-4a3bQtTRKz/overview
Email: aor2026@aalto.fi