Ahead of only the second ever annual conference, the Irish Sport and Exercise Sciences Association (ISESA) has called on the sports and exercise community in Ireland, and abroad, to submit expressions of interest for its Athlone based, two-day event, in May.
Last year’s conference was held in Waterford, where over 200 delegates attended a mixture of presentations, panel discussions, Q&A panels and workshops and this year promises to be no different.
What will be different however, is the format, as ISESA Chair, Prof Tom Comyns, explains.
“We were delighted with last year’s event but a key element for us was how to build on the success of last year and as we started to plan for this year’s conference in Athlone we started to look at areas that we could improve or go a step further.
“A crucial piece in that was the feedback of delegates. There is such a breadth of knowledge within our community, with practitioners, athletes, researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students, as well as policy makers and industry experts, all in attendance and it made sense to reach out and seek expressions of interest from that field.
“We will of course still have keynote speakers in attendance, but our delegates also wanted their voices heard, and their work and their research heard, and we feel that this will give a window for that to happen amongst their colleagues and peers.”
The second ISESA annual conference will be held on 21 and 22 May 2026 in TUS Athlone and Prof Comyns is encouraging those interested to put the dates in their diaries, and for those with an interest in presenting to apply via the 2026 Conference Page.
Proposals can cover a range of different formats from symposia, panel discussions, oral presentations or workshops and while not all submissions will be accepted, the conference committee will endeavour to include a range of Sport and Exercise Science disciplines, HEI’s, organisations and industries in the final list.
The contributions will help shape a diverse and engaging programme that brings together collaborations across academia, practice, research, and industry, highlighting innovative and impactful work.
The deadline for submission is Friday, 20 February 2026, before midnight and successful applicants will be contacted by Friday, 20 March 2026.