Digital Legacy Conference 2027 × Death Online Research Symposium 2027 at The University of Birmingham
Submission information and guidelines
- Submission deadline: 27 November 2026
- Notification of decisions: 18 December 2026
Overview
Digital technologies are no longer simply an additional environment in which death and mourning take place. They increasingly shape the social, cultural, legal, professional and material contexts in which people prepare for death, experience bereavement, remember the dead and manage the digital traces, assets and identities that remain.
We therefore invite contributions that examine both the contexts through which digital death acquires meaning and the practices through which individuals, communities, professionals, institutions and technologies respond to it.
We particularly welcome contributions that cross disciplinary or professional boundaries and create dialogue between research, policy and practice. Tech providers are welcome to submit abstracts however interventions need to either be mainstream solutions and /or evidence high impact and societal value.
Types of contribution
Academic papers
Please submit:
- title
- abstract of up to 250 words
- author name(s), affiliation(s) and contact details
- a short biography up to 100 words of each presenting author
Practice and policy contributions
We particularly welcome contributions from practitioners, policymakers, professional organisations, charities, healthcare and bereavement professionals, legal professionals, technologists and others working directly with issues of digital death and digital legacy.
These contributions might present:
- an emerging professional challenge
- a case study or example of practice
- policy or regulatory developments
- professional guidance or standards
- service or technology design
- lessons from implementation
- an issue on which dialogue with researchers would be particularly valuable
Please submit a proposal of up to 250 words, explaining the issue, experience or intervention you would like to share and its relevance to the conference theme.
Panels
We welcome proposals for complete panels of up to four contributions. Panels may be wholly academic, wholly practice/policy focused, or deliberately combine academic and professional perspectives.
Panel proposals should include:
- a panel title;
- an overall description of up to 250 words
- individual abstracts of up to 250 words each
- names, affiliations, contact details and a short biography (up to 100 words) for all contributors and the proposed chair
Alternative and interactive formats
We also welcome proposals for workshops, roundtables, facilitated discussions or other formats that encourage dialogue across academic and professional communities. Please explain the proposed format, participants and intended outcomes in up to 250 words.
Building the programme
Submissions may identify themselves primarily with DORS/research, DLC/practice and policy, or both. This will help the organisers develop a programme that preserves the character of both events while creating meaningful points of overlap.
The organising committee may group individual submissions into thematic panels. Where appropriate, we may also develop mixed academic–practice panels in order to bring complementary perspectives into dialogue.
We particularly encourage submissions from doctoral researchers, early-career researchers and professionals at earlier stages of their careers, as well as contributions from disciplines, communities and professional settings that have historically been less visible in digital death research.
Important information for DORS#8 accepted abstracts
The Birmingham event represents a new collaborative edition and a revised conference concept. Abstracts previously accepted or submitted for the planned DORS#8 event in Denmark 2026 will therefore not transfer automatically.
We warmly encourage previous DORS#8 contributors to join us in Birmingham, but all proposals must be resubmitted through the new 2027 submission process. Authors are welcome to resubmit their previous proposal unchanged where appropriate, or revise it in light of the new conference theme and collaborative DLC × DORS format.
Please submit your abstract at the earliest possible date. This is an in-person conference and virtual presentations will only be accepted in extremely special circumstances.
