Convergence 2026: Human-AI Integration for Multilingual and Accessible Communication Guildford, UK, 17 - 19 June 2026 Second call for papers https://www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-translation-studies/convergence-2026
The conference Building on the success of the first Convergence conferencehttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-translation-studies/convergence-2023 in 2023, which explored the responsible and intelligent integration of human and machine capabilities in translation and interpreting, the Centre for Translation Studies at University of Surrey, UK, is proud to announce Convergence 2026: Human-AI Integration for Multilingual and Accessible Communication. The second edition of the Convergence conference will create an opportunity to bring together innovative research on the evolving landscape of AI in the context of multilingual and accessible communication, reflecting on the complexity and effects of using AI-driven technologies in these fields. The conference will foster a multidisciplinary dialogue that will generate new theoretical perspectives and practical research, focusing on themes such as the ethical aspects of AI in translation and interpreting, AI-enabled digital accessibility and societal inclusion, and the impact of Generative AI on language mediation. We will also examine the evolving role of language professionals, the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) in supporting multilingual communication, and the crucial need for responsible use of language AI in the public sector. The conference will publish full papers in open access proceedings with assigned ISBN and DOI.
The conference will be preceded by a Summer school on Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Communication between 15th and 17th June 2026. More details about the summer school will be added to the website soon.
Conference themes Theme 1: Ethical aspects of AI in translation and interpreting Theme 2: AI-enabled digital accessibility and societal inclusion Theme 3: Which creative turn? Language mediation in the era of GenAI Theme 4: The evolving role of language professionals in the era of AI Theme 5: LLMs supporting multilingual communication Theme 6: Responsible use of language AI in the public sector Full description of the themes is available on the conference website: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-translation-studies/convergence-2026#themes
Submissions and publications Convergence 2026 invites the following types of submissions on one of the conference themes:
* Long papers - describing original completed research. Allowed paper length: maximum 8 pages + unlimited number of pages for references and appendices * Short papers - describing work in progress. Allowed paper length: maximum 4 pages + unlimited number of pages for references and appendices The conference aims to be a platform for in-depth discussion of prevalent themes while also offering contributors the opportunity for swift publication of their work. The event will provide the wide community of Translation and Interpreting Studies and the disciplines it intersects with, a space for networking, collective brainstorming and looking into the future of communication, all sustained by a robust set of papers published in the conference proceedings. Both long and short papers can be associated with rigorous empirical work or conceptual approaches to the themes of the conference. PhD students are also invited to submit papers regardless of the stage of their PhD journey. If accepted, their papers may be selected to any of the sessions of the conference, including a dynamic poster session, in which students may receive feedback and consider new developments for their work.
Each submission will be reviewed by three members of the Programme Committee. The conference will not consider and evaluate abstracts only. Full details about paper submission are available on the conference website at https://www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-translation-studies/convergence-2026#submiss...
Invited speakers
* Horacio Saggionhttps://www.upf.edu/web/horacio-saggion, Chair in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and Head of the TALN Group and Large Scale Text Understanding Systems Lab at the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. * John Anthony O'Sheahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/johnanthonyoshea/, LL.B, LL.M, Founder of Jurtrans, Chairperson of FIT-Europe, member of EU's Language Industry Expert Group
Important dates
* 23rd Feb 2026: Registration of intention to submit a paper (optional) * 2nd March 2026: Submissions of full papers * 6th April 2026: Notification of acceptance * 22nd May 2026: Camera ready papers for the draft proceedings * 15th - 17th June 2026: Summer school on Artificial Intelligence for Accessible Communication * 17th - 19th June 2026: The Convergence conference * 1st Sept 2026: Camera ready papers for final proceedings
Venue The conference will take place in Guildford at University of Surrey. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us on cts_inquiries@surrey.ac.ukmailto:cts_enquiries@surrey.ac.uk
Conference organisers Conference chair: Prof Sabine Braunhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/sabine-braun Programme chairs: Prof Constantin Orasanhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/constantin-orasan and Dr Diana Singureanuhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/diana-singureanu Proceedings chairs: Dr Felix do Carmohttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/felix-do-carmo and Prof Constantin Orasanhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/constantin-orasan Summer school chairs: Dr Elena Davittihttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/elena-davitti and Prof Sabine Braunhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/sabine-braun Sponsorship chairs: Sara Palmerhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/sara-palmer and Aimee Savagehttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/aimee-savage Local organisers: Aimee Savagehttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/aimee-savage and Dr Yuan Zouhttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/yuan-zou
--- Prof Constantin Orăsan Professor of Language and Translation Technologies
Centre for Translation Studieshttps://www.surrey.ac.uk/centre-translation-studies, University of Surrey, UK Personal page: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/constantin-orasan