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Call for Abstracts

This year’s conference theme is: “The Societal Impact of Citizen Science for Health”. We are now inviting submissions for conference abstracts.

The third Global Conference on Citizen Science for Health (CS4H) will be held from April 19 to 21, in Odense, Denmark. The conference aims to introduce state-of-the-art in the CS4H domain and continue the transition from long-standing traditions of patient participation in health research to more recent and intensive modes of citizen science in health.

This year’s conference theme is: “The Societal Impact of Citizen Science for Health”.

The conference focuses on diverse types of multidisciplinary scientific collaborations between, among others, citizens, patients, medical staff, health care providers, researchers, students, policymakers, funding agencies, and companies. This includes approaches such as citizen science, personal science, patient involvement, inclusive research, participatory action research and community-based health research. The language of the conference is English.

We are inviting submissions for conference abstracts. You are welcome to submit multiple abstracts, up to a maximum of three in total. All abstracts should be in line with one of the conference themes listed below.

FORMATS

Oral Presentation (12 minutes + 3 min discussion)

In an oral presentation, you can share insights about your research, methodology, project, findings, and applications. An oral presentation lasts 12 min (strictly timed). Max 2 presenters on stage.

Open Formats: Workshops, World Cafés, Solution Rooms etc. (60 minutes)

Due to the novelty of citizen science approaches in the health domain, you might run into challenges. The same ones are, perhaps, also encountered by others. Do you want to share and explore a specific challenge with others, get feedback, or hear how others have handled it?

The open formats encourage sharing participants' experiences and expertise in tackling common challenges or exploring specific topics. They last 60 minutes and can have up to two organizers, with a maximum of 15 participants. The sessions can be designed according to the organizers' needs. If necessary, organizers can bring tools or materials (e.g., prototypes, technology, art) to support the session.

Posters

With a poster, you can share the results of your projects, present the approach that you took in your work, address an issue, or inform others on your latest insights.

Posters can be in portrait format and are supported up to A0 format. Posters will be displayed throughout the whole conference close to the main rooms and mingling and dialogue sessions will be organized.

Other Format (60 minutes)

We encourage participants (citizens and researchers) to propose alternative formats for their ‘presentation’ (e.g., citizen science research, debates, case studies, patient panels, or “ask a citizen”). Only highly engaging and interactive formats will be considered.

Abstract Submission

Abstracts (for all formats) should include a title, abstract (max 250 words), format choice, theme choice, and information about authors and presenters.

Rooms at the conference venue will be equipped with a computer and screen for slides. For all formats, the conference organizers can provide paper, pens, markers, and post-its/sticky notes. All additional material should be provided by the participants themselves.

THEMES

The overall theme of the conference is “The Societal Impact of Citizen Science for Health”. Impact can be defined as the effects of research and innovation beyond academia, including effects on society, the economy, the environment, and policy. In connection, the conference has special focuses on women’s health, health inequality, trans- and interdisciplinary research approaches, ethics and the sharing and co-production of data. We invite citizen perspectives as well as contributions regarding emerging work from young career researchers. Both theoretical and empirical perspectives on these themes are invited. 

The aim of citizen science for health is to make an impact on health, society, science, policy, and people. We appreciate abstracts that describe the output, outcomes, and impact of citizen science projects in areas such as scientific knowledge production, policy influence, sustainable community engagement, and behavioral health outcomes, as well as impact on policy, the economy, the environment, as well as abstracts on how to measure these. This also includes abstracts on communication during and beyond research projects.

Citizen contributions are essential to advancing health research. They expand data diversity, ground scientific inquiry in real world experience, and strengthen trust between communities and researchers. Whether through sharing observations, co creating tools, or shaping research priorities, citizen involvement accelerates innovation and improves the relevance and impact of scientific outcomes. We welcome abstracts that from the citizen perspective highlight meaningful, collaborative contributions to healthier societies.

Women's health is fundamental to advancing global wellbeing. It shapes family health, drives empowerment, economic stability, and ensures equitable access to care across the lifespan. We invite participatory research abstracts that center on women’s unique biological, social, and clinical needs potentially leading to better diagnostics, improved treatments, and healthier communities that strengthen the scientific foundation for a more inclusive and effective healthcare future.

Inequality in health is a global wicked problem that has a strong negative impact on individuals, patient groups, communities and on a larger scale countries and continents. It’s limiting economic growth and comes with a longe range of consequences for those affected. We welcome contributions within this field that include bottom-up co-designed or citizen-led initiatives or projects.

Citizen science for health comes with distinct challenges related to diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and epistemic justice. This includes the ethics around researchers, NGO’s and non-profits co-producing or sharing data in ways that guarantee strong research outcomes and mitigates the misuse of citizen data. We welcome abstracts that help to bridge these issues and support fair citizen science for health projects. 

The CS4Health conference wants to highlight the future of participatory research. We therefore invite PhD candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and newly appointed faculty or research staff to present their research in a short oral presentation (max. 6 minutes) upon which a jury will decide who is awarded the Award for Best Young Researcher Contribution. We encourage imaginative, well-communicated abstracts (and presentations) that go outside the box regarding the dissemination of research. The conference defines YRC’s as PhD-students, PhD’s, post doc’s and scientific assistants. This group is of course also welcome to submit abstracts to the other categories.

Citizen science for health aims to bridge the interests and expertise of different stakeholders, including researchers, citizens, companies, governments, NGOs, schools, hospitals, libraries, etc. This may require specific approaches to the collaboration and co-creation process as well as trans- and interdisciplinarity. We welcome abstracts that highlight novel co-creation methodologies, design practices, participatory frameworks, and cross-cultural/border partnerships that have successfully advanced citizen science for health. 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

All conference abstracts should fall under state-of-the-art in the CS4H domain and will be evaluated by the following criteria:

  1. Citizen Engagement – The extent to which citizens actively participate and are involved in the activities. Joint presentations from citizens and researchers are welcome as well as from each of the groups respectively.
  2. Impact – The actual (and potential) contribution to the field of citizen science and broader societal benefits.
  3. Innovation – Novelty in approach, methodology, application, or outcomes.
  4. Relevance – Alignment with personal and/or global human health and well-being.

 

Please submit your abstract here:

 

 

 

 

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