Call for abstracts

Submission deadline: 31 October 2025

The conference provides a space for paradox researchers, educators and practitioners from diverse disciplines and domains to come together to detangle, discuss and debate the complexities of individual, organisational and social life, using paradox lens, theory and ideas.

Taking place online, the conference seeks to be as inclusive as possible, including across timezones. There will be three days scheduled around different geographical regions of Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA), the Americas, and East Asia/Oceania.

The conference programme will be available on this webpage from January 2026, following the processing of submissions.

To complement the online gathering, and following the tradition of previous PREP conferences, several geographical locations are organising meetings in person at a number of physical hubs. Details of the hubs’ meetings will also be published on this webpage and circulated in due course.

The conference programme will include paper presentations, both full and research-in-progress. Panel discussions, keynotes and a workshop are also planned. Each of our traditional tracks of research, education and practice will have a selection of activities accessible to the different geographical regions and their timezones.

Online

The entire conference will be streamed live via Microsoft Teams and is free. You can present and attend from anywhere with a stable internet connection.

Local hubs (optional, in-person meet-ups)

Local hubs will share details about their arrangements, and how to join, on their sub-pages on this conference website.

Participation in the hubs is also free, but you will need to cover your travel and accommodation expenses. More information will be available through their respective pages in due course.

If you are interested in hosting a hub, please reach out to the organising committee.

We welcome submissions of abstracts (1,000 words, excluding references) covering any of the following:

• Research: we invite theoretical as well as empirical papers. All disciplinary influences and all methodological approaches are welcome, as long as they have a clear paradox connection.
• Education: we invite you to share work focused on teaching students about paradox or using paradox in the approach to teaching, learning and education, from design to delivery, and at all levels of tertiary education – from undergraduate to executive education, industry-oriented programmes. Submissions can focus on (paradox) pedagogy, teaching interventions, innovations, teaching tools and techniques, teaching cases, or good practices.
  
• Practice: we invite you to share insights from paradox practice, where researchers, consultants, managers, and professionals use paradox ideas as a focus or method of development in organisations. Specifically, we are looking for exemplary impact cases of paradox research on practice (e.g., case studies), outstanding examples of research translations for practice (e.g., practical implication discussions, HBR articles, TED talks, Academy of Management Insights), and innovative research-practice collaborations such as those related to action research (e.g., research articles with collaborative methods).

1. An author can submit a total of up to 2 abstracts, across all three tracks.
2. Submissions should be in PDF format.
3. A cover page should be added to the submission, showing the following: Title, Author name(s), and affiliation(s), target conference track (research, education, or practice).
4. Please use the following naming convention for your PDF:
   • first author full name - track.pdf (e.g., James Scott - Research.pdf)
   • if you submit 2 papers in the same track, please add a number 1 or 2 in the pdf file name (e.g., James Scott - Research 1.pdf, James Scott - Research 2.pdf)
5. To submit, follow the submission link on this conference website, which will be open from 1 October 2025.

When submitting, you will be asked to answer the following questions about your work:

• What are all author credentials, including contact details of first author?
• Is this a full paper or a research-in-progress?
• How would you classify the work:
  • Early Stage: Exploring ideas
  • Empirical Stage: Obtaining data
  • Theorising Stage: Data analysis
  • Completed Stage: Written up
    
• What is your work about (focus)?
• Why is the work needed (problematisation/gap)?
• How is the work (to be) conducted (methodology)?
• What is the (planned) contribution and impact of the work?
• What are you hoping to get out of your participation in PREP?
• What five keywords best describe your submission?
  

We look forward to your submissions.

• Conference co-chairs: Siarhei Manzhynski, Rikke Kristine Nielsen and Gamila Shoib
• Research track co-chairs: Uffe Willemoes-Wissing and Harald Tuckermann
• Education track chair: Marc Krautzberger
• Practice track co-chairs: Chinue Uecker, Jennifer Sparr and Ferran Torres Nadal