GELS 2026: AI, Interculturality, and Innovative Pedagogies for Language and Communication in Engineering Education

Venue: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación (ETSIT), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain.

This year's gathering brings together the network's expertise and UPM's world-class engineering environment in what promises to be a stimulating and productive event.

The conference will offer a rich programme exploring cutting-edge intersections between technology, pedagogy, and academic communication, including:

• Artificial Intelligence as a teaching tool and research object (LLMs, NLP, speech analysis)
• Active methodologies, gamification, and CLIL in technical education
• Intercultural communication in international and multilingual engineering teams
• Scientific and technical writing for engineers and researchers
• Sustainability, energy transition, and cybersecurity discourse
• COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) and multimodality
• AI and new professional profiles in language and communication
• Transversal competencies, project communication, and academic mobility
• Course design and training, MOOC and international projects (Erasmus, Athens, Europe Horizon)

We welcome contributions in the following formats:

• 20-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A
• One-hour interactive workshop 
• Plenary session proposal (keynote) 1h + 10min Q&A

Abstracts of approximately 300 words (excluding title and references) should be submitted in English or Spanish to gels2026@sciencesconf.org by 1 March 2026 (possibility of extended deadline: 29 March 2026).

For members coming out of out of GELS group or coming from the organising institution (UPM), abstract submission deadline could be extended to the 30th of April.

Abstracts should include: (a) a succinct title; (b) format (presentation or workshop); (c) language of delivery; (d) clear aim; (e) specific content details. A short list of references is welcome but not essential.

Key dates:

• Abstract submission deadline: 29 March 2026 
• Notification of acceptance: between the 2nd of April and the 7th of April (for those sending their abstracts before the 30th of March)
• Registration period: it is already open and closes on the 1st of June, though, it is avaisable that attendees regsiter in May.
• Conference dates: 24–26 June 2026

What to expect from GELS 2026?

• Meeting leading academic figures from UPM University — a Spanish institution of excellence, internationally recognised — as well as GELS members, well-recognised individuals with expertise in engineering education within university contexts, and renowned academics from leading institutions around the world.
• Visiting areas of interest within the different schools at UPM, such as the anechoic chamber, the intelligent house, and the forest reservoir.
• Attending a corporate dinner centred on traditional Spanish cuisine.
• Selected contributions may be considered for publication in a Q1-indexed journal. 

For further information, please visit the conference website (https://gels2026.sciencesconf.org/) or contact:

• Estefanía Avilés (UPM, Organising Committee) — estefania.aviles@upm.es
• Jamie Rinder — jmrinder@gmail.com
• David Tual (University of Cambridge) — dhpt2@cam.ac.uk

We warmly encourage your participation and look forward to welcoming you at ETSIT UPM in June.

Please, fill in this form after registration: https://forms.gle/M8QuqWhzfwGFfuFN6

X: @2026Gels 

Registration fee: 120€ (this includes registration, dinner and visits).

Bank account number:

IBAN: ES05 2080 5604 6830 4005 5349

Personal data to be included:

• Name and surname
• If you require an invoice, you may indicate this at the time of registration and provide the following information:

                - For individuals: Name, surname, ID number, and address.
                - For companies: Name, surname, company ID (CIF), company name, and address.