Welcome to the 3rd Annual Biodesign Symposium!
The Biodesign Symposium is an annual academic conference dedicated to progressive approaches to interdisciplinary biodesign pedagogy. As an emerging discipline, biodesign draws inspiration from arts and design, engineering, the social sciences and various biological subdisciplines to develop systems, processes, and objects that make essential use of biological functions. Conference proceedings aim to situate biodesign instructional theories within broader educational debates while also establishing domain-specific methodologies for deployment in the classroom.
The 3rd annual Biodesign Symposium is sponsored by Schmidt Sciences’ Biosciences Center. Schmidt Sciences, founded in 2024, is one of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, and secure world for all. Follow Schmidt Sciences’ activities at www.schmidtsciences.org.
Attendance is open to everyone with an interest in educational practices at the intersection of science, art, and design. Registration and ticketing for the Biodesign Symposium will close on June 4th, 2026.
Call for Papers
Biodesign Challenge invites abstract submissions for the 3rd annual Biodesign Symposium, which will take place at Parsons School of Design in New York City on June 10, 2026.
For 2026, the Biodesign Symposium aims to build on the insights of the previous symposia and highlight those research papers, instructional paradigms, and activities that advance biodesign as a constructive method between biotechnology, the arts and design. In doing so, the conference will retain its guiding question “How to Grow a Biodesigner?” but shift focus away from investigations into the current state of the discipline and toward forward-looking educational strategies for developing professional biodesigners. These strategies will reflect biodesign’s intrinsic interdisciplinarity, advancing tested approaches to integrative research and pedagogy through the field’s constituent disciplines. As such, the conference committee encourages submissions that have resulted in real-world interventions, material innovations, or speculative designs that push biodesign as a whole. Preference for inclusion in the Biodesign Symposium will be given to abstracts and submissions that are aligned with the following themes:
Adaptive education and integrative approaches to generative artificial intelligence and large language models in biodesign learning pathways. Specifically, papers that explore how biodesign instructors are developing bespoke tools for interdisciplinary research, modifying evaluative criteria to accommodate for AI-facilitated learning, and encouraging the use of AI to build cross-disciplinary literacies.
Epistemological paradigms for advancing interdisciplinary knowledge production in higher education, including alternatives to constructionist models for biodesign pedagogy.
Education that supports bioeconomic development through a focus on underutilized biomass or biomanufacturing innovation.
Institutional structures for iterative biodesign education, including pathways for cultivating student competencies beyond Biodesign 101.
Laboratories, workshops, and physical infrastructures for supporting student biodesign research.
Emerging ethical considerations in biotechnology and their role in the classroom.
As part of the Biodesign Symposium, Biodesign Challenge and Cambridge University Press invite full papers for peer-review consideration and publication in Biotechnology Design. In submitting an abstract to the Biodesign Symposium, we request that you indicate the intended audience for your proposal: for instance, submission only to the Biodesign Symposium or submission to the Biodesign Symposium with peer-review consideration at Biotechnology Design. Authors submitting abstracts intended only for the Biodesign Symposium are not obligated to publish their research in Biotechnology Design and will strictly be evaluated according to the needs of the conference. Authors indicating a desire to publish with Biotechnology Design will receive additional information upon the receipt of their abstract.
To respond to this Call for Papers and apply for the 3rd annual Biodesign Symposium, please send abstracts of no more than 250 to 350 words to info@biodesignchallenge.org. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and letters of support can be written for accepted applicants seeking supplemental funding from their institutions. The deadline for submission is April 30. All other inquiries related to Cambridge University Press, Biotechnology Design, and the peer-review process should be directed to Martyn Dade-Robertson at CUP at martyn.daderobertson@cambridge.org.
Location
June 10, 2026 9:00am – 5:00pm | The New School, University Center
63 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003
Schedule
Schedule to be announced!
Symposium Speakers
Speakers to be announced!
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