The 15th eSTEeM Annual Conference 2026: Stepping Back and Stepping Up – 15 Years of eSTEeM

Registration is now open to Open University staff for eSTEeM’s conference titled Stepping Back and Stepping Up – 15 Years of eSTEeM. This year’s hybrid event will mark eSTEeM’s 15th anniversary.

A rich and diverse programme contains of mixture of interactive oral presentations, lightning teaching innovation talks, workshops/demonstrations and poster presentations, which showcases high quality, impactful scholarship and teaching innovations across the STEM Faculty.

We are delighted to welcome Sam Nolan, Director at the Durham Centre for Academic Development, Teaching and Learning Centre. Sam will reflect on his personal journey into the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and explore how scholarly inquiry into teaching can evolve from small-scale practice-based curiosity into a catalyst for institutional change. Day two will feature a panel discussion focusing on the role of scholarship in the OU's emerging strategy.  

Now in its 9th year, we will be presenting the annual eSTEeM Scholarship Projects of the Year awards, which will celebrate excellence in eSTEeM projects over the past year. Conference delegates will also be invited to vote for the best poster presentation and the most engaging and immersive presentation for day one and day two.

All Open University staff are welcome to attend in person. If you are not presenting your eSTEeM project, and you are not formally based at Walton Hall, then permission should be sought from your school to claim expenses.

To register and view the draft programme, please see the links below under ‘Related Resources’. Registration will close on Friday 10th April 2026.

We look forward to welcoming you on the 29-30 April.