Celebrating 10 years of the Horizons in STEM HE Conference

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Horizons in STEM HE Conference, which took place at Aston University on the 25-26 June. Initiated by eSTEeM, the conference is an opportunity for STEM colleagues across the sector to share their insights into teaching innovation and pedagogy and develop connections across the STEM disciplines. To mark the occasion the opening plenary session was delivered by those who formed the first conference committee with Diane Butler representing the OU. The session explored the transformative impact of the conference series on the growing community of STEM-focused Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) practitioners and examined how it has shaped practice, fostered collaboration and supported professional recognition. 

Delegates enjoyed a rich and engaging programme across ten themes and eSTEeM was again well represented with 5 projects showcasing their scholarship projects. Many congratulations to Emma Champion and Rosie Boltryk whose poster won the Best Poster Presentation for Day 1 How does it feel to have an extension? Experiences of Stage 1 engineering students, a 3rd win in 3 years for eSTEeM projects. 

Work continues on driving forward the Horizons in STEM HE Network, which has been established alongside the conference series to bring together STEM Higher Education enthusiasts and practitioners with a vision of developing a STEM HE experience that is informed and improved by SoTL. For further information about the aims of the network, and details of how to become a member, please visit the Horizons in STEM Higher Education Network website. 

Next year’s event will be hosted by Royal Holloway, University of London on the 24-25 June 2026. Further details will be available from the conference website in due course.