Research reports

49th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education PME 49

Colloquium

The goal of a Colloquium is to provide the opportunity to present a set of three Research Reports that are interrelated in a particular way (e.g. they are connected through related or contrasting theoretical stances, use identical instruments or methods, or focus on closely related research questions), and to initiate a discussion with the audience on the interrelated set.

A Colloquium proposal:

consists of a set of exactly three research reports, to be presented by members from at least two different countries;
includes, in addition, a one-page summary by an organizer (one person), indicating a specific pre-determined focus that is common to each research report; and
involves a presentation of the three research reports, and a discussion with the audience that is initiated by the contribution of a discussant (one person, indicated in the author line of the one-page summary) who is appointed at submission.

The three Research Reports should be formatted and submitted via ConfTool using the guidelines provided for that presentation format (see above, 5.2.2 Research Report (RR)). Here, further information is provided only for the one-page summary which accompanies the three Research Reports.

The additional one-page summary is created using the same template or formatting guidelines as for Poster Presentations and Oral Communications, and is submitted by the Colloquium organizer via ConfTool. It provides the Colloquium title and the name of the organizer (preceded by “Organizer:”) and discussant (preceded by: “Discussant:”) in the author fields. Then, the text containing the focus and/or rationale for the Colloquium is provided. Note that no abstract is necessary for the Colloquium summary. Proposals that do not follow the formatting guidelines will not be included in the peer review process.

In the comments field in ConfTool, the authors and titles of the three research reports that comprise the Colloquium must be indicated.

Submissions to ConfTool are only allowed if the presenting author is registered in the ConfTool system and has paid the non-refundable conference deposit. Every pre-registered person may submit up to one Colloquium as organizer.

A Research Report in a Colloquium is counted identically to an individual Research Report for the existing restrictions on the number of contributions for a participant. Therefore, each conference participant may present at most one Oral Communication or one Publication Report or one Research Report, including the Research Reports that are part of Colloquia (please see also section 5.2.1 for Restrictions on number of contributions). Note that acting as a discussant of a Colloquium will not count as a contribution for the existing restrictions on conference contributions. Nevertheless, each participant can take the role of organizer or discussant in a Colloquium no more than once during one conference. Also, the organizer cannot be involved as (co-)author in more than one of the research reports in the Colloquium.

Submission and review process

Proposals for Colloquium presentations must be submitted no later than January 15, 2026 (also the deadline for Research Report proposals). The Research Reports that comprise a Colloquium proposal are reviewed in the usual way, using the same criteria. The IPC may, however, assign the set of three research reports to the same reviewers, who are then informed that the Research Reports are part of a Colloquium proposal. If all three Research Reports are considered acceptable during the review process, the International Program Committee reviews the Colloquium proposal during the second meeting of the International Program Committee and decides upon its acceptance. If not all the three Research Reports are accepted or if the framing proposal to group them in a Colloquium is rejected by the IPC, those Research Reports that were accepted in the usual review process will enter the conference program as usual Research Reports. In case of rejection, encouragement for resubmission in a different format is possible for the single Research Reports.

Details of the review process are available at the IGPME webpage.

Presentation

A 90-minute timeslot will be devoted to each Colloquium. The organizer takes care of the chairing. The organizer first briefly introduces the Colloquium topic and then each Research Report is presented in turn. The presentation time for each report can be agreed with the organizer beforehand but will be between 15 and 20 minutes (depending on how much the papers have in common; some presentations can be shorter). Afterwards, the discussant initiates the discussion for approximately 10 minutes, which is followed by discussion with the audience.

An Oral Communication proposal should describe which past research the study is built on; give a concise overview of the new results attained, and what the main implications of these results are.

Contributions need not be limited to completed research. Ongoing studies may be submitted, provided that theoretical framework, preliminary results, and a discussion of these results appear in the text submitted. Proposals which are too similar to papers previously presented cannot be accepted. Proposals that represent new and significant contributions to research in the Psychology of Mathematics Education are especially encouraged.

Submission procedure and restrictions

Proposals for Oral Communications are to be written in English without an abstract. The document may be up to one page long and must be in line with the formatting guidelines provided by the conference organizers. The PME 49 template for Oral Communications Proposals and guidelines for proposals are available PME49 website. For the peer review process, authors must submit a second, blinded version of their proposal. Papers that do not conform to the formatting guidelines, exceed the maximum number of pages or which are not accompanied by a properly blinded version may be rejected without further consideration or peer review.

For details, please refer to the Submission Checklist provided by IGPME.

The preparation of a proposal for an Oral Communication is a challenging enterprise since the length is limited to one page only. Note that no abstract is necessary for an Oral Communication paper.

Please consider the following issues before you submit your proposal:

Proposals for Oral Communication must be submitted via ConfTool (see the Submission page at the PME 49 website) no later than March 1, 2026. Submissions to ConfTool are only possible if the presenting author is registered in the ConfTool system and has paid the non-refundable conference deposit. Two files must be submitted for each proposal:

for publication, the word file that strictly follows the formatting guidelines
for review, a “blinded version” as a PDF file in which it is not possible for a reviewer to infer the authors’ identities from the text, including the references.

Please note that no revisions are possible after submission. Each contribution is accepted or rejected in the form in which it was submitted. Every pre-registered person may submit up to one Oral Communication (please refer also to section 5.2.1 for Restrictions on number of contributions). The proposal should be submitted by the author who will deliver the presentation during the conference.

Reviewing procedure and criteria

Proposals for Oral Communications will be double-blind peer-reviewed by at least one member of the IPC (International Program committee). Notification of the decision of the International Program committee to accept or reject the Oral Communication proposal will be available after the second meeting of the International Program Committee in April 2026.

Details of the review process are available at the IGPME webpage.

Advice for authors on how to prepare an Oral Communication paper can be found on the PME website.

Publication and presentation

Accepted papers will be included in the proceedings only if the full conference registration fee has been paid in time. The deadline for this payment is May 17, 2026. Details will be published in the Second Announcement.

The IPC will group three Oral Communications according to the distinctive themes in order to provide the opportunity for a common discussion period at the end of each OC session.

For OC sessions, the IC recommends one of two timing options. Some sessions may contain presentations that are closely related, while for other sessions, this may be less the case. Based on the chair’s reading of the OC summaries, and after consultation of the three presenters before the start of the session, he/she can select the appropriate option.

Option 1: Joint discussion at the end for presentations with related themes. After each presentation, there is the opportunity to clarify immediate questions for at most 5 minutes. 15 additional minutes of discussion are at the end of the session.

Option 2: Separate discussions for presentations with separate themes. The chairperson starts 10 minutes of questions and discussion directly after each 10-minute presentation.

A chairperson will be assigned to each Oral Communication session. They will introduce the presenters, make a comment regarding photographing, audio- and videotaping the session, monitor timing of the session, and moderate the discussion according to one of the previously mentioned options.

The publication and presentation should follow the PME formatting guidelines and must be in accordance with the PME publication ethics.

Oral communications

An Oral Communication proposal should describe which past research the study is built on; give a concise overview of the new results attained, and what the main implications of these results are.

Submission procedure and restrictions

Proposals for Oral Communications are to be written in English without an abstract. The document may be up to one page long and must be in line with the formatting guidelines provided by the conference organizers. The PME 49 template for Oral Communications Proposals and guidelines for proposals are available at PM49 website. For the peer review process, authors must submit a second, blinded version of their proposal. Papers that do not conform to the formatting guidelines, exceed the maximum number of pages or which are not accompanied by a properly blinded version may be rejected without further consideration or peer review.

For details, please refer to the Submission Checklist provided by IGPME.

The preparation of a proposal for an Oral Communication is a challenging enterprise since the length is limited to one page only. Note that no abstract is necessary for an Oral Communication paper.

Please consider the following issues before you submit your proposal:

for publication, the word file that strictly follows the formatting guidelines
for review, a “blinded version” as a PDF file in which it is not possible for a reviewer to infer the authors’ identities from the text, including the references.

Reviewing procedure and criteria

Details of the review process are available at the IGPME webpage.

Advice for authors on how to prepare an Oral Communication paper can be found on the IGPME website.

Publication and presentation

The IPC will group three Oral Communications according to the distinctive themes in order to provide the opportunity for a common discussion period at the end of each OC session.

Option 2: Separate discussions for presentations with separate themes. The chairperson starts 10 minutes of questions and discussion directly after each 10-minute presentation.

The publication and presentation should follow the PME formatting guidelines and must be in accordance with the PME publication ethics.

Poster Presentation

Poster Presentations are intended for research that is best communicated in a visual form rather than an oral presentation. There is no formal oral presentation associated with Poster Presentations, although there is time allotted during which presenters will be available by their posters for discussion with conference participants.

Reports should describe the research context of the study presented, the study itself, and its implications, with a particular focus on the visual aspects of the presentation.

Submission procedure and restrictions

Proposals for Poster Presentations are to be written in English. The document may be up to one page long and must be in line with the formatting guidelines provided by the conference organizers. The PME 49 template for Poster Presentation Proposals and guidelines for proposals are available at PME49 website. For the peer review process, authors must submit a second, blinded version of their proposal.

For details, please refer also to the Submission Checklist provided by IGPME.

Papers that do not conform to the formatting guidelines, exceed the maximum number of pages or which are not accompanied by a properly blinded version may be rejected without further consideration or peer review.

The preparation of a proposal for a Poster Presentation is a challenging enterprise since the space is limited to one page only. Note that no abstract is necessary for a Poster Presentation. Advice on how to prepare a Poster paper can be found on the IGPME website.

Please consider the following issues before you submit your proposal:

Proposals for Poster Presentations must be submitted via ConfTool (see the Submission page at the PME 49 website) no later than March 1, 2026. Submissions to ConfTool are only possible if the presenting author is registered in the ConfTool system and has paid the non-refundable conference deposit. Two files must be submitted for each proposal:

for publication, the word file that strictly follows the formatting guidelines
for review, a “blinded version” as a PDF file in which it is not possible for a reviewer to infer the authors’ identities from the text, including the references.

Please note that no revisions are possible after submission. Each contribution is accepted or rejected in the form in which it was submitted.

Every pre-registered person may submit up to one Poster Presentation (please refer also to section 5.2.1 for Restrictions on number of contributions). The proposal should be submitted by the author who will deliver the presentation during the conference.

Reviewing procedure and criteria

Proposals for Poster Presentations will be reviewed by at least one member of the IPC (International Program Committee). Notification of the decision of the International Program Committee to accept or reject the Poster Presentation proposal will be available after the second meeting of the International Program Committee in April 2026.

Details of the review process are available at the IGPME webpage.

Publication and presentation

Accepted proposals will be included in the proceedings only if the full conference registration fee has been paid in time. The deadline for this payment is May 17, 2026. Details are published in the Second Announcement.

60 minutes will be allocated to Poster Presentation sessions during the conference. Authors should be available at their poster in this session for discussion with conference participants. The authors should bring their posters printed in the format prescribed by the conference organizers in the Second Announcement.

Posters will be fully onsite. Nevertheless, all posters will be included as one-page pdf in the platform and an asynchronous chat will be available during the whole conference to communicate and discuss ideas with authors.

Guidelines for group activities

Group activities are intended to provide attendees with the opportunity to exchange information and ideas related to the PME. Conference participants will need to select which sessions they would prefer to attend and indicate this in their registration. Group activities will take place during parallel time allotments, and will have limited space.

All group activities (except RF proposals) are submitted for review through ConfTool, the online conference registration system (see the Submission page at the PME 49 website). ConfTool is configured to only accept submissions from presenters who are registered in the ConfTool system and have paid the non-refundable conference deposit. Please refer also to section 5.2.1 for Restrictions on number of contributions.

Research Forum (RF)

A Research Forum is a format of group presentation undertaken by a group of at least five researchers. The goal of a Research Forum is to provide PME members a comprehensive overview on the state of the art on a topic where substantial research has been undertaken in the last 5-10 years and that is of ongoing interest for the PME members. The researchers are expected to be experts with respect to the research topic and offer coherently structured activities during 2 slots of 90 minutes each, as well as a comprehensive contribution (30 pages) to the conference proceedings. See also information about research forum form IGPME.org.

A Research Forum is not supposed to be a collection of individual research presentations (see Colloquium format), but instead is meant to convey an overview of research, highlighting contemporary academic debates and perspectives in the field. In contrast to the Working Group format for evolving research topics, Research Forums are considered to mark significant advances with respect to established research topics.

A Research Forum:

focuses on a topic which is of substantial interest within the work of PME;
has a coherent structure that enables to attain a comprehensive overview of the topic;
contrasts and integrates different research approaches through the consideration of multiple perspectives;
includes structural opportunities for academic debate in interaction with the audience;
provides the participants with the opportunity to prepare for the participation through the provision of reading materials prior to the activity;
is developed by at least five researchers who are experts with respect to the research topic;
covers 2 slots of 90 minutes each; and
is represented in a comprehensive and coherent 30-page contribution in the conference proceedings.

Submission and Reviewing Process

Research Forums are highest-quality contributions to PME conferences and, as such, they are subject to a review process. In order to allow the researchers to adequately prepare the Research Forum, the deadline for initial proposals is January 19, 2026. A proposal should not exceed 5 pages, including references, and should be emailed to both pme49@helsinki.fi and info@igpme.org.

The International Program Committee (IPC) pre-reviews the proposals. If necessary, the IPC provides feedback to the coordinators with the opportunity to revise the proposal until February 7, 2026. This revised proposal should also be sent by email. The IPC will then decide on the acceptance of the Research Forums. If accepted, the final contribution for the conference proceedings (30 pages) must be handed in by March 17, 2026, using ConfTool.

Proposals must include:

the topic, title, and focus of the Research Forum;
the names of all researchers contributing as presenting authors (minimum of 5);
the name of the coordinator(s) (corresponding researcher);
an outline of the theoretical background of the research topic;
a detailed description of the proposed layout of the Research Forum, including thematic structuring, time structuring for 2 slots of 90 minutes each, as well as descriptions of the planned presentations and audience interactions;
prior reading suggestions for attendants and details on accessibility (if needed, organizers may use the PME communication infrastructure at http://www.igpme.org/; and
information on the planned structure of the contribution in the conference proceedings.

Presentation and Proceedings

Two 90-minute slots will be devoted to each Research Forum. The conference chairs are asked to schedule the slots subsequent whenever possible, although this cannot be guaranteed.

Please note the following requirements related to the presentation format at the conference:

The coordinator(s) as well as all the persons listed as presenting authors of a Research Forum need to be registered conference participants and need to participate to the research forum in person.
If a coordinator or a presenting author of a Research Forum has to cancel last minute – for whatever reasons – their presentation needs to either be presented locally by (i) co-authors of the Research Forum, (ii) co-authors of the presented research that are registered participants of the conference, or (iii) cancelled. That is, for coordinators and presenting authors of a Research Forum there is no option for digital participation.
If the coordinators of the Research Forum plan to include additional persons digitally in the Research Forum, which are not listed as co-authors of Research Forum, this can be done either in a hybrid mode or via a pre-recorded video under the following conditions:
The digital participation is less than five minutes per person (i.e., a person giving a short reaction or input).
The digital participation is announced up front in the submission of the research forum together with an indication why physical attendance is not possible and why no other (physically present) person could take this part.
If a hybrid participation is planned, a prerecorded video is necessary as a backup in case of technical issues.

The decision regarding digital participation will be made by the IPC.

The proposal and conference proceeding contribution should follow the PME formatting guidelines. The final contribution for the conference proceedings should not exceed 30 pages, including references. For accepted papers to be included in the proceedings, all coordinators and presenting authors to the Research Forum have to make a full registration by May 17, 2026, at the latest.