Join us as we celebrate 10 years of IAS! —a decade of innovation, collaboration, and excellence in healthcare simulation across the island of Ireland. To mark this milestone, IAS and the Queen’s University Belfast InterSim simulation centre invite educators, clinicians, researchers, technologists, and simulation enthusiasts to contribute to our 2026 Annual Conference.

We’re seeking high quality abstracts that showcase the best of simulation-based education, research, and practice. Whether you are advancing clinical skills, exploring new technologies, designing impactful learning environments, improving systems and patient safety, or shaping the future of simulation scholarship—we want to hear from you.

Theme: “Reflecting back, looking forward”

As we look ahead to the next ten years, this conference aims to spotlight impactful ideas, future-focused developments, and the evolving role of simulation in healthcare education, quality improvement, and patient care.

We welcome abstracts in (but not limited to) the following areas:

• Simulation-based education & curriculum innovation
• Faculty development, assessment, and debriefing
• Interprofessional learning & collaborative practice
• Technology-enhanced simulation (VR/AR, AI, digital simulation)
• Patient safety, human factors & systems-focused simulation
• Simulation centre operations, design, and leadership
• Undergraduate and postgraduate simulation initiatives
• Research, teaching evaluations, service evaluations, quality improvement projects or teaching innovations in simulation

All abstracts will be peer reviewed by the conference scientific committee.

Submission Formats

• Oral Presentations
• Poster Presentations

Notification of acceptance

For abstracts submitted and accepted, the scientific committee will determine the presentation format (oral or ePoster) based on the evaluation of the abstract and the relevance of the work. Guidelines for the format of ePosters and oral presentations will be provided with acceptance notification.

🏆 Prizes will be awarded based on best performance against the abstract review criteria described below.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

General Guidance

• Abstracts must relate to simulation-based healthcare professions education.
• At least one author must be a registered delegate of the conference and available to present
• Submissions may describe completed work or work in progress.
• Any abstracts previously presented at regional, national, or international meetings (or submitted or scheduled for presentation prior to IAS) may be submitted; however, this must be clearly declared at the time of submission.
• Abstract text must not exceed 300 words, excluding the title, authors, affiliations, and references.
• 4-6 keywords may be included in your abstracts.
• A maximum of five (5) references may be included.
• Tables, figures, or graphs must not be included within the abstract.

Titles and text should be free from abbreviations, except for those in common and accepted use.

Ethics Position Statement for Research

IAS is dedicated to supporting ethically robust research and the highest standards of ethical practice. By submitting an abstract that qualifies as research, authors are expected to have ensured that all appropriate ethical requirements for conducting and disseminating research, where appropriate, have been fulfilled. The submitting author must confirm that the necessary ethical approval has been obtained.

Abstract Review Criteria

Abstracts will be reviewed based on:

• Relevance to healthcare simulation and simulation-based education
• Novelty and originality of the work
• Scientific or educational rigour
• Potential impact on educational practice, service delivery, or policy

Abstract Content

Abstracts should clearly describe:

• The problem or educational need being addressed
• The aim(s) or objective(s) of the work
• The methods or approach used
• Key results (or preliminary results), evaluation outcomes, or lessons learned, including succinct qualitative and/or quantitative data where appropriate
• The conclusions and implications for educators, clinicians, or simulation practice

Any queries or questions

If you experience any issues with the submission process, please do not hesitate in contacting

intersim@qub.ac.uk