Scholarly Social Talks Bristol: Collaborative strategies to #DefendResearch and ensure academic freedom

We are delighted to invite you to a Scholarly Social Talks event at the IOP Publishing offices in Bristol on Thursday 2nd July 2026. We are extremely grateful to The Editorial Hub and IOP Publishing for supporting us to make this occasion possible.

Collaborative strategies to #DefendResearch and ensure academic freedom

July 2, 2026

At a time of geopolitical instability, the language and objectives of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are increasingly under threat, with widespread disruption to research, education, and library programs, and the withdrawal of crucial sources of research funding.

How can scholarly publishers, as key stakeholders and participants in the global academic community, unite to effectively resist censorship and uphold academic freedom?

This event is a continuation of the conversations we had in Leeds in September 2025, and is dedicated to encouraging open dialogue around the #DefendResearch initiative. We aim to explore and develop practical strategies to combat censorship and strengthen support networks for publishers and researchers facing these critical challenges. You can read a summary of our previous event in the Scholarly Kitchen.

Our panel will be chaired by George Cooper, Lecturer in Publishing Practice at UCL who will be joined by several speakers to provide a range of perspectives:

• Dr Alison Hicks, Associate Professor, Department of Information Studies, UCL
• Dr. Suze Kundu, #DefendResearch Steering Committee and Science Communication Consultant
• Prof. Stephan Lewandowsky, Chair in Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
• Speaker TBC

The panel discussion will be followed by Scholarly Social networking with pizza and drinks provided by The Editorial Hub and IOP Publishing.

Scholarly Social is an open and collaborative social gathering to share ideas and make connections with anyone involved in scholarly communication and to catch up with old friends. Everyone connected to scholarly communication is welcome, including researchers, publishers, librarians, technologists, scientists, consultants, and students.

We are planning to hold events in different parts of the UK - if you would like to collaborate on a networking event please get in touch - scholarlysocial@gmail.com