Student and Early Careers Conference 2025

Following the success of our 2021-2024 conferences, the CIfA Early Careers Special Interest Group and the Council for British Archaeology are hosting our fifth digital Student and Early Careers Conference during the Festival of Archaeology 2025.

Every year, this digital conference aims to platform students, early career archaeologists and heritage professionals, and to give them the opportunity to gain presentation experience.

Date: 30 July 2025
Time: 3 - 8pm

Who is it for?

SPEAKERS: The conference speakers are those studying archaeology or an associated subject such as osteoarchaeology, anthropology, or cultural heritage management, undertaking an apprenticeship or training scheme, or in early career employment in archaeology.

AUDIENCE: We always hope the conference audience will comprise anyone who has an interest in the range of topics that will be discussed and/or those who wish to support early career archaeologists and heritage professionals in a welcoming and friendly environment.

Is there a theme or preferred presentation format?

There is no set theme. Instead, participants are encouraged to present on any topic of their choice. The aim is to make as many people as possible feel comfortable contributing, and with this in mind, we offer a range of presentation methods. These include:

Short talks (10-15 minutes)
Pre-recorded presentations
Posters

We also offer the opportunity to pre-record presentations that will be shared ahead of the conference, via the CBA's YouTube channel like the example below.

How do I take part? 

If you are interested in participating, please submit a short abstract to [email protected], by Monday 9am 2nd June 2025.

Conference Abstract and Posters

We have created a handy guide to writing a conference abstract should you need it.

Picture 3, Picture In addition to your abstract please let us know:

if you have presented before, 
the method by which you would like to present 
state if you would be interested in chairing a session

If you would prefer to submit a poster please take a look at our guidance:

Chairing a Session

We have also created a short intro to Chairing a Session should you wish to find out more.

Call for Contributions 

You can download the Call For Contributions in full here.

Can I watch the talks from the conference?

The conference talks were recorded and, where permission was granted, are now available on the CBA's YouTube channel.

You can find last year's recordings on the Early Careers Conference 2024 playlist and further examples below.