The 15th annual conference of the Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (SLLS) is scheduled to take place between Wednesday 1st and Friday 3rd July 2026 and will be hosted by the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Pre-conference workshops will take place on Tuesday, 30th June 2026.

The overall theme of the conference is "Structure and Change in Critical Times: Implications for the Life Course".

The aim of the event is to generate and exchange information on comparable data resources with information on early predictors of later outcomes across different domains and across different life stages. We welcome conference submissions from all areas of longitudinal and life course studies: sociological, psychological, epidemiological, economic, social developmental and ageing processes and functioning within and across life course stages; methods and findings of cohort or panel studies and record linkage, household, and income dynamics; intergenerational transfers and returns to learning; gene environment interactions; ‘mixed’, and comparative methods; innovative methodology in design, measurement, data management, analysis and research practice (quantitative and qualitative).

Proposals are sought for five types of presentation:

• POSTER: For which an abstract of no more than 300 words is required.
• INDIVIDUAL PAPER: For which an abstract of no more than 300 words is required. Papers that do not fit into regular sessions may be allocated as posters.
• SYMPOSIUM: Comprising four or five papers. Accepted symposia will be allocated a time slot of 1.5 hrs. For each symposium, we require a summary abstract of no more than 200 words, plus an abstract of no more than 300 words for each paper.
• PANEL: For which an abstract of no more than 300 words is required. A maximum of five panellists.
• PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP (30th June 2026): Half or full day duration. For which an abstract of no more than 300 words is required.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, 13 February 2026, 17:00 (GMT)

Click here to submit an abstract. 

Please note: All contributors will be notified of the conference committee’s decision by 20th March 2026. If we are oversubscribed with quality submissions, it may be necessary to limit acceptance of lead-authored papers to one per presenter. Conference fees are reduced for SLLS members, so please consider becoming a member if you are not already. Click here for full details and to sign up! The Society’s Journal, Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, will be a possible outlet for the publication of conference papers.