Co-shaping of Science, Technology, and Society in India
DATE: 15 - 17 December 2025
VENUE: OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, NCR Of Delhi
VENUE: OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, NCR Of Delhi
Conference Preliminary Programme (Interactive)
About the conference
The STS India Conference seeks to bring together scholars, educators, and practitioners from diverse disciplines to explore the intersections of science, technology, and society in India, as well as the evolution of STS research in the region. This conference is a foundational step towards building a cohesive network of STS scholars and practitioners in India as well as those located elsewhere with an active interest in the region. It is also an opportunity to bring focus on a contextually relevant set of questions that can draw on a longer tradition of knowledge creation and dissemination in the region.
Through the conference, we intend to delve into various themes, including the historical development of science and technology in India, the interplay of political and economic forces, cultural influences, and future directions in STS research. By examining these themes, we aim to highlight the significant role that science and technology play in shaping and being shaped by societal structures.
Call For Papers, Panels, Workshops
We welcome proposals for closed panels and intensive workshops, as well as for individual paper presentations.
Closed Panels: Panel coordinators should submit a panel description of about 1000-2000 words and a proposed list of panelists (ideally no more than four speakers per panel, including the chair-discussant) through the conference submission portal. The panel description should be accompanied by individual paper proposals for each panelist. Coordinators may also choose to propose a chair—discussant for the panel as a whole. Please note that an individual may submit no more than two abstracts or panels.
Workshops: Workshops may be aimed at (for instance) introducing new methodologies, discussing theoretical or methodological challenges, developing toolkits, or thinking through inter/disciplinary questions. A typical workshop proposal should include the following elements:
- Title of the workshop (pithy yet descriptive)
- Names of facilitators and affiliations
- Concept (what it’s about)
- Aims (what do you hope to achieve)
- Methodology/Approach (how the workshop will flow)
- Tentative number of participants
- Support needed for the workshop (infrastructural, technical, or material requirements)
We welcome proposals that aim to discuss issues and questions of contemporary significance for the STS community.
Please keep in mind that workshops are not forums to present research, but to offer stimulus for thought, action, and possible collaboration. Workshop coordinators should submit an agenda description of about 1000-1500 words.
Individual papers: Extended paper abstracts (minimum 1000 – maximum 1200 words) with references (max 5) should be submitted through the conference submission portal.
Please note that an individual may submit no more than two abstracts or panels.
Parallel Tracks
The conference call for proposals/papers is built around the themes that were identified at the December 2023 meeting, and that have a specific focus on perspectives that go beyond the dominant, or Global North, perspectives. We invite papers that are firmly grounded in regional contexts and addressing regional concerns.
We envisage that conference sessions will be organized along the following themes. Papers that do not explicitly address these themes are also welcome.
Histories of STS: How have issues of science, technology and society been framed and shaped in the sub-continental context? What modes of inquiry have shaped the way we think about scientific and technological innovation and knowledge systems?
Digital STS: How does the digital–as infrastructure, as systems of work, life and play, and as media of communication–come to be? What are the social, cultural, economic and political forces that shape digital environments and what implications might they have for planetary futures?
Feminist STS: How can we use the lens of gender to understand the dynamics of science and technology as modes of knowledge and practice? How do such factors as class, race and other identity positions shape these systems?
Environmental STS: What can a sociological, humanist and people-centred analysis of the many scientific and technological aspects of the climate crisis lead us towards processes of mitigation and resilience? In doing so, how can we learn from both micro and macro-level, grassroots and policy level interventions and innovations in science and technology that relate to and address environmental concerns?
New and emerging science and technology (NEST) & Society: How can new and emerging science and technology (beyond technologies included under the previous themes) potentially interact with and transform society? How may society co-shape development, deployment and adaptation of NEST?
Other/Miscellaneous: Papers that do not explicitly address above themes would be curated under this track.
Key Dates
| Call for papers issued | December 15, 2024 |
| Last date for submission of paper/panel/ workshop proposals | |
| Notification of acceptance | |
| Confirmation of attendance | May 10, 2025 |
| Early registration | |
| Regular registration | August – November 15, 2025 |
| Submission of full draft paper | 30 October 2025 |
| Circulation of full papers to discussants/ fellow panellists | 15 November 2025 |
| Conference programme finalised | November 25, 2025 |
| Conference dates | December 14-17, 2025 |
Submission Portal
STSINC25 is using the services of the Conference Management Tool provided by Microsoft. Individual paper authors as well as closed panel/workshop coordinators will have to first register on the CMT portal before making submissions (link below).
Conference submission portal: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/STSINC2025
Abstracts/Proposals should be submitted no later than 10 March 2025
We will get back to you within eight weeks of receiving the abstract or closed panel/workshop proposal. Those whose abstracts have been accepted are expected to submit draft papers (4500-5000 words) by 30 October 2025. These will be shared with panel discussants who will then be able to provide pointed feedback, contributing to a more productive discussion. In the case of pre–formed panels, this will be the responsibility of the Panel Coordinator.
Travel bursaries may be available for those who are unable to support their own travel.
Organising Committee
Naveen Thayyil, IIT Delhi
Madhulika Banerjee, Delhi University
Vidya Subramanian, Jindal Global University
Mahendra Shahare, IIT Bombay
Rohit Negi, IIM Calcutta
Aalok Khandekar, IIT Hyderabad
Usha Raman, University of Hyderabad
Shiju Sam Varughese, Central University of Gujarat
Pankaj Sekhsaria, IIT Bombay
Janaki Srinivasan, University of Oxford
Aswathy Raveendran, HBCSE-TIFR, Mumbai