Full Title: 12ICOM - 12th International Conference on Multimodality
Short Title: 12ICOM

Date: 29-Oct-2025 - 31-Oct-2025
Location: House of Connections, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Contact Person: Janina Wildfeuer
Meeting Email: [email protected]
Web Site: https://bit.ly/12ICOM

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Cognitive Science; Discourse Analysis; Neurolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Meeting Description:

The International Conference on Multimodality, ICOM, is a bi-annual event in the context of multimodality research, i.e. the study of how diverse expressive forms, or semiotic modes, work together in the meaning-making processes of our daily personal as well as professional communication. Multimodality research is primarily situated in the broad field of the humanities, often strongly affiliated with linguistics and communication studies and with connection points to information studies and artificial intelligence, psychology, sociology, and other disciplines. It is also currently seen as a stage of development that many fields and disciplines currently undergo, developing an interest in multimodal phenomena.

The aim of the bi-annual conference is to provide space, time, and opportunities for scholars from these different fields and disciplines to exchange newest research results and interests, foster networking and collaboration, and build foundations for inter- and transdisciplinary triangulation.

With the first events in the 2000s, a successful series of conferences started, initially strengthening multimodality as a new research endeavor in communication studies and linguistics, subsequently broadening the interest and exploring the full range of different ways in which multimodality had been taken up in its early phases. In the 2010s, the main aim was mainly to solidify multimodality further and to establish specific research lines and sub-disciplines. In the 2020s, multimodality is seen as a broad, interdisciplinary research context for which the conference provides regular exchange and networking for a vast diversity of scholars. Participants usually come from a broad number of countries including USA, Brasil, Argentina, Western, Southern and Northern Europe, Australia, South Africa, China. The conference is open for researchers on all levels and ECRs are usually particularly supported. For the 2023 edition in London, the Visual Communication Journal provided an Early Career Sponsorship, for example.

The 2025 conference under the label “The Multimodal Multiverse” will offer a new space and opportunities to bring together the many, potentially diverse fields of multimodality research to further identify and strengthen connections, triangulation and future necessities.

Call for Papers:

Following the very successful 11th ICOM in London, we're happy to share that the next ICOM will be held at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The 12th International Conference on Multimodality will take place on 29-31 October 2025, in Groningen!

This year's theme is "The Multimodal Multiverse!" The field of multimodality is diverse and colourful, with plenty of research methods, approaches, and areas of interest. All share a common interest: meaning and its creation in communicative situations. In Groningen, we want to acknowledge this unity in diversity.

We aim to find and underline a common ground and potential connection points between subfields or areas, build bridges between disciplines, and initiate new connections and collaborations. During our three-day conference, we offer the opportunity to learn from each other’s research and connect during several networking events.

We distinguish no particular areas of interest and invite all disciplines and research fields related to multimodal communication. We particularly encourage proposals on theories, methods, analysis, empirical studies, or the triangulation of results in mixed- and multi-methods environments.

Our exploration paths offer four different ways of sharing your idea with us during the conference:

PITCH: 5-minute pitch followed by a 15-min. discussion. This format is suggested for research ideas that you would like to discuss and receive feedback on from leading specialists in the field.

TALK: Up to-20-minute talk followed by a 10-minute discussion. This format is suggested for standard research presentations.

POSTER: Poster presentation during one of the several 50-minute poster sessions.

WORKSHOP: Each workshop will be allocated a timeslot of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Workshops could include practical aspects of multimodal, collaborative analysis, or experiments. They should aim at discussion and networking rather than just a series of individual presentations. The organizing committee will give preference to interactive workshops engaging with the audience. The organizers are open to planning it according to their preference – we do not require any particular number of presentations or specific timing for any talks.

Submission Rules and Important Details:
Abstracts for each of the formats above will undergo a double-blind review process. The reviewers will assess the quality of the research, its novelty, significance, and relevance to the broad field of multimodality.

You can submit your abstract via https://bit.ly/12ICOM. Please do not exceed 300 words (excl. references) and add up to 5 keywords. Note that the form requests you to submit several details depending on the format you choose.

All accepted submissions are required to be presented in person. We are not accepting virtual or pre-recorded presentations. You are encouraged to submit no more than one proposal for an individual presentation and one for the workshop. Please keep in mind that we have limited space and may not be able to accept all submissions or suggest a different format based on your abstract.

Registration Fees:
To lower the overall fees, we are aiming at securing funding for the conference. Until we know more about this, we plan with a fee of 200,00 € for regular submissions and 100,00 € for PhD and Master students. Costs for conference dinner and extra activities are not included in this fee.