
Conference location
We are excited to announce that the EAPRIL 2025 Conference will be organised at the University of Malta in the stunning city of Valletta from November 25-27, 2025!
Stay tuned for more details about the conference theme, submission and review process which will be shared soon.
Conference theme
EAPRIL 2025 conference theme: Keeping it real: embracing authenticity in education in the age of AI and innovation
In an era of rapid technological advancement, and particularly because of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), authenticity has emerged as a critical cornerstone of education and educational research. Authenticity in teaching goes beyond the mere delivery of content; it embodies teachers' personal engagement, the genuine connections they make with learners, and their ability to reflect the lived realities of their students. Authentic teacher-learner relationships foster the trust, empathy and sense of belonging that are essential for meaningful learning.
But authenticity goes beyond the classroom - it is also essential in educational research. As AI increasingly permeates educational contexts, the challenge is to integrate these technologies while maintaining authentic, human-centred educational values. Practice-based research has a key role to play in exploring how AI can enhance, rather than undermine, the human elements of education, and in ensuring that innovation aligns with the core mission of promoting authentic learning experiences.
This year's EAPRIL theme invites participants to reflect on how authenticity can be preserved and strengthened in a rapidly evolving educational landscape. How can we ensure that AI-driven tools support rather than replace the authentic voice of educators? How can research methodologies remain transparent, participatory and rooted in real educational contexts?
As a vibrant community bridging research and practice, EAPRIL seeks to inspire educational development that is both innovative and grounded. Together, we aim to explore how authentic teaching, learning and research can transform education, ensuring that technology serves humanity while preserving the integrity of personal and professional learning experiences.
Submissions
Submissions for the EAPRIL 2025 conference are now open! The deadline for submitting your proposal is April 24th, midnight CEST.
Guidelines
Consult our general submission guidelines below.
For format-specific guidelines, click on the highlighted name of each format below.
NEW! To accommodate conference participants who require a full paper peer review, we now offer an additional format: Present & Discuss (full paper peer-reviewed). However, during the conference and presentations, there will be no distinction between the different present & discuss formats:
- Present & Discuss (abstract-reviewed): This follows the regular review process based on your abstract and extended summary.
- Present & Discuss (full paper peer-reviewed): This new format includes a review of your full paper in addition to your abstract and extended summary.
For detailed guidelines and submission criteria for this new format, please review the specific guidelines carefully.
Please note that as of this year, our conference proceedings will contain:
- Abstracts of all accepted presentations
- Full papers of only full paper peer-reviewed submissions

Present & Discuss (abstract-reviewed)
Present & discuss sessions allow delegates to present their research and findings in an in-depth manner. These presentations are individually submitted and have data and results to present. Three Present & Discuss proposals are clustered together, based on similarities in topic, methodology and/or objectives. Each presenter is offered 15 minutes presentation time followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. At the end of all presentations, a 15-minute collective discussion is organised by the chair.
Present & Discuss sessions consist of 3 linked presentations that are scheduled together in a 90-minute session.
Please note that during the conference, no distinction will be made between abstract-reviewed and full paper peer-reviewed Present & Discuss presentations. All presentations will be grouped and scheduled into sessions based on topic and theme similarity.

NEW! Present & Discuss (full paper peer-reviewed)
Present & discuss sessions allow delegates to present their research and findings in an in-depth manner. These presentations are individually submitted and have data and results to present. Three Present & Discuss proposals are clustered together, based on similarities in topic, methodology and/or objectives. Each presenter is offered 15 minutes presentation time followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. At the end of all presentations, a 15-minute collective discussion is organised by the chair.
Present & Discuss sessions consist of 3 linked presentations that are scheduled together in a 90-minute session.
Please note that during the conference, no distinction will be made between abstract-reviewed and full paper peer-reviewed Present & Discuss presentations. All presentations will be grouped and scheduled into sessions based on topic and theme similarity.
Please note that all submissions must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference.

Symposium
Symposia provide an opportunity to present research on one topic, often from multiple perspectives, through a coherent set of papers. Symposia sessions are directed by a chair, involving three presenters and one discussant. Each presenter will be offered 15 minutes to present their research. Afterwards, the discussant has 15 minutes to present their reflections on the preceding presentations and to introduce one or two general statements to the delegates. This is followed by a general 30-minute discussion to discuss the theme of the symposium and the related statements in-depth.
Please bear in mind the three-country-rule where the symposium participants (chair, discussant, presenting authors) need to represent at least three different countries.

Workshop
Workshops are a highly interactive, collaborative session format that shows the application of the outcomes of a research project. Learning-by-doing, hands-on experience and engaging in in-depth active learning are central characteristics of workshops. Creative and/or innovative approaches are encouraged, such as brainstorming, associating, panel discussion, role play, debating, voting on statements, think tank, flipping-the-classroom, systemic approaches, simulations, mystery guest and so on. Please consider any type of media to support interactivity.
Workshops are scheduled for 90 minutes.

Case Study
In a case study session practitioners are invited to present a case from practice. A research component can be added to this session, but this is not a required condition. Instead, the floor is given to practitioners who wish to share their experiences when designing, implementing or evaluating a practice in class / school / college / university / workplace. In this format, there is more time for reflection and in-depth discussion about the case via a hands-on approach. Within one session two thematically linked case studies are clustered together. Each practitioner is offered 20 minutes to present their case followed by 25 minutes that are dedicated to an in-depth discussion with the audience.
A case study session consists of two linked case studies and is scheduled for 90 minutes.

Roundtable
A roundtable session focuses on unfinished or starting projects. In other words, the research projects don't have to have actual results but can be starting or early research. This type of session will not be set-up as a formal presentation but rather as a talk between colleagues. No formal presentation by means of a slideshow presentation is expected. Instead, a 1 A4-handout is advised for the participants of your session that summarises the main ideas and questions central in the discussion. Each presenter will be offered 15 minutes to outline both the main ideas and objectives of the project, as well as the question, problem and/or challenge(s) that they want to present to the audience. This is followed by a 30-minutes discussion per research project.
Two submissions are scheduled together in a timeslot of 90 minutes.

Poster
A poster communicates the main ideas, objectives, results and conclusions of an ongoing research project or study. Posters provide a great starting point for discussion about your work with interested and knowledgeable researchers. Each presenter will be given 3-5 minutes to present his/her poster. Afterwards, the delegates have time to ask questions or start an in-depth discussion with the presenters. Finally, a general discussion (10-15 minutes) will take place in which the main ideas, conclusions and directions for future research and practice are discussed.
A number (circa 3-5) of posters are clustered thematically in a session of 90 minutes.

Award
The EAPRIL Best Practice-Based Research Award wishes to acknowledge an outstanding and innovative project that deals with learning and development in the workplace and educational field. More specifically, practice-based research which has a profound impact on the development of both theory and practice is particularly of interest.
At the EAPRIL Conference the nominated projects get the chance to present their project during an exclusive plenary Award Session. The winner will be announced on the last day of the conference.
Funding for presenters
The EAPRIL Board of Directors is committed to being an inclusive community and wants to provide the opportunity to researchers with little access to funds to also present and attend the EAPRIL conference. Therefore, we are continuing with the funding for presenters initiative meaning that we can again offer a waived conference fee for two conference delegates.
You are considered eligible for the waived conference fee if you match the four following criteria:
- You work in a low GDP country (based on the world bank).
- You submitted a Present & Discuss (full paper peer - reviewed) presentation.
- You included your full paper as an attachment in your submission taking into account the full paper criteria for this format. You can find these criteria in the submission guidelines for the full paper peer reviewed present & discus format on our website.
- You contacted EAPRIL office at info@eapril.org to request to be considered for funding.
After the EAPRIL 2025 review process is completed, the two highest-scoring eligible Present & Discuss (full paper peer-reviewed) proposals will be awarded a waived conference fee for the EAPRIL 2025 conference.
Review
When the submission deadline has passed the review process will start. This process consists of two rounds. In the first round all proposals will be blind-reviewed by two reviewers. In the second round all proposals that received a discrepant result in the first round will be blind-reviewed by a third reviewer. Results will be announced once these two round have been concluded. While submitting, please also consider signing up as a reviewer!
PROCEDURE
- After the submission deadline has passed on April 24th, 2025 the first review round will start, which will run until May 13th, 2025.
- For those submissions that yield discrepant review results, a second review procedure will be organised between May 13th and May 27th, 2025. Only a few reviewers will be asked to participate in this second review procedure.
- After these two round are concluded the results will be officially announced
Important dates
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18 February
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24 April
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13 May
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28 May
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6 June
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10 June
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11 September
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18 September
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25 - 27 November
Partners & Sponsors
Are you interested to join us as sponsor of the EAPRIL conference? You can find all information here.
A big thank you to all our EAPRIL 2025 sponsors & partners!

VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings
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