Every year, the Development Studies Association conference brings together hundreds of researchers, academics and practitioners from across the world for its annual hybrid conference. It’s the largest gathering in the UK dedicated to development studies and related disciplines – a vibrant space where ideas are shared, collaborations are born, and global challenges are explored from multiple perspectives.

The DSA represents a diverse and active community, including academics in development studies, geography, economics, engineering, political science, and gender studies, as well as practitioners from NGOs, humanitarian organisations and publishers. The annual conference attracts between six and seven hundred delegates, with around three-quarters attending in person from approximately seventy countries. In 2025, for example, 418 delegates took part in person and 232 online, across 73 panels and workshops, presenting 425 papers!

Alongside established scholars, the event is a key moment for early career researchers to build networks and confidence, supported by PhD masterclasses, student-led sessions, and workshops on publishing strategies. The DSA also works hard to ensure a diverse range of voices and perspectives are represented at every conference, helping the conversation reflect the global nature of development itself.

Hosting the DSA conference is more than just opening your doors for a few days – it’s an opportunity to bring international visibility to your university’s research, deepen partnerships, and strengthen academic culture across departments.

The benefits are wide-ranging. Many past hosts have found that it sparks new collaborations locally and internationally. The University of Bath, for instance, used the opportunity to connect the South West International Development Forum with the wider development studies community, creating lasting regional networks. Others, such as the University of Reading, found ways to align the conference with their institutional strengths – in Reading’s case, by showcasing its world-renowned research on agriculture and environmental change and delegates were invited to tour the university’s cocoa quarantine centre. Professor Dominik Zaum, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation at the University of Reading, explained: “Reading has a long tradition of development studies research, especially in agriculture. Hosting the DSA conference allowed us to highlight the international excellence of our research and bring colleagues together around a common theme.”

Each year, the conference takes on a central theme that reflects both contemporary global issues and the strengths of the host institution. This is an exciting opportunity to shape debate and attract attention to your own areas of excellence.

At Reading, the theme “the anthropocene and beyond” connected the university’s expertise in environment, food production and agriculture to the wider development conversation. “We wanted something contemporary that would stimulate debate,” said Associate Professor Alex Arnall. “The theme reflected the strengths of the University of Reading, and it gave the conference a distinctive identity.”

Similarly, SOAS chose “social justice and development in a polarising world” to reflect its cross-departmental research and teaching. As Professor Jennings noted, “It recognised the enormous challenges facing the world right now, while also showing how our work contributes to addressing them.”

Development studies is, by nature, a discipline that thrives on global dialogue. The DSA’s annual conference is one of the few spaces in the world where voices from across continents come together to share experiences and knowledge, often directly from the field. Delegates include academics, policymakers, activists and community leaders – all bringing different insights to questions of justice, sustainability and transformation.

Professor Jay Mistry from Royal Holloway captured the spirit of the event perfectly: “With the DSA conference you’ve got a lot of people attending from different parts of the world, many of whom work directly with communities on the ground. We need to make space for other kinds of knowledge and experiences to come into these big conference spaces.”

For many attendees, especially those joining in person, the DSA conference is a chance to meet peers, form collaborations and share work that shapes real-world change. The hybrid format means that participation is also accessible for those who join online, creating an inclusive and flexible experience that fits the realities of modern academia.

Dr Rakiya Mamman from the National Open University in Nigeria expressed the importance of being able to attend: “The global South voice is very important because one of the paradoxes of development studies is that it is the study of the global South, but the centres of excellence continue to be in the North. Being here allows us to share perspectives that make development studies more relevant and grounded.”

Hosting the DSA annual conference is straightforward, rewarding and impactful. The DSA provides the logistical framework, systems and support, so your Scientific Committee can focus on the academic contributions you can make to the theme such as suggesting keynote plenaries, vetting quality of the panels and opportunities for engagement and networking.

If your department is looking for a meaningful, visible way to engage with the global development community and highlight your contribution to understanding and addressing global challenges, get in touch with our conference team to find out more.