What’s happened 

The Royal College of Podiatry has opened its annual call for abstracts for Podiatry 2026, inviting people from across the profession and wider healthcare community to share their work.  

Successful submissions will be presented as either an oral presentation or a poster at this year’s conference in Birmingham. Authors can submit for an oral presentation, a poster presentation or either format. 

The call is open to members and non-members, students, multidisciplinary teams, international applicants and lay representatives.  

Submissions are welcomed across a broad range of topics, including: 

• clinical practice 

• research 

• quality improvement 

• service evaluation 

• education 

• innovation and digital health 

• public health 

• case studies with clear learning points 

All abstracts will be independently reviewed by the College’s Research, Development and Innovation Committee using a blinded assessment process.  

Why this matters to members 

Presenting at the College’s annual conference is an opportunity to share ideas, highlight innovation and contribute to the profession’s evidence base. 

The call is not limited to traditional academic research. It also welcomes work arising from clinical practice, service improvement, education and innovation, making it accessible to practitioners working across a wide range of settings.  

Accepted abstracts may be presented as posters or oral presentations and will be eligible for several conference awards, including the Dr Joanne Paton Research Award, Best Poster Award and the People’s Poster Prize.  

Thinking about submitting? 

Abstracts should: 

• be no more than 500 words 

• follow the structure of Background, Aim, Methods, Results and Conclusion 

• describe completed work 

• demonstrate originality and relevance to contemporary foot and ankle healthcare 

Submissions must not have been presented previously at a national or international conference or published in open-access literature.  

What happens next 

The deadline for submissions is midnight on Monday 31 August 2026.  

Applicants will be notified of the outcome during the week commencing 14 September.  

Successful abstracts will be presented at Podiatry 2026, taking place at the ICC Birmingham on 26-27 November.  

The College has also signposted a range of resources to support first-time authors preparing an abstract. 

Links and references 

Royal College of Podiatry: Call for abstracts 

Community for Allied Health Professions in Research (CAHPR): Getting your abstract accepted 

Health Innovation North East England: How to write an abstract and design an effective conference poster