Special Sessions

The Women in Engineering special session will include two activities:

Networking Lunch

An informal networking lunch bringing together participants and invited speakers from academia and industry.
During this session, attendees will have the opportunity to:

• Meet women in engineering across different career stages
• Exchange experiences in research, industry, and leadership
• Discuss career paths, challenges, and opportunities in a more direct setting

This activity is designed to encourage conversation in a smaller and more personal format, with space for mentoring-style interactions and informal discussion. The invited participants will reflect different professional backgrounds, career stages, and perspectives.

Interactive Panel

The second part of the session will be an interactive panel discussion focused on audience participation.

Rather than following a traditional panel format, the discussion will use Mentimeter to support live interaction throughout the session. Participants will be able to:

• Vote on a first set of questions proposed for the discussion
• Submit their own questions live during the session
• Highlight the topics they find most relevant
• Contribute to a live word cloud showing recurring themes and concerns

Submitted questions will be moderated in the background and curated for the panel, helping the discussion remain dynamic, relevant, and representative of the audience. Backup questions will also be prepared to ensure continuity throughout the session.

The 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) session is intended for PhD students with accepted BSN 2026 papers. As the name suggests, this is a 3-minute research pitch, designed to communicate a doctoral research topic in a clear, concise, and engaging way.
Timeline and Process

• Submission opens: July 16, 2026
  Following paper acceptance notification, eligible students may indicate their interest in participating in the 3MT session.
• Submission deadline: July 30, 2026
  Expressions of interest / submissions for the 3MT session close on this date.
• Selection process: after the submission deadline
  Submitted applications will be reviewed to define the students who will move forward to the final stage. Selection will be based on the relevance and suitability of the proposed presentation for the 3MT format.
• Notification: August 30, 2026
  Selected participants will be informed after the review process.
• Final session: during one of the BSN 2026 poster sessions
  Finalists will deliver their 3-minute presentations during a poster session, where the winning presentation will be selected at the end of the session.

Final Stage

The final will take place live during the conference and will feature the selected finalists presenting their work in the 3MT format. The session is planned as a dynamic moment within the poster programme, ending with the selection of the winning presentation.