The 15th International Congress of Demotic Studies
ICDS 15, Uppsala, 23–27 August 2027
The first International Congress of Demotic Studies (ICDS)—or, in the original moniker, Internationales Demotisten-Colloquium—was held in (West) Berlin back in 1977. Since then, colleagues specialising in what Hermann Grapow candidly, if ungraciously, called ‘von allen bösen ägyptischen Schriftarten die böseste’, have been meeting periodically to present new discoveries, debate ideas, and promote our discipline. As a testament to the diversity and the international outlook of our scholarly community, during its history the congress has been hosted in centres of Egyptology scattered over three continents: Berlin, Leiden, Cambridge, Chicago, Pisa, القاهرة (Cairo), København (Copenhagen), Würzburg, Paris, Leuven, Oxford, Leipzig, and Heidelberg. That the ICDS has taken on different official names in virtually each of its iterations—sometimes colloquium, sometimes congress, sometimes meeting, sometimes conference—hopefully vouches for our community’s penchant for variety and diversity (starting with our transliteration systems). Not to mention that the English language itself cannot even make up its mind on how to call us: demotists or demoticists? Whatever its—and our—name, the ICDS has remained over the decades a joyous gathering point for a diverse community embracing, amongst others, students, early career academics, senior scholars, museum specialists, and, of course, interested members of the public.
We are therefore delighted to announce that the 15th International Congress of Demotic Studies (ICDS 15) will take place at Uppsala University, Campus Engelska Parken, from Monday 23 to Friday 27 August 2027.
Call for paper proposals
The congress invites papers on all aspects of Demotic Studies. In order to foster collective discussion, we do not envisage hosting poster presentations; all participants are encouraged to present papers as conference talks. Papers’ duration is expected to be approximately 30 minutes (including Q/A). Working languages for the congress are English, French, and German.
Prospective delegates will be able to submit paper proposals via a special registration platform, which will be up and running by the end of October 2026 (meanwhile, please feel free to contact us at the email below). Proposals should be submitted as Word files and include: the name, affiliation, and email contact of the author(s), a title, a selection of relevant keywords (no more than five), and an abstract of 250 to 500 words.
We expect to publish the congress proceedings in the USE series (Uppsala Studies in Egyptology, Uppsala University Press), both in print and open access online.
Important dates
31 October 2026 – submission platform opens
28 February 2027 – deadline for abstract submission
31 March 2027 – notification of paper acceptance
01 June 2027 – deadline for registration
For enquiries and on behalf of the organising committee: Luigi Prada, luigi.prada_at_egyptologi.uu.se
Download the First Circular (pdf) pdf, 1 MB.
Preliminary practical information
Uppsala lies on the northern edges of the greater Stockholm metropolitan area, and is conveniently located a 15 minute train ride or 45 minute bus ride from Arlanda, Stockholm’s international airport.
We provisionally expect presentations to run from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, with conference registration being already available on Sunday afternoon / evening. Depending on the number of submitted proposals, during those days we hope to organise a number of short-distance excursions, such as to Gustavianum (Uppsala University’s museum of art and archaeology), the Botanical Gardens (associated with the father of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus), Uppsala Cathedral (the largest and one of the oldest in the Nordics), or Gamla Uppsala (the city’s original location in ancient and Viking times, celebrated in many Viking sagas). Depending on interest, an excursion to Stockholm (Medelhavsmuseet with its ancient Egyptian collection) or to other landmarks in the area (Skokloster Castle on Lake Mälaren) may be organised for Friday.
More information about the dates, hotels and accommodation, fees, and a draft programme (inclusive of dinner and excursion plans) will be circulated in due course as part of the Second Circular, and published on this webpage.
We are well aware of today’s harsh economic climate, and the wild differences in academic allowances and budgets that colleagues may have access to (or not). When establishing fees, we will make sure to keep them as low as possible, especially in the case of students, to ensure that as many members of the new generation of demotists as possible are able to join us in Uppsala. We are unfortunately unable to offer travel bursaries, but colleagues under particular budget constraints should not hesitate to contact us (in full confidentiality).
