The board of the Computational Humanities Society hereby invites proposals to host the annual CHR conference. Bids cover the coming three editions (December 2027, December 2028, and December 2029). A single bid may apply to one, two, or all three of these years, and bidders should indicate for each year whether they would be willing and able to host, so a bid is not limited to the next edition alone. The number of (in-person) attendees to a CHR conference is likely to fall in the range of 200-250.

The process has two stages. First, an expression of interest is due by September 15, 2026. This is a brief message identifying the proposed location, the organizing team, and the year or years for which you wish to bid. Second, full proposals (following the format below) are due by November 10, 2026. We will announce the selected hosts during the CHR conference in Manchester in January 2027. Please send expressions of interest, full proposals, or any questions by email to info@computational-humanities-research.org.

Proposal format

Full proposals should include information on the following:

1. Estimates of the anticipated number of registrants

2. Location

• accessibility;
• conference venue, e.g., university, hotel or convention center;
• accommodation;
• dining options;
• social event (conference dinner) venue;
• capability to host the registrants predicted

3. Proposed dates

• We aim for a three-day conference (Wed-Fri), preceded by one day for workshops (Tue).
• Religious and local national holidays should be avoided, as much as possible.
• Please list available conference weeks in December at the proposed venue, for each year you are bidding for, sorted in descending order of preference.

4. Meeting venues

• Rooms and capacities for plenary and parallel sessions (2-3), tutorials, workshops, posters, exhibits, demos, small meetings, and registration.
• Please provide a listing of available potential room spaces for plenary sessions (e.g. ~250 people), parallel sessions (e.g. ~100 people) and workshop/tutorial spaces of a wide variety of sizes.

5. Detailed plan for organizing a hybrid conference

6. High-speed, all-ports-open, easy-to-use internet access

7. AV equipment

8. Catering, including breaks, receptions, poster sessions

• Please provide sample prices of different kinds of coffee/refreshment breaks

9. Local organization team

• chair/co-chair, committee, PCO, volunteer labor, registration handling;
• description of any experience the team has had in organizing academic conferences, including the number of participants at those conferences

10. Local sponsorship

11. Physical disability access (i.e., mobility access)

12. Social event

• Provide a list of possible locations for the mid-conference evening social event.

13. Estimated costs

• Provide a site-specific expenses spreadsheet, specifying approximate total costs for each component of the conference (main conference, workshops, social program, overheads).
• Provide detailed information on additional financial support for PhDs and early career scholars for travel and accommodation costs.
• Please give figures in both local currency and euros, and specify the exchange rate.

Evaluation

Proposals are assessed by the board on two grounds. The first is the information requested in the proposal format above. The board weighs each component on its merits (location and accessibility, the proposed dates, meeting venues, the hybrid plan, internet and AV provision, catering, the local organization team and its prior experience, sponsorship, disability access, the social event, and the estimated costs, including the support offered to PhD students and early-career participants). The second is geographical diversity across editions. Because a bid may cover several years, the board considers where recent and forthcoming conferences have been held and aims to rotate the conference across regions over time. Where two bids are otherwise comparable, geographical diversity is the deciding factor.