2025 is here and it’s time to start planning your participation in the 2025 ACM Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing Conference (PEARC25). This year’s conference takes place July 20-24, in Columbus, Ohio and will host leading experts, researchers, and practitioners in the field of research computing and data (RCD), The call for participation is now open.
Key Submission Deadlines
Technical Submissions:
- February 8, 2025: Full technical papers
- March 29, 2025: Short technical papers
Educational & Interactive Sessions:
- February 1, 2025: Tutorials and workshops
- March 22, 2025: Presentation abstracts, panels, and birds of a feather (BoF) sessions
- March 22, 2025: Posters and visualization showcase (extended abstracts)
Industry Participation:
April 18, 2025: Exhibitor submissions
A Conversation with Dana Brunson, PEARC25 General Co-Chair
CaRCC had the opportunity to chat with Dana Brunson, PEARC25 general co-chair to get a sneak peek into what you can expect from this year’s conference.
For those who have never attended PEARC, why would you recommend this conference?
The simple answer is that PEARC is the conference for people who work in RCD roles. If your job involves supporting research using technology, your people are here and this conference is for you.
To me, it’s the perfect mid-sized event that focuses on very practical content that you can immediately apply in your everyday work. But it also remains intimate enough to allow you to make genuine connections with other attendees and visit our exhibitors without feeling overwhelmed. We’re a very welcoming community and people tend to find it a comfortable and fun conference to attend. And this year, we are offering a PEARC Newcomers session to orient first-time attendees and help them get the most out of the conference.
With professional development budgets being limited, I also see PEARC as a great value. Workshops and tutorials are included with registration and Columbus is an affordable city that is also a reasonable driving distance from a large number of regional colleges and universities.
If you’re a student, we also have an excellent student program with opportunities to have your travel and registration expenses covered. We’re very proud of the quality of our student program.
My co-Chair, Daphne McCanse, and the entire PEARC planning committee is just exceptional this year. Everyone is working hard to ensure we recruit great plenary speakers and that the quality of all the sessions is top-notch. We think it’s going to be a great program.
What kinds of topics will PEARC25 cover?
We truly run the gamut of topics related to working in the RCD profession, but this year we expect AI applications in research to be an especially hot topic. Other key areas include cloud computing integration, scientific workflow optimization, research software engineering, and data management strategies. We also talk a lot about how to support and develop a strong RCD workforce.
What’s new or different this year that you’re most excited about?
I already mentioned the PEARC Newcomers session and I think that’s a great addition to the program for our first-time attendees. We are also planning an offsite social event this year at a nearby science museum that we expect to be a lot of fun. This year’s conference theme is “The Power of Collaboration” and many of our sessions will talk about the role of collaboration in running successful RCD programs. And related to that, one of the things I’m most excited about is a beautiful, modern space in the convention center we’re calling the “Collaboratorium”. It’s going to serve as a central hub for the conference that includes our exhibitors, a presentation stage, lunch service, interactive activities, and comfortable spaces to recharge your devices or meet up with friends and colleagues.
Why did the planning committee choose Columbus, OH for this year’s conference?
If you’ve never been to Columbus, you will be in for a very pleasant surprise. Beyond knowing that it’s home to the Ohio State University and the Ohio Supercomputer Center, I didn’t know a lot about the city myself when we started planning. But our site visits have made me fall in love with it. The airport is small and easy to navigate and it only takes about ten minutes to get from the airport to the convention center area. We learned that Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and it has a great local food and arts scene. Best of all, the main restaurant row and arts district, the Short North, is just outside the convention center and PEARC25 hotels. The convention center and conference hotels are modern and beautiful. There’s also a lot to do in Columbus – too much to go into here. But you can check out this video our friends at Ohio State made to welcome PEARC25 attendees and orient them to Columbus.
As I mentioned, Columbus is also a reasonable driving distance from numerous colleges and universities in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Kentucky. We’re hoping that makes this year’s conference especially affordable for those folks.