The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FISHUM) and the Faculty of Science and Technology (Saintek) of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta will organize the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Sciences (ICIS) 2026 on 25–26 November 2026. The international conference will be held in a hybrid format, combining in-person sessions at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta with online participation, under the theme “Work in the Age of Algorithms: AI, Media, and Human Impacts.” ICIS 2026 is designed as an international academic forum bringing together researchers, lecturers, students, professionals, policymakers, industry representatives, and members of the wider community to examine transformations in work, education, media, organizations, and science amid the expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic systems. Rather than focusing exclusively on technological development, the conference places human beings and the social consequences of technology at the centre of its analysis.
Through an interdisciplinary approach, ICIS 2026 will connect perspectives from the social sciences and humanities with those from science and technology. The conference is expected to broaden scholarly discussion of AI by addressing its psychological, communicative, social, ethical, data-governance, digital-health, environmental, industrial, and built-environment dimensions.
The conference responds to the increasingly pervasive role of algorithms in everyday life. In workplaces, algorithms are now used in recruitment, performance evaluation, decision-making, monitoring, scheduling, and task automation. In education, AI supports personalized learning, assessment, content creation, and administrative processes. In media environments, algorithmic systems influence information distribution, content visibility, patterns of consumption, opinion formation, and users’ social experiences. While these developments create new opportunities for efficiency and innovation, they also raise significant concerns regarding fairness, algorithmic bias, transparency, privacy, skills inequality, psychological well-being, and human autonomy. ICIS 2026 therefore emphasizes that algorithmic transformation should not be assessed solely in terms of technological accuracy or efficiency, but also in relation to its implications for human dignity, agency, identity, meaningful work, well-being, organizational culture, information quality, social justice, and sustainability.
Bridging Social Sciences, Humanities, Science, and Technology
ICIS 2026 will provide an interdisciplinary platform organized around two broad academic clusters: Social Sciences and Humanities and Science and Technology. Within the social sciences and humanities track, key topics include human–AI interaction in work and learning; work design, performance, and future skills; well-being, motivation, and psychological health in algorithmic environments; leadership and power in human–AI organizations; ethics, identity, and culture in AI-mediated institutions; and education, media, and socialization in algorithmic societies. The science and technology track will cover human–AI collaboration in scientific research and professional practice; responsible algorithms and data governance; computational modelling in the natural sciences; biotechnology and bioinformatics; biomedical development and digital health technologies; smart manufacturing and Industry 5.0; environmental science and sustainable technologies; and architecture and intelligent built environments.
The conference will also address cross-cutting issues such as human dignity and agency, accountability, algorithmic bias and transparency, privacy and data justice, AI literacy, misinformation, platform governance, and inclusion across gender, disability, age, and socioeconomic status. Particular attention will be given to ethical and culturally sensitive AI in religious and multicultural societies, sustainable AI, and Global South perspectives on locally grounded technological development.
Keynotes, Plenary Panels, Research Presentations, and Student Forum
The two-day conference will feature a range of academic activities, including keynote speeches, a plenary panel, invited thematic sessions, parallel paper sessions, a Student Research Forum, Policy and Practice Dialogue, and academic networking and collaboration activities. The first day is planned to include the opening ceremony, a keynote session titled “Work and Human Agency in Algorithmic Systems,” a plenary panel on “AI, Media, and the Future of Human Work,” parallel paper sessions, an invited thematic session, and academic networking.
The second day will continue with a keynote session on “Responsible AI and Interdisciplinary Futures,” a Policy and Practice Panel, additional parallel sessions, the Student Research Forum, a Collaborative Research Forum, the presentation of conference recommendations, awards, and the closing ceremony.
ICIS 2026 initially targets approximately 100–150 participants, including around 50 presenters in the parallel sessions. Participants are expected to include undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students; lecturers and researchers; professionals; policymakers and government officials; civil society organizations; international institutions; industry representatives; start-ups; technology developers; consultants; and members of the public interested in AI, media, work, and their impacts on human life.
Opportunities for Researchers and Students
ICIS 2026 welcomes diverse forms of scholarly contributions, including empirical research papers, conceptual or theoretical papers, systematic, scoping, and critical literature reviews, technology-development or design papers, policy analyses, evaluation studies, and practice-based papers. Extended abstracts may also be considered for the Student Research Forum, subject to approval by the Scientific Program Committee.
Abstracts must be written in English and should contain approximately 200–300 words, covering the background, objective, method, principal findings or argument, and scholarly contribution. All submissions will undergo administrative screening and academic assessment by reviewers. Evaluation criteria include relevance to the conference theme, novelty, methodological or argumentative quality, interdisciplinarity, implications for people and society, and overall quality of academic writing. English will serve as the primary language for keynote speeches, the plenary panel, the international call for papers, abstracts, and most presentation sessions. Indonesian may be used in selected sessions with committee approval. Presenters using Indonesian will nevertheless be required to provide their titles, abstracts, keywords, and main presentation slides in English to maintain international accessibility.
Beyond research dissemination, ICIS 2026 is intended to strengthen international academic networks, enhance students’ capacities in academic writing, scholarly presentation, peer review, and conference management, and create opportunities for collaborative research, academic exchange, joint publication, and cross-institutional programme development. The conference also seeks to generate research and policy recommendations concerning transformations in work and media in the AI era and to contribute to the development of responsible, transparent, fair, safe, inclusive, and human-centred AI. Expected outputs include a digital collection or book of abstracts, proceedings with an ISBN/e-ISBN or other publication outputs subject to editorial selection and publisher readiness, academic recommendations or a policy brief, conference documentation, strengthened student academic capacity, and networks for research collaboration and joint publications.
Through ICIS 2026, FISHUM and the Faculty of Science and Technology of UIN Sunan Kalijaga seek to strengthen dialogue between technological advancement and fundamental questions concerning people, work, media, education, organizations, and sustainability. The conference is expected to provide a scholarly space in which technological innovation can be examined not only for what it can achieve, but also for how it reshapes human agency, social relations, institutions, and the future of work.