IRENC and TExAS Conferences at Baylor University April 25th- 26th, 2025

Initial Program:

Venue Information:

About the Conferences:

Thank you for your interest in the National Science Foundation funded Interdisciplinary Research Ethics and Norms Conference (IRENC) at Baylor University on April 25th, 2025 followed immediately on the 26th, by the annual Texas Experimental Association Symposium (TExAS) also at Baylor.

Those involved in interdisciplinary teams and research know the value in crossing disciplinary lines and harnessing the comparative and strategic advantages of collaborators in different field. However, interdisciplinary research exposes teams to a wide swath of challenges and hurdles that impact the research and the research experience. Differences particularly abound in norms about what constitutes the responsible conduct of research differs between fields. This has the potential to frustrate, derail, and/or stall interdisciplinary research. This conference is focused on exploring and discussing the ethical and norm differences between fields, in STEM and social science disciplines, in pursuit of our overall goal of promoting an interdisciplinary dialogue about the responsible conduct of research with an eye towards generating ethically-infused research processes.

Both days of the conference lean heavily towards interdisciplinary, behavioral, and human subjects research. The first day of the conference centers around three expert panels and paper presentations focused on discussing issues regarding the moral and ethical norm differences that exist between disciplines. The second day of the conference will be the annual Texas Experimental Association Symposium meetings of 2025, which focuses on experimental research across a variety of social science and STEM disciplines conducting human subjects research. Attendees and presenters at either conference are encouraged to stay and attend both conference days. There are a variety of presentation options and the National Science Foundation has generously provided honoraria for some types of presenters/attendees (see below for more details). We are grateful to the National Science Foundation and the Institute for Humane Studies (grant no. IHS018609) for their support to provide several meals and food/beverages on both days of the conference.

Both the IRENC and TExAS conferences are designed to encourage the attendance and participation of non-presenters as well as those interested in presenting. The majority of the attendees at past TExAS meetings, for example, have historically not been presenters but researchers interested in seeing the work being conducted by other researchers and supporting and providing feedback to junior faculty and graduate students. The Interdisciplinary Research Ethics and Norms Conference has been designed with this same model in mind and thus we encourage those inside and outside of academia, presenters and non-presenters both, to consider attending the conference.

Our Confirmed Key Panel Speakers:

Our three main panels focus on i) Methodological Norm Differences: (Coercion, Deception, Consenting, Compensation, etc.) ii) Authorship Norm Differences (Author order, who qualifies as being on a paper, who does what work, intellectual property divisions, etc.) and iii) Research Application Norm Differences (Norms surrounding ethical/moral responsibilities of authors/researchers in the application of their work in the movement from academia into the applied world of policy, industry, healthcare, etc.)

  • Blair Johnson – University of Connecticut –
    • Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor: Department of Psychological Sciences; Director of SHARP Lab; Chief Editor of Psychological Bulletin
  • Bart Wilson – Chapman University –
    • Professor: Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Economics and Law and the Economic Science Institute; Director of Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy
  • Stephanie Bird – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Retired –
    • Former Special Assistant to the Provost and to the Vice President for Research; Founding Editor and former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Science and Engineering Ethics“
  • Nina Lauharatanahirun – The Pennsylvania State University –
    • Assistant Professor: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Biobehavioral Health
  • Read Montague – Virginia Tech –
    • Professor: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Department of Physics, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine; Director, Center for Human Neuroscience Research
  • Glenn Harrison –  Georgia State University –
    • Distinguished University Professor: V. Starr Chair of Risk Management & Insurance; Director, Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk; Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Science; J. Mack Robinson College of Business

General Conference Presenters and Available Honoraria/Travel Funds

Please consider submitting a proposal for a presentation or poster to either the IRENC or TExAS days of the conference at the link above. We are still accepting submissions and have begun reviewing those already sent to us.

In addition to the main panels on the topics discussed above, each day of the conference consists of standard research paper presentations, “Paper Blitz” presentations and poster presentations. The NSF has provided honoraria/travel support to help offset some of the travel costs associated with traveling to and attending the conference for paper presenters and paper blitz presenters in the IRENC portion of the conference. Separate honorarium lines are available for faculty and graduate student presenters. As such, we encourage papers co-authored and/or written with/by graduate students as well as junior and senior faculty.

Those interested in paper presentations or “Paper Blitz” presentations in the Interdisciplinary Research Ethics and Norms Conference should first look at the call for papers for the special issue of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization that is associated with the conference (click on the above website page to see the CFP, or simply click here). This CFP provides guidelines for the types of papers sought for the conference. While submission to the special issue is not required for your proposal to be considered, we highly encourage all interested presenters to consider submitting their research to the special issue.

Paper Presentations

Both conference days will have slots for standard research paper presentations. Those interested in presenting should submit a proposal at the conference submission page above (or linked here). Please be sure to indicate whether your proposal is for the IRENC or TExAS portion of the conference when submitting your proposal. These are standard 30 minute presentation slots, set for a 20-25 minute presentation and 5-10 minutes of questions/discussion.

Paper Blitz Presentations

Both conference days offer a “Paper Blitz” presentation sessions. These are slots that are shorter than regular presentations and ideal for student presenters, short papers/studies, or early working projects. These are roughly 10 minute presentation slots, set for a 5 minute presentation and a few minutes of questions/discussion. We particularly encourage graduate students to submit a proposal for these presentations. Please be sure to indicate whether your proposal is for the IRENC or TExAS portion of the conference when submitting your proposal.

Poster Presentations

We will also provide an area for poster presentations for researchers at all stages of their careers. Some researchers may submit a proposal specifically to present poster for a paper that is in the early stages of research. Since presentation slots are limited, we may ask some researchers that have not been selected for the main paper presentation slots whether they would like to present a poster. We particularly encourage graduate students to submit a proposal for poster presentations as they are a great way to get experience presenting.

Useful Conference/Baylor Links/Details

Conference Hotel Information:

  • Hotel: AC Hotel Waco Downtown (Marriott)
  • Address: 600 Mary Ave Waco, Texas 76701
  • Last Day to Book with the special rate: Saturday, February 1, 2025
  • Special rate: 159 USD per night
  • Link for special rate: https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1735236010498&key=GRP
  • This is one of the newer hotels in Waco and is right in the middle of downtown.

Baylor Title IX office:

Diversity & Inclusion:

Waco PD:

  • Nonemergency: 254-750-7500
  • Emergency: 911

Baylor PD:

Parents, visitors, contractors and others can opt-in to receive Baylor Alert (text messages): Short term visitors (1-3 days) can text Baylor1845 to 226787. *Note, subscriptions automatically expire after 3 days.

Baylor Sexual Harassment Policy: https://risk.web.baylor.edu/sites/g/files/ecbvkj1966/files/2024-07/Baylor%20SIM%20Policy%208.1.24_1.pdf

Baylor Nondiscrimination Policies: https://diversity.web.baylor.edu/leadership-commitment/policy

Places to Eat & Things to Do in Waco: https://destinationwaco.org/things-to-do/