Today’s values and tomorrow’s challenges for the LPS research community

About the conference

Join us on Wednesday 4 November 2026, for a one-day collaborative conference bringing together the longitudinal research community to explore these questions and how today’s values can guide our responses to tomorrow’s challenges.

This interactive event will provide a platform for discussion, reflection and knowledge exchange, with a strong focus on sharing best practice and problem-solving.

The programme has been shaped in consultation with the longitudinal research community to reflect shared values, challenges and priorities.The conference will focus on following themes:

• Inequalities and underrepresentation
• People, values and organisations
• Ethics and AI

Each parallel session will showcase current work within the conference themes, followed by facilitated group discussions and the chance for attendees to share their own experiences.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from our keynote speaker, Daisy Fancourt on ‘Embracing theoretical and methodological developments in cohort analysis: insights from research on arts engagement’.

The day will conclude with a plenary panel discussion exploring how today’s values can influence and inform solutions to address the challenges facing the longitudinal research community. This will be chaired by Prof Daisy Fancourt (UCL) and will the following confirmed expert speakers:

• Alice Goisis, CLOSER
• Lynn Molloy, University of Bristol
• Richard Welpton, UKRI Economic and Social Research Council

Programme overview

The day will run from 10:00 – 17:00 GMT with the welcome session starting promptly at 10:30am.

• Download the full conference programme
• Download the full abstracts booklet

Please see the list below for an overview of the session themes and contributors.

Inequalities and underrepresentation

• COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities (COSMO)
• Growing Up in Scotland
• Born in Bradford
• National Centre for Social Research
• Our Future Health

People, values and organisations

• UKRI Economic and Social Research Council
• Administrative Data Research UK
• CLOSER
• Generation Scotland

Ethics & AI

• Understanding Society
• UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies

Our keynote talk

Embracing theoretical and methodological developments in cohort analyses: insights from research on arts engagement

As epidemiologists look ahead, the question of where our community is heading—and what we must protect, rethink, or strengthen feels increasingly urgent. Drawing on her research in arts engagement and social prescribing, Professor Daisy Fancourt will reflect on the shifts her research group have taken to adapt to new research approaches and consider how we adapt our approaches for an increasingly complex research landscape.

Keynote speaker biography

Daisy Fancourt is Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London where she heads the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health and UNESCO Chair in Arts & Global Health.

She has published 300 scientific papers, received over £37m in research funding, and won over two dozen academic prizes. She is a multi-award-winning science communicator and has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and BBC New Generation Thinker.

She is author of the Sunday Times bestseller Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, which is short-listed for the Women’s Prize for non-fiction. Daisy is listed as one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.

Who should attend?

This conference is designed for people who work for a longitudinal population study team, including Principal Investigators, research staff, data managers, fieldwork staff, study managers, laboratory technicians, tracing experts and communications professionals. It is not best suited to students or data users with no study management responsibilities.

Registration

The conference is free to attend but all delegates must register via Eventbrite.

Registration will close on Wednesday 28 October 2026.

Venue information

The event will take place at Woburn House (20-24 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HQ).

Getting to Woburn House:

• 5 minutes’ walk from Euston Station
• 8 minutes’ walk from St Pancras International and Eurostar terminals
• 10 minutes’ walk from Kings Cross Station
• 5 minutes’ walk from Russell Square and Euston Square Underground
• Several buses stop on Tavistock Square including the 59, 68, 168 and 91.

Plan your journey via the Transport for London website.

Further information

If you have any questions or require further information about this conference, please contact CLOSER Events Assistant, Becky England (becky.england@ucl.ac.uk).