IGC Plan

Our vision for the 38^th International Geological Congress is to foster an environment where breaking science can be shared, sitting alongside societal application and maximising opportunities for engagement across the broadest community.

Duration

The IGC in Glasgow is set to run for a week in mid August 2028 – though we have flexibility in our booking with the Scottish Event Campus, to tailor the congress to the demands of participant numbers and the required number of oral sessions. In the early planning, we envisage five full days of scientific presentations, bracketed by opening and closing ceremonies. However, if demand requires, we can extend the core congress by a further two days.

Daily themes

Daily themes will draw out discussion within our overall vision for the IGC. Each theme will tie to plenary sessions, supported by poster sessions, with reporters feeding into plenary presentations. A distinct theme for each day will be geared to topical questions and issues. A definitive list of topics will be made in consultation through the Science and Programme Committee in 2025-26.

Format

In common with IGCs of the past, much of the scientific programme will be developed through an open call for sessions, many sponsored by IUGS commissions and task forces. To maximise topicality, we do not intend to develop this list so far out from the 38th IGC – but will open the call in 2025-6. The Science and Programme Committee, enlarged to include representation from across the IUGS community and beyond, will create the provisional science programme that leads to the Call for Abstracts.

Of course, the core conference will include a conventional mix of exciting oral presentations delivered across a large number of parallel sessions. There will be audio-loops in all the rooms across the SEC along with flat access for all mobilities.

Posters will be given pride of place, displayed in physical form in a large, bespoke exhibition hall with catering – at the heart of the SEC centre. In parallel, all posters can be presented digitally and with oral introductions recorded by each presenter. These will be available online for those unable to be in Glasgow. We envisage digital interaction too – maximising the global reach of the science.

Plenary Sessions

The daily plenary sessions will provide fora for debating key issues – where geoscience impacts on society. These sessions will be both live-streamed and recorded, again with digital interaction to engage with those unable to be in the auditorium. Not only will this provide great opportunities for maximising engagement within the global geoscience community but also with the public and policy-makers at large. The recordings will form part of the legacy resources for the 38th IGC.

As with other congresses, we envisage numerous sessions drawn from an open call (in 2026), curated by our programme committee. This will include representation from IUGS commissions and working groups.

As with all International Geological Congresses, Glasgow will host numerous committee meetings from the various commissions and working groups of IUGS along with topical workshops.

Geo-Expo

Sitting at the heart of the SEC alongside academic posters, the Geo-Expo will feature a wide array of exhibitions arranged in themed pavilions. This provides space for commercial enterprises to showcase their services and expertise alongside national and international organisations and learned societies – an important meeting place to build new relationships and to foster existing partnerships right across our science and its diverse applications.

Workshops

Workshops will be run around the main Congress. Topics will be drawn from open call but we expect to include:

• Geoconservation – sharing the UK’s Geoconservation Review, Scotland’s open access Geosites project and learnings from the Geoparks;
• Forensic geoscience – sharing insights on how geoscientists help to solve crimes;
• Core workshop – using the BGS unrivalled store of materials from oil and gas fields around the UK. We are planning a core-logging competition for teams of early career Earth scientists;
• Heritage 1 – a visit to inspect the notebooks of Charles Lyell;
• Heritage 2- using BGS historical resources of original field maps and notebooks – to explore how geological knowledge was created through fieldwork in the late 19th and early 20th centuries;
• Digital field technologies – sharing approaches, hardware-software kit and applications;
• AI in geological interpretation – sharing lessons from the application of machine learning in the interpretation of geological data and imagery;
• Antimicrobial resistance in soils – linking geology and antimicrobial resistant genes in the environment, specifically around heavy metal prevalence, as well as unearthing the bacterial behind the health giving benefits of hot springs;
• Geo-communication – telling our stories through assorted media;
• Academia-Industrial collaborations – creating more effective partnerships for knowledge exchange and application to meet real-world challenges;
• Early-Career support and mentoring – sharing good practice and practical advice.

We aim to use the opportunity that the IGC brings to host short- course training events that can contribute to Continued Professional Development. The detailed programme will be refined in the years ahead of the conference, but examples of CPD and panel discussions could include:

• Accountability within the extractive sectors;
• Repurposing subsurface knowledge for the energy
  transition;
• Geo-energy from former industrial sites – case studies;
• Geo-remediation of sites of former extraction of Earth
  resources;

We also plan to encourage professional training companies (which may choose to become partners) to offer training activities in the Glasgow area ahead of the IGC that may be attractive to delegates.

Field Excursions

A key attraction of Glasgow as a host for the 38th IGC, is the availability of a wide range of field excursions that we propose to run.

Every day during the Congress itself there will be excursions available to world-famous geo-sites and geological heritage collections. We aim to deliver these for minimal cost – we don’t want pricing to be a barrier to these activities! Residential field excursions will be run either side of the core congress itself. We will share digital outcrops from key geo-sites, to stimulate debate in Glasgow as well as providing further legacy resources.

Check out these opportunities:

Field Excursions >
Social Programme >

Outreach

For the weeks either side of the Congress we will run activities all over the country and online, promoting geology and interacting with the public at large.