MDPI UK Event Recap: February

February has been a busy month for MDPI UK. Colleagues have been across the country, hosting Academic Publishing Workshops, attending conferences, and holding an Editor’s Forum. Across these events, there has been discussions on the importance of open access within academic publishing and highlighting the importance of increased research accessibility, encouraging broader engagement, and accelerating discovery.

Take a look at the highlights from February’s events:

Academic Publishing Workshop: University of Lincoln, 11^th February 2026

MDPI was honoured to host an Academic Publishing Workshop at the University of Lincoln. The workshop was a collaboration with the Editorial Board Member of Philosophies, Dr. Fabien Paillusson, and was kindly sponsored by the following journals: Philosophies, Entropy, Physics, Logics and Modern Mathematical Physics.

The event was attended by students eager to gain more insight on academic publishing and it was a great opportunity for them to learn about the editorial process. The session provided a valuable opportunity for students to learn more about the world of open access and scholarly publishing – a valuable skill to have within their academic careers.

Academic Publishing Workshop: University of Manchester, 12^th February 2026

MDPI also had the privilege of hosting an Academic Publishing Workshop at the Biological Sciences Department at The University of Manchester. The event was a collaboration with the Editorial Board Member of Clocks & Sleep, Prof. Dr. Robert Lucas and was kindly sponsored by the following journals: Clocks & Sleep, IJMS, Biologics, CIMB, Neuroglia, and Biomedicines and Genes.

As part of a post-graduate event organised by the PhD student committee, the workshop was very well attended by many post-graduate students. A range of topics were discussed regarding open access and the editorial process, providing the students valuable insights into these topics from a publisher’s perspective.

Editor’s Forum: York, 13^th February 2026

MDPI hosted an Editors Forum in York, UK, which brought together a selection of Editors-In-Chief, Editorial Board Members and Guest Editors from across 23 MDPI journals.

The event introduced attendees to the editorial and peer review process of MDPI journals, including a step-by-step explanation of the key stages involved. The role of research integrity was also covered, highlighting its importance in academic publishing. MDPI’s oversight mechanisms, investigation procedures, and post-publication processes were discussed, demonstrating the company’s commitment to upholding academic standards and ethical practices.

Audience members were also given the opportunity to ask questions regarding MDPI’s editorial process and publication ethics, as well as participate in discussion groups centred around the question: “What are the current challenges in the academic research community, and how can publishers adapt to support this?”

Finally, attendees had the privilege of hearing from Prof. Dr. Moein Moghini, the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Nanotheranostics. Prof. Dr. Moghini delivered a presentation on the development and future of the journal, looking at the readership and publications over the last few years, and the marketing and promotion used to increase this.

The Editor’s Forum was a big success, with feedback from the event highlighting participants’ increased understanding of MDPI’s values, the editorial and peer review process, as well as their appreciation to be able connect with a wide range of representatives of the editorial process.

12^th Annual Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (InnoLAE 2026): Cambridge, 22^nd – 27^th February 2026

MDPI had the opportunity to attend the Large-Area Electronics Conference, a two-day conference which highlighted the latest developments in large-area electronics (LAE).

Taking place at Magdalene College, Cambridge, the conference invited a wide range of stakeholders from around the world, to explore this emerging technology and the development of products incorporating LAE, creating an important platform that supports innovation and fosters connections between academia and industry.

The conference delivered a high-calibre programme of parallel and plenary talks featuring internationally renowned keynote speakers, poster presentations and an exhibition showcasing leading companies’ latest developments, alongside facilitating networking opportunities.

MDPI had the opportunity to showcase thirteen journals, including Electronics, with the awards offered by the journal being a substantial highlight. The booth attracted a great number of visitors, as well as engaging several academics and researchers in discussion.

Ocean Sciences Meeting: Glasgow, 22^nd – 27^th February 2026

The next conference MDPI attended was the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, in which attendees had the opportunity to come together to advance ocean science. This included  exploring the latest findings, connecting with leading experts, and engaging with more than 100 scientific organisations and ocean-focused companies.

MDPI showcased sixteen journals, all of which were closely aligned with the scientific themes of the meeting.  The conference was well attended and provided a valuable platform to increase the visibility of the journals and strengthen relationships, amongst both established collaborators and new researchers.

Researcher to Reader (R2R): London, 24^th – 25^th February 2026

The final conference MDPI attended in February was the Researcher to Reader conference. As pioneers in scholarly open access publishing, MDPI was honoured to be a Silver Sponsor and is proud to support an established international forum that looks to cultivate vital conversations between researchers and publishers to advance the scholarly communications ecosystem.

This event was attended by the CEO of MDPI, Stefan Tochev, and Head of Technology Innovation, Dr. Miloš Čučulović. The attendees had the chance to hear Dr. Čučulović present a lightning talk about MDPI’s Ethicality, which is a suite of AI tools designed to help with the ethical checks during the manuscript submission process for MDPI’s journals.

The theme of this year’s conference looked at how technology is shaping research infrastructure, and the role each of us will play in shaping that transformation.

In the words of MDPI’s CEO, Stefan Tochev: “Science needs to evolve, responsibly. And that responsibility extends not only to what we publish, but also to how the systems behind publication are designed.”

A huge thank you all those who attended these events, as well as the organisers, exhibitors, journals and everyone who worked together to make these experiences happen.