Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling and Conference Committee: Dr Alex Bamji, Professor Shane Doyle, Megan Graham, Professor Robert Hornsby, Dr Will Jackson, Dr Joanna Phillips, Alexandra Ward
Contact the Leeds conference team at sshm2026leeds@leeds.ac.uk
Registration Now Open
You can register for the conference via Leeds dedicated booking portal . Through this portal you can select from a range of delegate rates. To qualify for SSHM member rates you must provide your current SSHM membership number at the time of booking. The number is your OUP customer number and usually begins with 00008 and can found in your confirmation email.
The early bird rate applies to bookings made before 15 April 2026. After this date the standard delegate rate applies. Registrations made after 1 June 2026 will incur a £40 late registration fee. Registration closes on 15 June 2026.
Full conference fees include all sessions and keynotes (30 June- 3 July 2026), the opening drinks reception on 30 June 2026, and all refreshments and lunches (30 June- 3 July 2026).
There will be a conference dinner on the evening of 1 July 2026. You can add this option to your conference package on the registration portal.
The conference is in person but there is an online attendance option at a reduced rate. Online delegates will have access to the keynotes and a small number of panel sessions, but unfortunately we are unable to offer online access to the entire conference.
Further information on accomodation options, keynote speakers please see the University of Leeds dedicated conference webpage
SSHM 2026 Bursary Scheme
Update 13 April: Due to the number received, we are no longer accepting applications for bursaries
The Society for the Social History of Medicine awards financial assistance for eligible members [postgraduate student, early career, precariously employed or unwaged], accepted to present at the SSHM biennial conference, towards the costs of attending. Successful applicants may be required to provide a report on the event after its completion, to be published in the SSHM Gazette or as a blog on the Society’s website. Applicants should note that:
- Bursaries are intended for SSHM members presenting at the conference who have no access to grant or institutional support to cover the full cost of attendance.
- Bursaries are awarded based on financial need and are limited in number and cannot be retrospectively awarded. If the number of eligible and complete applications exceeds the number of bursaries available, they will be awarded in order of receipt. Any remaining applications will be added to a waiting list, should an award not be taken up. The waiting list will also be administered according to the order of applications received. Students’ applications will be considered complete upon receipt of the supervisor’s statement of support.
- As a charity subject to fraud regulations, the Society cannot offer full reimbursement of expenses until after the conference has taken place and the bursary recipient’s attendance confirmed.
- Confirmation of visa status is not required to apply.
- The maximum bursary award is £360 for travel within the UK and from the Republic of Ireland; £500 for international travel from Europe; and £750 for overseas travel (e.g. Canada to UK).
Applications open Monday 23 March at 2:00pm (UK time). We ask your patience while we process all applications, we will try to inform all of the outcome as soon as we can.
Your application will require:
- your SSHM membership number for checking on the 2026 members database (the number, beginning 0000, is your account/customer number issued by OUP).
- a detailed breakdown of funds requested (see below for eligible expenses).
- if a postgraduate student your application must be accompanied by a statement of support from your supervisor to confirm that funding for conference expenses is not otherwise available (it is advisable to sort this in advance to save any delays to your application) *statements of support via institutional email are acceptable.
- non-student applicants will need to supply a supporting statement offering details of current position (if applicable), year of completion of study and financial need. Please specify if you have access to limited funding for conference-related expenses or if there is no access at all.
- completed applications and statements of support should be sent to admin@sshm.org
Eligible expenses are registration fee (in-person or online); accommodation*; travel; conference events; but not subsistence. *Please note that if requesting support for accommodation, awardees are expected to register for the accommodation package arranged by conference organizers (if available). Leeds University are offering inexpensive campus accommodation which guarantees proximity to the conference therefore applicants will need to justify their choice of alternative accommodation.
Membership Lottery Draw
10 free memberships are available. The draw is open to all biennial conference bursary applicants regardless of whether their bursary application is successful. The Society will reimburse one year’s membership fee in addition to any bursary awarded. To enter just tick the box in the application form. The draw will be made after applications for bursaries closes on 15 April and winners will be notified after that date.