A graphic with the text "IRiS Ignite," illustrated with a flame and starburst behind the first "i" on "Ignite."

IRiS Ignite: A Biennial Expo & Festival of Sensing

A biennial conference hosted by the Institute for Research in Sensing (IRiS)

October 9th and 10th, 2025 in Clifton Court Hall

  • Conference organizing committee: Dr. Nathan Morehouse, Dr. Tony Chemero, Dr. Ming Tang, Dr. Elizabeth Lanphier, Dr. Vesna Novak, Dr. Ali Minai, Dr. Drielly Queiroga, Corinne Jorgenson

What Is IRiS Ignite?

Join us for the third IRiS Ignite! This event is a biennial conference that re-imagines the traditional academic conference to forge novel connections and stimulate new interdisciplinary conversations on the broad topic of sensing, including work on perception, sensor technology development, and ethical innovations in sensing research. We aim to bring together scholars, innovators, artisans, and entrepreneurs from across disciplines, including engineering, psychology, biology, philosophy, chemistry, medicine, physics, ethics, the humanities, and the fine and performing arts.

IRiS Ignite will be composed of an integrated program that places scientific research alongside scholarship in the humanities, and artistic performances alongside work in the social sciences. By co-locating these diverse perspectives, we hope to foster new ideas, unexpected connections, and support holistic innovation.  

Inspiration for IRiS Ignite comes from the IRiS Alloy Discussion Series, a monthly gathering around a specific topic pertaining to sensing. We have seen firsthand how moments of unexpected insight arise when people connect across disciplines through open exploration of a common topic.

The IRiS Annual Event will include two invited plenary talks, a program of 15-minute lectures, a poster session, an art exhibition, and musical performances.

We encourage you to be creative in your contributions to this event. We have deliberately avoided topic suggestions because we want to encourage imagination and creativity. Anything that has a relationship to sensing or perception is welcome! There are no restrictions: artists are invited to present research, and scientists are welcome to share poetry. Come with an open mind, and be ready for inspiration and new ideas.

Regular tickets cost $45, and student/postdoc tickets cost $25. Registration comes with free refreshments at breaks and a meal for both days. Students participating in the poster session will be considered for a number of awards. Abstract submission closes on Wednesday, September 7th at 5 PM EST. Registration deadline is September 25th at 5PM EST. In-person registration will be available at an increased price.

Contributed Presentation Options

  • Lecture: 12-minute talks with a 3-minute Q&A
  • Performance: artistic, musical, and poetic performances
  • Poster: an open-hall poster session will take place during a 1.5-hour period
  • Visual art: displays will be intermixed with academic posters at the poster session

To stay up-to-date sign-up for the IRiS Newsletter!

Keynote Speakers

A color photograph of Abeba Birhane wearing glasses, earrings, and a necklace with a silver collared shirt in front of a blue background.

Ed Yong is a British-American investigative science journalist and one of the most influential voices in contemporary science communication.

His work connects curiosity about biological life—including microbes and animal behavior—with broader challenges in public science education and global health. He is the author of I Contain Multitudes (2016), which examines how microbial shaped animal biology, and An Immense World (2022), which presents a comparative overview of sensory systems across species, highlighting how animals perceive their environments in ways that differ from human experience. Yong is a former staff writer for The Atlantic, and has been recognized for his humor and ability to communicate complex scientific ideas to broad audiences. His books have been included twice in The Best American Science and Nature Writing series, and his work has greatly contributed to public understanding of both fundamental biology and science as a social practice. His coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic led to him being awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2021.

In his lecture, The Amazing Nature of Animal Sensesbased on his book, An Immense World, Yong takes audiences through the hidden realms of animal senses. With wit and humor, learn the amazing ways in which animals perceive aspects of the world to which we are oblivious, and how appreciating the natural world leads us to better understand empathy

A color photograph of Abeba Birhane wearing glasses, earrings, and a necklace with a silver collared shirt in front of a blue background.

Ron Hoy is the Merksamer Professor of Biology, Emeritus, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, where he has taught and done research in subjects like Animal Communication, Bioacoustics, and Neuroethology.  His laboratory has published over 150 papers on how animals produce and sense sounds as signals for survival.  Ron has been fortunate to have mentored 52 brilliant PhD. graduate students and postdocs over his career.  The lab discovered novel hearing organs in a half-dozen different insects and spiders.  These discoveries have led to work on novel acoustic biosensors that have potential application to biomedical sensors in humans. Ron’s dedication to neuroscience education has extended to courses at the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole and at Cornell, to 25 years of participation in workshops for College Physiology teachers.  In his “retirement,” Ron regularly teaches a course in “Mind, Brain, Music” at Cornell for undergraduates.

He will give a lecture on the Webs of Discovery: From Singing Bugs to Hearing Aids, where he explores decades of work on the topic.

About IRiS

The Institute for Research in Sensing (IRiS) is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on novel routes to innovation in sensing research and sensor technology development through purposeful integration of STEM and non-STEM perspectives, including basic and applied research, medicine, engineering, the humanities, social sciences, and fine and performing arts. At IRiS, we seek not only to expand what is possible, but also to ask what is good, for human thriving and the health of our planet. Our mission is one of connection, integration, and holism as we pursue breakthroughs in sensing research at the University of Cincinnati and beyond.

IRiS activities include:

 

About the Venue

The 2025 IRiS Ignite Expo & Festival will take place on the 1st floor of Clifton Court Hall on the University of Cincinnati’s Uptown (Main) campus. A variety of paid parking options are available within a short distance of the venue (more info on parking is available here). 

Registration comes with free refreshments at breaks and catered lunch each day. Wi-Fi connectivity will be available throughout the event via UC_secure (for UC affiliates) and UC_guest Wi-Fi services. More about the UC guest Wi-Fi can be found here.