Call for Abstracts: Guiding Lights: Beacons of Academic Esports in the Digital Society
and Future Workplace

UiA Academic Esports Seminar 2025

As digital transformation reshapes society and work environments, academic esports emerges as a crucial intersection of education, technology, and professional development. This seminar explores how academic esports influences and shapes our digital society and future workplace, examining its role in education, remote collaboration, virtual team dynamics, and technological literacy. Like the Norse navigators who mastered the seas, we seek to chart the course through digital waters, understanding how academic esports can guide us through the fjords of technological advancement and workplace evolution.

The seminar brings together scholars, educators, practitioners, industry leaders, and workplace innovators to explore the expanding horizons of academic esports. Through a mix of research presentations, practitioner insights, and innovative Ignite talks, we aim to build bridges between traditional educational approaches and emerging digital paradigms, preparing students for the virtual and hybrid workplaces of tomorrow.

The UiA Academic Esports Seminar acts as our flagship research event, bringing together insights from the Academic Esports Summer School's educational focus and the Norway Esports Summit's strategic vision. While maintaining its academic core through research presentations and doctoral workshops, the seminar provides a crucial platform for connecting theoretical frameworks with practical applications emerging from our parallel events. This alignment creates a unique research ecosystem where summer school students can present their findings, summit stakeholders can engage with researchers, and academic discourse can directly influence industry development and workplace innovation in the Nordic region and beyond.

New Format – Ignite Talks: We introduce rapid-fire Ignite presentations (5 minutes, 20 slides auto-advancing every 15 seconds) focusing on innovative ideas and practices in academic esports.

Themes include, but are not limited to, the following core areas:

Digital Transformation & Future Work Environments

Exploring how academic esports shapes and reflects the evolution of modern workplaces. This theme examines the intersection of gaming competencies with professional skills, including virtual collaboration, digital leadership, and the application of esports principles in workplace innovation.

Digital Communities & Social Innovation

Investigating the formation, dynamics, and impact of digital communities through the lens of academic esports. We focus on how these communities foster new forms of citizenship, cross-cultural understanding, and intergenerational connections while building bridges between educational institutions and industry stakeholders.

Digital Competence & Educational Development

Examining how academic esports drives the development of crucial digital competencies and new educational paradigms. This theme explores innovative teaching methodologies, skill assessment frameworks, and the integration of esports principles into traditional educational structures.

Digital Wellbeing & Sustainable Practices

Addressing the human dimension of digital transformation through the perspective of health, balance, and sustainability. We explore how academic esports can promote healthy digital habits, sustainable practices, and inclusive environments while fostering resilience in an increasingly digital world.

Submission Guidelines:

·       Research Abstracts: 250 words

·       Author biography: 100 words per author

Important Dates:

·       Abstract Submission: 15th March 2025

·       Acceptance Notification: 21th March 2025

·       Event Dates: 21th-23rd May 2025

Submit to: tobias.scholz@uia.no

Website: www.academicesports.net

The Academic Esports Seminar is part of a larger esports initiative at the University of Agder, contributing to the development of the Agder region as a hub for esports innovation and excellence.