Text credits: Bronagh Allison, Gary McKeown, & Magda Rychlowska
Photo credits: Bart Duriez & Kristina Šparemblek
Just when you thought Belfast and Northern Ireland had had enough fireworks with the traditional July bonfires, ISRE2024 rolled in to keep the sparks flying—this time with 450 emotion researchers from 44 countries!
From 16 to 20 July, Queen’s University Belfast and its historic campus became the Global Emotion Headquarters.
The event kicked off with six pre-conferences and a very serious workshop on Laughter (and other non-verbal vocalisations) setting the stage. The pre-conferences covered almost everything from affective computing, emotional development and regulation to cross-species emotion research.
Attendees of several pre-conferences, including “Engaging with Other People’s Suffering,” experienced their own emotional rollercoaster as the coffee break didn’t offer enough caffeine to handle the heavy emotional and social lifting that was needed.
The pre-conference day on 17 July ended with the start of the main ISRE conference and the Welcome Reception held at Parliament Buildings, home of the Northern Ireland Assembly. After the excitement of registration, boarding, and security checks, ISRE2024 attendees could finally relax, sip a wine or two with colleagues, and enjoy live traditional Irish music.
The impressive surroundings of the Stormont estate, with views of Belfast’s green hills, were perfect for conference selfies.
By the time the main conference sessions started on 18 July, there was plenty to look forward to. The keynote talks by Phoebe Ellsworth, Terry Maroney, and Yuri Miyamoto filled Whitla Hall with the same passion, if not sound, as Jimi Hendrix’s concerts in 1967.
With 418 submissions, 19 symposia, 161 individual talks, and 133 posters, ISRE2024 showcased a variety of cutting-edge work from psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, law, linguistics, and beyond. The Industry Salon, presented by Michel Valstar, explored the joys and challenges of launching a start-up in affective computing and emotion science.
But it wasn’t all talks and theories—the conference dinner on 19 July took place at Titanic Belfast, the iconic museum dedicated to the ill-fated ship, which was fine when it left Belfast! The evening of live music and dancing led to the emergence of a new scientific society, IDB. If you’re intrigued by the acronym or want to join, please contact ISRE2024 chairs.
Emotion researchers needing a break from academia could take guided walks to discover Belfast city centre and the landmarks of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Many explored the Entries—Belfast’s oldest streets—and informal conferences took place in the Duke of York pub and Ulster Sports Club. Disruptions in flight traffic prevented many attendees from leaving Belfast, resulting in even more scientific activities, but we hope that everyone left with new ideas, fresh collaborations, and some new dance moves.
