The Software Defined Radio Conference 2026 takes place 28 September to 2 October at Festival Tower, Adelaide, hosted by Flinders University in partnership with PEWTER. SDR 2026 is an open invitation: to defence and government agencies, university researchers and academics, field scientists, citizen scientists, and amateur radio operators. The conference is deliberately cross-sector. The goal is to bring these communities into the same room — to share what each group knows, identify where the gaps are, and build the working relationships that only happen when people who rarely meet are finally talking to one another. South Australia and New Zealand have outsized roles in the global SDR story; the programme will reflect that.
What Kinds of Presentations Are Welcome
The scope is intentionally broad. Every part of the SDR chain is in scope — from antenna and front-end hardware through analogue-to-digital conversion, FPGA and DSP processing, driver stacks and software frameworks, to the applications and datasets those systems produce. Whether your system costs thirty dollars or three hundred thousand, whether it sits on a bench, travels in a vehicle, operates on a buoy in the Southern Ocean, or orbits the Earth, the work behind it has a place here. Presentations from any sector — academic, defence industry, commercial, government, or amateur — are equally welcome. Work in progress is as valuable as finished results; a well-motivated problem and a clear methodology will be considered alongside polished publications. No written paper is required to present — a title, a brief abstract, and your preferred format are all that is needed to submit.
The conference programme is organised around a set of topic areas, each with its own background page. These pages are not exhaustive — they describe active research threads in each area and the kinds of presentations being sought. You should read them before submitting:
Proposals that span multiple areas, or that address topics not listed above, are equally encouraged. If your work touches software-defined radio in a way that doesn’t fit neatly into any of those headings, submit it under “Other” and describe the topic directly.
Presentation Formats
Three talk formats are available. Standard talks run 25 minutes including questions and are the default format for most submissions. Extended talks run 50 minutes and are suited to comprehensive technical treatments, live demonstrations, or topics that genuinely require more time to develop properly — request this format and explain why in your proposal. Major sessions of 60 minutes or more are available for workshop-style presentations, tutorial sequences, or significant programme features by arrangement with the organising committee. A separate Tutorial Day on 28 September provides structured half-day and full-day hands-on sessions; if you are proposing tutorial content, indicate this in your submission. The Classified Day on 2 October is run under appropriate security arrangements for presentations that cannot be delivered in an open setting; contact the organisers directly if your material falls in this category.
There is no requirement to submit a formal paper. A title, a brief abstract (150–300 words), and an indication of your proposed format are sufficient to begin the review process. A supporting PDF with more detail is welcome if you have it but is not mandatory. Presentations are expected to include slides; live demonstrations are encouraged where the work lends itself to them.
Who Should Submit
The conference audience spans academia, defence, industry, and the amateur radio community. Presenters do not need to be affiliated with a university or a professional institution. Work conducted in a home lab, on a boat, at a field site, or through a volunteer citizen-science network is precisely what this conference exists to surface. PhD students, honours students, and early-career researchers are explicitly encouraged to submit — SDR 2026 is a forum for emerging work, not just established programmes. Presenters from Australia and New Zealand are particularly encouraged given the conference’s location and the density of SDR-relevant research and operations across the region: DST Group at RAAF Edinburgh, the University of Adelaide’s Buckland Park radar, Flinders University, the Bureau of Meteorology Space Weather Services, Silentium Defence, Asension (formerly DEWC Systems), Daronmont Technologies, GNS Science, and the VK and ZL amateur radio communities all represent active SDR work that deserves wider visibility. International submissions are equally welcome and will receive the same consideration.
Submission Process
Submit through the submission form. You will be asked for your name and affiliation, a talk title, a topic category, your preferred duration, a talk description, and any additional notes for the organisers — AV requirements, co-presenters, or scheduling constraints. An optional PDF attachment is available if you wish to supply a full abstract, a slide deck preview, or a supporting document. Submissions are reviewed by the programme committee; you will receive an acknowledgement by email and a decision in the weeks following the submission deadline. If your proposal needs clarification the committee will contact you directly.
The conference does not require presenters to submit a written paper for proceedings. If you would like your presentation to contribute to a proceedings record — whether as a short abstract, an extended abstract, or a full paper — please note this in your submission and the committee will discuss options with you.
Key Dates
The submission window is open now. The programme committee will begin reviewing proposals on a rolling basis; early submissions will receive earlier decisions, which matters if you are arranging travel or seeking institutional approval to present. The final deadline for talk submissions is 1 August 2026. Tutorial Day proposals should be submitted at least 10 weeks before the conference — by 17 July 2026 — to allow time for coordination. Presenters accepted into the programme will be notified by 29 August 2026 and will receive practical information about the venue, AV setup, and schedule at that time.