The Society for Terrorism Research (STR), the School of Law & Social
Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Conflict,
Violence and Terrorism Research Centre (CVTRC) are delighted to
announce that the 17th annual STR conference will be held on July 7th
and 8th, 2025, on the University’s historic Egham campus.

In an era of global conflict, great power rivalry, state violence,
polarisation and political volatility, this conference aims to consider both
the raison d’être and future of terrorism research in the context of
overlapping global crises. Participants are invited to identify the key
evolving topics and debates of this multi-crisis era, particularly in light of
emerging hybrid terrorist ideologies and terrorist use of technological
innovation and AI. In the process we hope to identify new and emerging
research agendas, synergies and collaborations, in addition to
showcasing cutting-edge research.

This is an in-person event.

All conference abstracts should be submitted HERE. Queries should be sent via email to STR2025@rhul.ac.uk. For all the most up to date information about the conference please follow the conference X account @STR_Conf and Bluesky @socterres.bsky.social

Please submit panels or symposia using the submission link. For panels, convenors should add the names of presenters, their institutional affiliation, email addresses, paper titles and abstracts, for up to 4 papers. There is no need for a discussant for panels. For symposia, moderators should add names of participants, their institutional affiliation, email addresses and an outline of the topic to be discussed.

Conference rates are as follows:

Early bird rate* $240 (available to May 24th)

Standard rate* $290

MA/PhD students $150

*includes refreshments (e.g. tea/coffee and lunches) and STR membership for 2026.

Student rate includes refreshments only.

Students wishing to avail of the discounted rate are asked to send an e mail to STR2025@rhul.ac.uk as it will not be available on the website.

Unfortunately we are unable to offer any travel grants or conference fee waivers.

Registration will open w/c 31st March 2025.

We anticipate the conference to start at 10AM on the first day and finish around 5pm on the second day.

Paper, Panel and Symposia Proposals: April 11th

Notification of Acceptance: April 30th

Early Bird Registration Closes: May 24th

Registration Deadline: June 6th

Student Paper Contest Full Submission Deadline: June 27th

The organising committee wishes to promote the work of graduate students (MA/MSc/PhD) in the area of terrorism research. All paper presentations submitted by graduate students will therefore be eligible for the award of Best Student Paper. The winner will have the written paper published in the peer- reviewed journal Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. A committee comprising of the STR Governing Board members, editors of the journal, and selected specialists will make the award decision.

The author(s) must initially submit an abstract by the general submission date of April 11th. At the time of abstract submission, they must indicate that they wish their paper to be considered for the Student Paper Contest. It is only after their abstract is accepted that competition entrants should send a full paper to the conference organisers. All those papers eligible for consideration must be submitted by June 27th 2025 to STR2025@rhul.ac.uk

The paper must comply with the author guidelines for the journal. For details visit https://www.tandfonline.com/ac...

Eligibility

To be eligible for the student paper contest the primary author’s presentation of the paper at the Conference is required. The primary author should be a current graduate student studying through a third level institution.

Alternatively, they must have successfully completed their graduate studies since January 1st 2025.

Getting to Royal Holloway's Egham Campus:

The campus is only 40 minutes by train from central London and 7 miles from Heathrow Airport. For campus address and maps please visit

https://www.royalholloway.ac.u...

There are a number of accommodation options in Egham including hotels, AirBnB/VBRO which are close to the conference venue. There will also be a number of rooms available in the University's Gowar Hall, which is a short walk from the conference venue. Details of how to book will be made to delegates once they have registered.

Neil Basu is a retired Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service where he served from 1992-2022. He is the only officer to have held the top three positions in Counter Terrorism Policing and led the operational response to the 2017 terror attacks. In 2018 he succeeded Sir Mark Rowley to become the first Asian to lead the UK’s CT Policing organisation. His memoir Turmoil: 30 Years of Policing, Politics and Prejudice is out with Aurum on the 10th April 2025.