Prototypes for Humanity and the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) have unveiled the programme for the 2026 Short Papers Platform, an event bringing together selected academic work focused on major global challenges.
According to the organisers, the 2026 edition will host 52 selected short papers developed by researchers from 27 countries. The programme spans seven themes, including Wellbeing and Human Performance; Infrastructures and Cities; Autonomous Systems and Advanced Manufacturing; Environment, Sustainability and Energy; Mobility and Logistics; Socio-Economic Empowerment, Digital Economies and Future Markets; and Open and Speculative.
The announcement says the programme builds on the Short Papers Platform launch in 2025 under Prototypes for Humanity’s broader research and publications activities. For 2026, organisers state that a global network of academics from more than 1,000 universities submitted abstracts, with over 700 received via the international call. From those submissions, the 52 researchers were selected to develop their work into papers for presentation in Dubai and later publication in the conference proceedings.
Dubai gathering scheduled for 17 to 20 November 2026
Organisers said the invited researchers will convene in Dubai from 17 to 20 November 2026 to present and discuss their research. The papers are then expected to be formally published in the Short Papers Platform Conference Proceedings in early 2027.
The programme is described as being structured around practical, real-world challenges rather than traditional academic disciplines, aiming to connect academic research with industry, the public sector and decision-makers.
ICD to award a USD 50,000 prize
As a strategic partner, ICD will award a USD 50,000 prize to one of the papers presented at the conference, according to the release. The organisers said the prize is intended to support the next stage of development toward implementation, with the winning project selected through engagement with ICD industry experts.
In remarks included in the announcement, Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, Managing Director of Prototypes for Humanity, said the platform is designed to accelerate the translation of university research into applied solutions, and highlighted the programme’s breadth of research across institutions, disciplines and geographies.
Douraid Zaghouani, Chief Operating Officer at ICD, said the partnership strengthens the connection between academic research and real-world application, and supports translating ideas into scalable solutions and long-term innovation.
Examples of research highlights across the themes
The release provided several examples of work scheduled for presentation across the seven themes, including approaches to urban resilience, industrial decarbonisation and supply-chain risk.
- Infrastructures and Cities: the announcement cites research by Professor Hamid Norouzi (City University of New York) using high-resolution thermal mapping to study extreme heat at neighbourhood level.
- Environment, Sustainability and Energy: it cites work by Dr. Santiago Zapata (University of Manchester) on chemical looping technologies aimed at capturing industrial carbon emissions and converting them into useful resources.
- Mobility and Logistics: the programme highlights research by Dr. Yijing Li (King’s College London) using satellite imagery to identify and predict climate-related disruption to global supply chains.
- Autonomous Systems and Advanced Manufacturing: it mentions Dr. Erick Guadalupe Ramírez Cedillo (Tecnológico de Monterrey) presenting ORION, described as a physical AI system intended to teach workers to operate industrial equipment and to adjust training pace using EEG-based measures of learner concentration.
- Socio-Economic Empowerment, Digital Economies and Future Markets: the release cites research by Dr Hammed Musibau (Adelaide University) developing an international framework for measuring education quality and its relationship to economic growth.
- Wellbeing and Human Performance: it includes Dr. Munib Mesinovic (University of Oxford) on “trustworthy” clinical AI for intensive care, focused on reliability, transparency and uncertainty.
- Open and Speculative: the programme lists Tushar Kanade (Harvard University) presenting research described as assessing environmental and economic implications of generative AI, including a framework to quantify energy consumption associated with AI-generated content.
The organisers also said the Short Papers Platform will take place alongside the annual Dubai Future Solutions – Prototypes for Humanity Summit, aligning academic research with industry, government, investors and the wider innovation community.
