March 25-27, 2025 | University of Maryland, College Park, MD

The University of Maryland is hosting the Mpact Conference on Understanding Regional Opportunities and Partnerships to Drive American Competitiveness on March 25-27, 2026 at the Samuel Riggs Alumni Center in College Park, Md. Made possible by support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as the Rita Allen Foundation and Sage Publishing, the conference will explore a number of key themes, including:

- optimizing and assessing the impact of community-engaged research on policy, practice, and economic development
- developing trustworthy and human-centered artificial intelligence applications
- addressing grand challenges through partnerships
- exploring the future of funding for public impact research
- building best practices and ecosystems for supporting social innovation

Representatives from academia, government, industry, and nonprofits will participate in the conference. Presenters will explore how best to achieve societal impact by addressing critical issues collaboratively with partner organizations and communities, harnessing expertise from across a variety of fields, in particular the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Conference partners include the National Science Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation, Sage Publishing, and Sigma Xi.