The 71st annual conference of the DGPuK – the German Communication Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft) – is hosted by the Institute of Journalism at TU Dortmund University and will take place from 18 to 20 March 2026. This year’s conference theme is #Science #Communication #Democracy. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Institute of Journalism, as the host of the conference, aims to highlight the interplay between science and media-mediated communication – both in journalistic and non-journalistic contexts – particularly against the backdrop of democracies around the world being under increasing pressure.
Our CAIS researchers Prof. Christiane Eilders, Prof. Johannes Breuer and Birte Kuhle are contributing to the annual conference with numerous presentations:
Talks:
Hype or Turning Point? How Strongly and How Quickly Is AI Changing Communication Science?
Gerhard Vowe (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf), Johannes Breuer (CAIS), Marlis Prinzing (Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, Cologne), Miriam Bernhard (Technical University of Ilmenau), Max Schindler (Technical University of Ilmenau), Olaf Jandura (Hochschule Düsseldorf)
Keynote in Special Session 01
19 March 2026, 1:30–3:00 PM | Location: SRG 1.001
Public Online Engagement with Science Podcasts: An Online Survey on Audience Interactions and the Role of Parasocial Relationships
Birte Kuhle (CAIS), Charmaine Voigt (University of Rostock), Monika Taddicken (Technical University of Braunschweig), Johannes Breuer (CAIS)
Session: P 16: #Science – Science Communication between Integrity, Gatekeeping, and Audience Interaction
19 March 2026, 3:30–5:00 PM| Location: SRG 1.024
Assessing the Potential Reproducibility and Replicability of Research in Computational Communication Science
Johannes Breuer (CAIS), Philipp Knöpfle (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich), Mario Haim (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
Session: P 27: #Communication – Methodological Approaches to Trust, Communication, and Digital Platforms
20 March 2026, 10:30–12:00 AM| Location: SRG 2.010
Shrinking Center – Splintering of the Extremes
Christiane Eilders (CAIS), Olaf Jandura (Hochschule Düsseldorf)
Session: P 33: #Democracy – Protest Communication, Mobilization, and Reactance in Digital and Public Spaces
20 March 2026, 1:30–3:00 PM | Location: SRG 2.008
Moderation:
SF 02: Data, Archive & Tool Demos: Open Research Infrastructures and Resources for Communication and Media Studies
Time: Thursday, 19 March 2026, 3:30–5:00 PM
Organized and moderated by Christian Strippel, Johannes Breuer (CAIS), Silke Fürst, Erik Koenen, Dimitri Prandner, and Christian Schwarzenegger, in cooperation with the GESIS Methods Hub
Poster:
Communication Science in Service of Society: A Survey on Knowledge Transfer Activities in the DGPuK
Birte Kuhle (CAIS), Friederike Hendriks (Technical University of Braunschweig), Sabrina Heike Kessler (University of Zurich), Judith Pies (Stuttgart Media University), Kristina Wied (University of Bamberg)
Session: PO 01: Poster Presentation I
19 March 2026, 1:30–3:30 PM | Location: SRG 2.008
Conference website:
https://www.dgpuk2026.de/de
Conference program:
https://www.conftool.pro/dgpuk2026/sessions.php