Author: Jingzhe Zeng

fNIRS 2026 is getting closer, and now is a great time to make your plans for Macau!

Early in-person registration closes on September 10, 2026. Late in-person registration will remain available until September 30, 2026, but please note that there will be no onsite registration.

Can’t join us in Macau? Virtual-only registration will remain open until the conference, offering access to live-streamed sessions, conference discussions, and online posters.

The Educational Workshop will take place on October 15–16, 2026. Registration for the Educational Workshop is separate from the main conference and is available for in-person attendance only.

The main fNIRS 2026 conference will be held from October 16–19, 2026. Whether you join us in Macau or online, we look forward to welcoming you!

The fNIRS 2026 Educational Workshop minicourse catalog is now available.

This year’s Educational Workshop will take place on October 15-16, 2026, before the main conference in Macau. The program includes 21 planned minicourses across two days, covering fNIRS tools, data analysis, hardware, multimodal methods, data governance, DOT-fNIRS, functional connectivity, EEG-fNIRS, qNIRS, DCS, and related techniques.

The Minicourses page now includes the full course catalog, links to detailed course pages, and the current two-day timetable. Participants can review course descriptions, instructors, course duration, prerequisites, and delivery plans before selecting the sessions that best match their interests and experience level.

Some courses may require participants to bring a laptop or install software in advance, so please check the individual course pages carefully. Classroom locations will be added once confirmed.

Registration for fNIRS 2026 is now open as of May 15, 2026.

You can now access the conference registration link from the fNIRS 2026 homepage and from the Registration page. The Registration page also includes information on in-person and virtual registration fees, Educational Program registration fees, membership requirements, visa information, and the refund policy.

Please choose the registration category that best matches your current status. Student registrants may be asked to provide proof of student status, and SfNIRS member rates require membership to be valid through October 19, 2026.

A few important fNIRS 2026 updates are now available as we move closer to the meeting in Macau.

Abstract submission has now closed. According to the conference schedule, abstract acceptance notifications were planned for April 2026, and notification of oral or poster presentation format is planned for May 2026. Presenters should keep an eye on conference communications and the website for the latest updates.

Award nomination information is also available. Nominations are open for the SfNIRS Early Investigator Award, SfNIRS Fellows Awards, and SfNIRS Community Award, with a deadline of June 15, 2026. These awards recognize early-career contributions, outstanding trainees, and service to the fNIRS community. Full eligibility and nomination details are listed on the Awards page.

Registration information has also been posted. The Registration page includes in-person and virtual registration fees, Educational Program registration fees, membership information, visa details, and the refund policy.

We are pleased to announce that the deadlines for both abstract submissions and Educational Workshop proposals have been extended.

The new deadline for both submissions is March 31st, 2026, at 11:59 PM GMT+8.

We are happy to announce that the call for educational minicourse proposals is now open!

Building upon previous fNIRS conferences, we plan to run an Educational Workshop before the main event (October 15-16, 2026). The course will feature a variety of in-person minicourses aimed at delivering an engaging learning opportunity to propagate useful fNIRS tools & practices built from within the fNIRS community at different levels.

Examples of minicourse proposals include (but are not limited to) training on specific software or hardware, forums on general topics related to data analysis, data acquisition, experimental protocols, etc.

For full details, please visit the Educational Workshop page.

Abstract submission opens January 15th, 2026, and will close on March 16th, 2026. Submissions will be peer reviewed. Please check the abstract preparation instructions on the conference website. Please note that the abstract submission site (society wide) is a separate site from this one (conference specific). We have provided a .docx template for your convenience. If you have any questions regarding the abstract preparation process, please contact the SfNIRS administrator.

We are pleased to introduce the keynote, presidential, and invited speakers who will join us at fNIRS 2026 in Macau. Together they represent a wide spectrum of work in developmental and social neuroscience, neurophotonics, biomedical optics, and clinical translation of diffuse optical technologies. We look forward to welcoming these outstanding colleagues to fNIRS 2026 and to the discussions their work will inspire across basic, methodological, and clinical domains. The full biographies of all speakers are available on the “Keynote and Invited Lectures” page of the conference website.