Sydney not-for-profit helps Australian academic voices get heard around the globe
Amid global disruptions and unpredictable change, it has never been more important to showcase Australian research and innovation for investment, talent attraction and global collaboration opportunities.
This month, Business Events Sydney (BESydney), a trusted not-for-profit backed by the New South Wales (NSW) Government, calls on Sydney academics, specialists and researchers to take the lead in securing global association conferences for Sydney, raising the city and country’s profile.
Bringing global peers to Sydney for an Association or academic conference provides a platform for Australian ideas and innovators like no other. International business events drive change within sectors, create future educational and career pathways, facilitate global connections and showcase local research and innovation. The glow of that global spotlight remains with the host city community for years afterwards.
BESydney offers comprehensive support to those who are up to the task. It possesses an experienced team of bid specialists, industry insights and event planning acumen, a wide network of association and government stakeholders and opportunities for funding.
Hear directly from Sydney’s world-class experts who are making waves within their respective fields in BESydney’s ‘Be the Voice’ video series. Leading academics and specialists speak on their experiences of working with BESydney when taking the lead on global conference bids.
Dr Cecelia Gzell, Radiation Oncologist at Icon Cancer Centre, shares her experience as Chair for the Biennial Congress of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS) 2026. “Holding a congress in Sydney ensures Australasian delegates have an opportunity to present on the global stage. It paves the way for future leaders to make lifelong collaborative connections.”
Other Global Conference leaders include:
Associate Professor Beena Ahmed, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Program Chair, IEEE EMBC 2023 and General Co-Chair, Interspeech 2026.
Professor Steven Faux AM, Rehabilitation and Pain Physician at St Vincent’s Hospital, Scientific Program Chair, World Congress of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) 2024.
And Distinguished Professor Dikai Liu, Robotics Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Bid Co-Chair, International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2028.
BESydney highlights the city’s infrastructure, manufacturing prowess and leading research facilities to its broad network of association stakeholders and offers substantial financial support and industry expertise in delivering memorable conferences.
Working closely with NSW’s leading universities, BESydney’s Chief Client Officer, Kristian Nicholls, said, “Academics are encouraged by their peers to host a global conference in Sydney, but often don’t know how to go about it. Our message to aspiring leaders within academia and industry is to ‘Be the Voice’ and embark on this exciting leadership journey within their respective fields.
“Our BESydney team supports local academics at every stage of the bidding process, from strategy, advocacy, funding support, stakeholder engagement and marketing. We want the world to see the innovative research solutions being developed in Sydney and Australia and are here to help guide the next generation of global conference leaders in delivering this.”
To ‘Be the Voice’ of your sector and sign up as a new global conference leader, discover more about how BESydney can support you here.
BESydney offers funding support to eligible meetings and events with over 100 international delegates. To learn more about BESydney’s funding program, please see here.
