CTBT: Science and Technology Conferences
To build and strengthen its relationship with the broader science community in support of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) invites the international scientific and technological community to conferences on a regular basis.
These multidisciplinary scientific conferences attract scientists and experts from the broad range of the CTBT's verification technologies, from national agencies involved in the CTBTO's work to independent academic and research institutions. Members of the diplomatic community, international media and civil society also take an active interest.
Upcoming Conference
SnT2025 Science and Technology Conference
SnT2025 will be a hybrid conference scheduled to take place the week of 8 September 2025 simultaneously at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, and online, creating a worldwide-live community to support broader outreach and global inclusiveness.
The event will bring together scientists, technologists, academics, students and representatives of the CTBTO’s policy making organ and subsidiary bodies from around the world to discuss the key conference themes including:
- The Earth as a Complex System
- Monitoring Events and Nuclear Test Sites
- Monitoring and On-Site Inspection Technologies and Techniques
- Sustainment of Networks, Performance Evaluation and Optimization
- CTBT Science and Technology in the Global Context
Previous Science and Technology Conferences
SnT2023 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2023 Conference (SnT2023) returned to Hofburg Palace. Over 2,000 attendees, online and in-person, from 148 countries joined technical panels, oral and e-poster sessions, lightning talks, workshops, side events, and tours of the CTBTO Ops Centre. SnT2023 also highlighted multilingualism, with the opening in all CTBTO languages and panels in Arabic, French, and Spanish.
SnT2021 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2021 Conference (SnT2021) defied the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to achieve its best-ever attendance, with a mix of over 1,500 participants online and in person to mark 25 years of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Held from June 28 to July 2, 2021, the conference explored relevant research. The event also included high-level messages and panel discussions.
SnT2019 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2019 Conference (SnT2019), brought together over 1,100 participants from nearly 100 countries. The conference included presentations, discussions, a poster competition, and youth engagement. New elements featured round-table discussions in Spanish and French, a Women in Science panel, and sessions on AI, science communication, and CTBT data in civil applications.
SnT2017 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2017 Conference (SnT2017), held in June 2017, attracted around 1,000 participants from over 120 countries. The conference featured 650 abstracts, nearly 400 posters, and over 100 oral presentations.
SnT2015 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2015 Conference took place from 22 to 26 June 2015 in Vienna, Austria. The conference was designed to further enhance the strong relationship between the scientific and technological community and the CTBTO.
SnT2013 Conference
The CTBT: Science and Technology 2013 Conference, took place from 17 to 21 June 2013. Scientists made over 80 oral presentations and over 250 poster presentations at the conference to more than 750 conference participants.
SnT2011 Conference
In what CTBTO Executive Secretary Tibor Tóth described as "a scientific pilgrimage to Vienna", 500 scientists participated in the Science & Technology Conference (SnT2011) from 8 to 10 June 2011. The CTBTO's role and contributions during the March 2011 Fukushima disaster played a prominent role in the conference's 350 scientific presentations and posters.
ISS09 Intl Scientific Studies Conference
Under the title "International Scientific Studies Conference (ISS09)" from 10 to 12 June 2009 gathered 450 scientists from 86 countries to assess the CTBT's capability and readiness to detect nuclear explosions anywhere on the planet. The second nuclear test conducted by the DPRK only weeks before provided ample topics for discussion.
2006 Synergies with Science Conference
The CTBTO's first major scientific conference, titled "Synergies with Science, 1996-2006 and Beyond", from 31 August to 1 September 2006 attracted several hundred participants, among them scientists from internationally renowned universities and scientific institutions, representatives of diplomatic missions and members of the press.