Over 4,000 communication scholars from around the world gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, from 4-8 June 2026 for the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA). This years theme, “Communication and Inequalities in Context,” invited researchers to examine how communication structures reflect, reproduce, and respond to social inequalities, such as unequal access to information, digital divides and power dynamics that influence knowledge production in communication research.
The Weizenbaum Institute was represented by several researchers who presented their work. A special congratulations goes to Roland Toth from the Methods Lab, who received the Mobile Communication Top Paper Award. His award-winning paper, co-authored with Douglas A. Parry and Julius Kingelhoefer, examines reactivity effects resulting from providing access to Android event logs and participating in Mobile Experience Sampling studies, contributing to a better understanding of how research methods can influence participants’ smartphone use.
The award recognizes the international impact of Weizenbaum research and marks another successful ICA 2026 for the institute, where researchers also had the opportunity to encounter some of South Africa’s cutest wildlife (see the penguins pictured below).
