Northumbria University to host prestigious international conference on GPR technology

Scientists, engineers and researchers using and developing Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology will gather at Northumbria University for the 21st International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar – GPR 2026. 

The four-day event, to be held in June 2026, is aimed at exploring the latest advancements in the technology which is a powerful subsurface exploration tool that uses electromagnetic waves to detect and map objects and structures. GPR is used globally to support the monitoring and maintenance of key infrastructure, including buildings, bridges and roads. GPR is also widely used for sensing and imaging buried utilities and soil characterisation. 

The GPR 2026 event at Northumbria University will mark the 40th year since this prestigious biennial conference series began with GPR 1986 in Georgia, USA. The global event has been hosted in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia, and is returning to the UK for the first time since 2008. It will be the first time the conference has been hosted in the north of England and Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Dr Craig Warren, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at Northumbria University, travelled to China in 2024 to take part in a bidding process which involved a panel of previous conference chairs voting on where the conference should be hosted next.  

Speaking of Northumbria being selected to host the GPR 2026 conference, Dr Warren, who will chair the GPR 2026 conference said: “Newcastle is a thriving city and popular visitor destination with a proven track record of hosting major events and conferences. Couple that with the research expertise and facilities we have available at Northumbria and I’m pleased to say we won the support of the judges to host the 21st meeting of this conference. 

“Ensuring societies have the technology needed to monitor and maintain infrastructure is a major global challenge. We’re addressing this at Northumbria by improving the technology already available and developing enhanced and predictive sensing systems to be integrated into next generation infrastructure. One of our key research strengths in this area is supporting the development of the open source software gprMax, which simulates electromagnetic wave propagation for Ground Penetrating Radar. gprMax is the most widely used tool for simulating GPR with a diverse range of applications in academia and industry.” 

Dr Warren has recently been awarded funding by Innovate UK to support a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with UK leader in engineering and environmental geophysics, Zetica Ltd, which will focus on the modelling and processing of GPR to monitor and assess railway infrastructure.  

Professor John Woodward, Pro-Vice Chancellor (International), at Northumbria University said: “As an anchor institution of knowledge, innovation and opportunity, I’m proud that Northumbria has secured the honour of hosting another globally significant conference in our region. 

“This is just one example of how research excellence at Northumbria continues to support regional skills development and the North East economy.” 

Laura Freer, Assistant Director of Visitor Economy, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, the destination and inward investment agency that champions that North East region, said: “It is fantastic to support the team at Northumbria University to bring GPR 2026 to Newcastle. The world-leading research taking place at our city’s universities continue attract global conferences here and Northumbria’s expertise in GPR is another example of this. We look forward to working together to ensure delegates have the best possible experience here, from brilliant accommodation to unique social activities that will make their time here truly memorable.” 

The 21st International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR 2026) will be hosted by Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom from 23-26 June 2026.  

Discover more and register for the event at https://gpr2026.org/