Meetings: Program
http://www.aaas.org//meetings/2010/program/symposia/submit/instruct.shtml
Instructions for Submitting Symposium Proposals
2010 AAAS ANNUAL MEETING
Bridging Science and Society
18-22 February • San Diego
The deadline for proposal submission is now closed. Proposals will not be accepted after the deadline. Decisions will be announced in July.
The information you provide will be the primary source of information used by the reviewers to evaluate your proposal. Please follow these instructions carefully. Incomplete proposals will be eliminated from consideration.
To receive notifications, please ensure that the following e-mail addresses will not be blocked: meetings@aaas.org, cjones@aaas.org, nmaylett@aaas.org, and brice@aaas.org.
For additional guidance, the Program Committee underscores the fact that a successful symposium proposal is characterized by interesting and timely topics that are thoughtfully developed and include capable and articulate presenters who are representative of the diversity of science and society, including disciplinary field, gender, ethnicity, and geographic location.
All proposals will be peer-reviewed. In the appropriate fields, you will be required to describe your proposed symposium as well as the topic of each presentation. If your symposium addresses a subject for which there are differing scientific opinions, include speakers with different perspectives.
Scheduling Note: When selecting speakers, please ensure that they are available to participate at any time from Friday, 19 February through the morning of Monday, 22 February. Once the schedule for sessions is announced in the fall of 2009, it will be considered final.
For style, use The Chicago Manual of Style. For example, use a comma before "and" in a series of three or more, and spell out all abbreviations and acronyms. Do not use "ALL CAPS" or "Sentence case" for the title of a symposium or the title of a speaker presentation.
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TITLE OF PROPOSED SYMPOSIUM
Title must include no more than 85 characters, including spaces. When preparing a proposal and the title of the symposium, organizers are encouraged to be creative and to focus on the interdisciplinary nature of the AAAS Annual Meeting. Please avoid jargon.
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PRIMARY SUBJECT CATEGORY
Please select the subject category that best describes the overall nature of the symposium. This information is used by the Program Committee to help generate broader symposium tracks or sub-themes.
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SECONDARY SUBJECT CATEGORIES
Please select other relevant subject categories within which the symposium falls. This information is used in the development of the cross-cutting General Subject Index contained in the Program Book.
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SYNOPSIS
Provide a clear, succinct synopsis of your proposed symposium (1,500 characters, including spaces) as it would appear in the Program Book. Avoid the use of references, abbreviations, and technical jargon. Do not write the synopsis as though you are addressing the Program Committee. Annual Meeting programs are archived at www.aaas.org/meetings and can be a useful source of information.
Describe the subject, highlighting the scientific issues, innovations, or research to be addressed. Do not name or reference speakers or the titles of their presentations in the synopsis. Speakers are listed separately along with their presentation titles and description (see Section H).
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RELEVANCE TO THEME OR SPECIAL RELEVANCE TO THE AUDIENCE
Describe how the proposed symposium relates to the theme. Almost any topic in science and technology can be related to the theme, and submitters are encouraged to extend their reach by thinking internationally. However, the Committee will consider proposals that are not directly related to the theme if they involve ground-breaking areas of research, new and exciting developments, or cross-cutting activities in support of science, technology, and education. (500 characters, including spaces)
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SCHEDULING AND TIME JUSTIFICATION
You are required to specify the total time requested for your symposium. Keep in mind that speakers may travel far and have busy schedules; allow them enough time to make substantive presentations and to take questions from the audience. The final 15 to 30 minutes of your symposium should be reserved for discussion with the audience.
A 90-minute session is limited to three (3) speakers. A 180-minute symposium is limited to a maximum of six (6) speakers.
Proposals for 180-minute symposia must present compelling reasons as to why the additional time is needed (1,000 characters, including spaces).
The Program Committee reserves the right to accept a proposal contingent on altering the time requested.
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DISCIPLINARY SECTIONS (optional)
Indicate if your proposal has been discussed with an AAAS Section. Prior discussion is not a requirement.
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SESSION ROLES
Explanation of Roles: Please note: If the organizer or co-organizer will also be participating in the session, each separate role must be entered into the system (e.g., organizer and moderator).
Symposium Organizer: The organizer serves as the primary contact for all communications with AAAS Meetings. It is the responsibility of the organizer to submit the proposal to AAAS and ensure that participants, including the co-organizer(s), receive all information relevant to their inclusion in the proposal, and in the Meeting if the proposal is accepted. A symposium may only have one organizer.
Symposium Co-Organizer: Co-organizers assist the organizer with lining up speakers and ensuring that deadlines are met by symposium participants. There is a maximum of two (2) co-organizers.
Moderator (optional): A maximum of one (1). Provides a brief overview, introduces each speaker, and facilitates a general discussion by the audience and presenters through a Q&A session. This role is typically filled by the symposium organizer or co-organizer.
Speakers (Presenters): A maximum of three (3) in a 90-minute session; six (6) in a 180-minute session.
Discussant (optional): Maximum of two discussants for a 90-minute session and two for a 180-minute session. Provides a brief review of, or counterpoint to, the main topics or issues covered by the panel. Discussants do not make presentations or have a formal speaking role.
Proposed Participants:
You will be required to enter the following information for each individual:
- Name
- Affiliation
- E-mail address
- City
- State or Province (if applicable)
- Country
- Status (confirmed or invited)
- Complete mailing address
- Fax number
- Telephone number
Without contact information, AAAS will be unable to:
- Confirm participation.
- Communicate with speakers who apply for travel assistance.
- Send information to speakers about Newsroom Operations, including invitations to participate in news briefings and interviews.
Indicate whether the speaker is Confirmed or Invited. Confirmed means that you have contacted the speakers, and they have replied that they are available to participate on the panel during the dates of the meeting, 18-22 Feb. 2010. Proposals with confirmed speakers will have priority over those where the speakers have been invited but are not confirmed. After the committee announces its decisions, a notification will go directly to the speakers to reconfirm their participation. While recognizing that some changes will occur, the Program Committee reserves the right to reconsider symposia if the final confirmed list of speakers causes a change in focus that differs substantially from the original proposal.
For each speaker you will also be required to include a firm presentation title (maximum of 85 characters, including spaces) and a few sentences describing the proposed content or perspective of the presentation. This is crucial to the reviewers' understanding of why you are proposing a particular speaker. Please do not submit only biographical information. This description is NOT an abstract. A request to submit an abstract will be made AFTER the Program Committee has selected the symposia from among the proposals submitted.
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TRAVEL SUPPORT
Organizers, speakers, and others participate in the program at their own expense or use funding secured by an organizer that has been vetted by AAAS Meetings to avoid conflicts of interest.
As a nonprofit organization, AAAS does not have the financial resources to fund travel expenses for the more than 1,000 program participants at each year's meeting. However, one of the 24 disciplinary sections of AAAS may choose to authorize travel support for speakers from their modest budgets. Funding is limited and typically provides only nominal travel support.
