Proposal Submission Guidelines

Submitting a Proposal
Active ISN Members (those who have renewed their ISN membership for 2022 or joined ISN in 2022) are invited to submit proposals for satellite meetings and scientific sessions at the 2022 ISN-ESN Meeting. These are:

• Symposia
• Workshops
• Satellite Meeting

Deadline for submission: 25 October 2022 for Symposia and Workshop and Satellite Meeting proposals.

You will have to submit your proposal via an online submission form that is located within the ISN members part of your My ISN. Please read the guidelines below for information on both the submission requirements and on the application process.

Symposia/Workshop – Submission Closed
Satellite Meeting – Submission Closed

Specific enquiries about session proposals should be made to Cheah Pike-See (Program Chair) via the ISN Secretariat.

Important Requirements for all applicants

ISN Membership: The submitting applicant must be an active ISN Member in 2022. To be an active member, please be aware that:

• You must actively renew your membership for 2022 irrespective of your membership category, whether you are eligible for a fee waiver, or whether you have paid your membership fee in advance.
• ISN must have received your membership fees (if your fee is not waived or paid in advance) and must have approved the renewal of your membership for 2022

Renewal of your ISN membership for 2022 must be approved before you are granted access as active ISN member to the on-line proposal forms.

If you are not yet an ISN member, please consider that the application process may take some time. We advise you to join ISN now to avoid potential delays in your membership application.

Please contact ISN membership with any queries.

Confirmation of all proposed speakers for symposia and workshops: All speakers listed in your proposal for a symposium and/or workshop must electronically confirm their attendance before you will be able to submit your proposal to ISN. The application form has a built-in feature to contact the proposed speakers and request their electronic confirmation. Please note that without confirmation of all proposed speakers, your proposal cannot be submitted. Please contact the potential speakers of your proposal early and request that they will confirm their participation on the electronic invitation. Please allow sufficient time for the confirmation process and for completing your proposal.

Speaker of one session: Please note, speakers are only eligible to participate in one symposium or workshop during the 2023 ISN-ESN Meeting

ISN Funding Support

Speakers who are selected to take part in in the 2023 ISN-ESN scientific program will receive free registration to the 2023 ISN-ESN Meeting and financial support that will aim to cover most of their expenses. Please note, session chairs who are not speakers in the session are not entitled to receive a registration fee waiver or any financial support from ISN.

Selected Satellite Meetings will receive significant financial support as defined by the ISN Treasurer to ensure their viability.

Scientific Categories

Proposals can be submitted for Symposia and Workshops for one of the following Scientific Categories:

• Gene regulation & genetics
• Signal transduction & synaptic transmission
• Neuroinflammation & neuroimmunology
• Molecular basis of disease
• Brain development & cell differentiation
• Bioenergetics & metabolism
• Neuronal plasticity & behavior
• Clinical studies, biomarkers & imaging
• Neurodegeneration and mental health
• Intracellular trafficking & proteostasis
• Glial cells
• Neuron-glia interactions
• Lipids
• Other topics

 

Selection Process:

The 2023 ISN-ESN Program Committee will review all proposals that were received before the deadline and will assess and score them against the criteria of scientific quality, topic relevance, and quality of speakers. Strong criteria for the selection process are also an appropriate gender balance and an intercontinental distribution of the proposed speakers in proposals for symposia and workshops. Submissions including early or mid-career researchers as speakers with co-chairing opportunities are also strongly encouraged.

 

You will be informed by the ISN Secretariat if your proposal has been selected for Porto 2023 by December 2022.

 

Symposia

Symposia consist of a maximum of 4 speakers presenting highlights of their research and a brief overview of the topic for audience members not working in that field. Talks should encompass a common theme, with favour given to sessions presenting contrasting points of view or alternative approaches. When preparing your application, please consider the gender balance and intercontinental distribution of your proposed speakers.

The online proposal form requests:

1. The Chairperson (and when appropriate co-chair) name, title, affiliation, address, email and phone number.
2. The title of the session
3. A list of speakers, their tentative talk titles, up to 3 recent publications on the topic of the proposed session. Please note that the organizer of a session can, but is not required to, present in the symposium.

Confirmation of all proposed speakers for a symposium: All speakers listed in your proposal for a symposium must electronically confirm their attendance before you will be able to submit your proposal to ISN. The application form has a built-in feature to contact the proposed speakers and request their electronic confirmation. Please note that without confirmation of all proposed speakers, your proposal cannot be submitted. Please contact the potential speakers of your proposal early and request that they will confirm their participation on the electronic invitation. Please allow sufficient time for the confirmation process and for completing your proposal.

If you have queries about organising a session or the scientific content, please contact us.

 

Workshops

A Workshop is intended to encourage discussion, often on sharply focused research issues, between the members of the Workshop and the audience. The success of this interactive format is determined by the extent to which lively discussions are generated.

Organizers should facilitate this, e.g., by listing some contentious issues or discussion points at the beginning of the workshop. Each speaker should highlight an issue of importance to the discussion and should be limited to around 5 minutes. The slides presented should be highly schematic or conceptual slides rather than specific data slides.

Formal presentations of research findings are discouraged unless they are used as an aid to provoke interchange. The Organizer must take an active role in promoting interactive discussions. Do not select the ‘Workshop’ format if you do not plan to adhere to this spirit.

Up to 6 speakers can be listed for a workshop. When preparing your application please consider the gender balance and intercontinental distribution of your proposed speakers.

The online proposal form requests:

1. The Chair (and when appropriate co-chair) name, title, affiliation, address, and email
2. The title of the session
3. A list of speakers, their tentative talk titles, up to 3 recent publications on the topic of the proposed session. Please note that the organizer of a session can, but is not required to present in the workshop.

Confirmation of all proposed speakers: All speakers listed are required to confirm their attendance. The application form has a built-in feature to contact the proposed speakers and to ask for their confirmation. Please note that without confirmation of all proposed speakers, your proposal cannot be submitted. Please allow sufficient time for completing your application.

If you have queries about organising a session or the scientific content, please contact us.

 

Satellite Meeting

Members who are interested in organising a Satellite Meeting directly before or after the main meeting in Porto will be required to provide online a detailed description of the meeting with details of the venue, full scientific content and list of speakers enabling the program committee to evaluate the proposal.

Requirements

1. Satellites should be held in close spatial proximity to the place of the main meeting, i.e., in the same country or neighbouring countries. A key requirement is that travel to the main meeting should be short and easy.
2. They should take place during a period immediately preceding or following the main meeting.
3. Satellites should not compete with the main meeting in terms of the topics to be covered.
4. The organisers of satellites should encourage their participants to attend the main ISN-ESN meeting in Porto.

The online proposal form requests:

1. Organizer (and where relevant co-organizer) details, name, title, affiliation, address, and email
2. Description (up to 250 words) including a brief scientific background, the current state of the topics, and why the content would be of high interest to neurochemists. If the content/topic has been funded by ISN as satellite of a recent (2017-2021) ISN meeting, then we request a rationale why the proposed satellite should be supported again.
3. Provisional List of Speakers including academic institution and if they have agreed to participate
4. Date and Venue of the proposed Satellite Meeting and rationale for the venue
5. A detailed budget (in USD) taking into account all revenues and costs for the meeting and where you propose the ISN funding would be allocated. Example of budget items to include: registration, venue costs, food & beverage, travel subsidies for invited speakers, sponsorship, accommodation, AV, etc.
6. Funding amounts requested from ISN and other sources

If you have queries about organising a meeting or the scientific content, please contact us