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SFS Annual Meeting

CALL FOR SPECIAL SESSIONS AND WORKSHOPS

Deadline November 1, 2023

Special Session Details

Please help us make this an innovative and productive scientific program by submitting a proposal for a special session. Feel free to contact Christina Murphy (christina.murphy@maine.edu) or Marc Peipoch (mpeipoch@stroudcenter.org) if you have questions about organizing a special session. Proposals for special sessions will be reviewed by the Annual Meeting Program Committee; the committee may ask for changes and resubmission of proposals, if appropriate. Results of the review will be sent to chairs of proposed sessions by the end of November. Accepted proposals will appear on the meeting website.

Special session proposals should include the following information:
  • At least one co-organizer, but you may add up to four.
  • An informative session title.
  • A short (<250-word) session description.
  • The desired format (oral/poster/both).
  • Up to five keywords.
  • Your best estimate of the number of presentations, based on your knowledge of the topic, and individuals likely to be interested in presenting. For a special session to go forward, a minimum of six oral presentations would be required (15 minutes each for a total of 1.5 hrs). For poster presentations, there is no minimum number of posters required.

We ask special session organizers to consider potential speakers' career stage, gender, race, ethnicity, geography, and other types of diversity when building sessions. SFS is dedicated to promoting diversity among its members and welcomes and encourages participation from all, regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, physical or mental difference, religion, age, or national origin. All special sessions will be open to contributed presentations in addition to those invited by organizers; we expect that special sessions will include a mix of invited and self-nominated participants.

By proposing a special session, you are expected to serve as session organizer, identify session moderators, and invite speakers and inform them of key dates for abstract submission and other program deadlines. The session organizer should consider opening or closing the session with an overview/summary presentation or inviting a speaker to do so. Special sessions should avoid overlap with regular, contributed sessions; they may represent areas of research that are of growing interest to SFS membership or that relate to the meeting theme. Note that sessions covering similar topics may be combined. All special session speakers must submit an abstract, register for the meeting, and pay registration fees when registration becomes available.


Special session proposals must be submitted by the November 1, 2023 deadline via the online submission form.


Workshop Details

Workshops will be scheduled on Sunday, June 2, 2024, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the conference venue. Workshops may run for part of the day or the full day. Feel free to contact Matt McTammany (mmctamma@bucknell.edu) if you have questions about organizing a workshop. Proposals for workshops will be reviewed by the Annual Meeting Program Committee; the committee may ask for changes and resubmission of proposals, if appropriate.

Workshop proposals should include the following information:
  • At least one co-organizer, but you may add up to four.
  • An informative workshop title.
  • A short (300-word) session description.
  • Up to five keywords.
  • The desired duration (1-7 hours) and the preferred time of day. Workshops will be scheduled on Sunday, June 2, 2024, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the conference venue in rooms provided by SFS at no cost.
  • The minimum and maximum number of attendees needed to offer your workshop.
  • Logistical needs (e.g. microscopes, seating arrangements, power, etc.) to successfully execute the workshop. (Internet access, projector, and screens will be provided.) Note that special equipment/technology or planned meals/refreshments will need to be supported by registration fees charged to workshop participants.

Workshop proposals will have a rolling deadline. Submissions received by the November 1, 2023 deadline will appear in the early registration announcements. All accepted workshop presenters and attendees must register for the meeting and pay all fees when registration becomes available.