TYPES OF PROPOSAL

Symposia
About fifty symposia will be selected by the Programme Committee. They will last 1 hour 30 minutes and they must address scientific issues around a coherent theme of interest to a broad audience.

Technical workshops
Four to six technical workshops will be selected by the Programme Committee and will take place in the morning preceding the formal opening of the Forum. These are meant to discuss technical advances in various fields of research, with the emphasis on techniques, not on scientific results. They may last around 3 hours. The number of attendees at a technical workshop is limited to 50-100 in order to encourage interactions between them. A workshop registration fee will be requested from the attendees to contribute to the cost of room rental.

CHOICE OF THEMES

The FENS Forum takes place every two years, and the number of symposia is limited to about 50. With more than 15,000 FENS members, proposals largely outnumber the symposia that can be accommodated. The Programme Committee will give priority therefore to proposals of outstanding interest. Unless they are strong scientific advances (to be explained in the objectives of the symposium topic), the Programme Committee will not consider proposals whose topics overlap significantly with those included in the programme of the FENS Forum 2008.
See http://forum.fens.org/2008/pages/program.html

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CHOICE OF CHAIRPERSONS AND SPEAKERS

Recommendations
The basic criteria for selection is the scientific interest of the topics, the achievements of the speakers in the field, and their ability to present their work to a broad multidisciplinary audience. Preference will be given to symposia that tackle a topic from various angles and aim to present different views and opinions rather than presenting the work of collaborating groups. The balance of gender, 'scientific seniority' and geographical distribution of the affiliation of speakers will also be taken into consideration by the Programme Committee when selecting the successful proposals.

Number of speakers/chairpersons
Symposia
A proposal must include 4 speakers. Symposia are chaired by 1 or 2 persons. It is recommended that no more than 1 chairperson be among the 4 speakers.
Technical workshops
A proposal must include from 4 (minimum) to 6 speakers (maximum) for a 3 hour workshop. They are chaired by 1 or 2 persons. It is recommended that no more than 1 chairperson be among the speakers.
Speakers
Junior as well as senior scientists are encouraged to participate in the proposals. However, all speakers should be experienced in presenting their research to a broad multidisciplinary audience.
Countries
The involvement of scientists from European laboratories is strongly encouraged, but proposals may be submitted by or may include any scientist from any country as chairperson and/or speaker.
Affiliation
The proposed speakers/chairpersons at the symposium or workshop should preferably belong to different institutions from different countries, but never exceed 2 speakers from the same research group or institute.
Gender
A reasonable gender balance of speakers and chairpersons is strongly encouraged.

Eligibility
The following rules should be followed for any symposium or technical workshop proposal:
  • a chairperson at the FENS Forum 2008 cannot act as a chairperson at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • a speaker at the FENS Forum 2008 cannot be proposed as a speaker at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • a person who has been both chairperson and speaker at the FENS Forum 2008 cannot be proposed as chairperson or speaker at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • no member of the Programme Committee of the FENS Forum 2010 can be proposed as chairperson or speaker at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • no member of the Local Organising Committee of the FENS Forum 2010 can be proposed as chairperson or speaker at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • no member of FENS Executive Committee can be proposed as chairperson or speaker at the FENS Forum 2010,
  • individuals can participate only once as speaker and/or chairperson at the same FENS Forum.

For a list of chairpersons and speakers at the FENS Forum 2008, see the section Useful links

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STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURE

A. Choice of themes
Novelty and scientific interest are essential. Looking at the programme of the previous FENS Forum will help you select the theme. The title of your proposal must be brief, meaningful and precise. Avoid terms devoid of real semantic content such as "New insights in...", "Trends in...", "Advances in... "
The Objectives should
  • state the scientific purpose and content of the proposal,
  • explain the choice of speakers/chairpersons,
  • present its novelty and scientific interest in the context of international research.

Remember that the Programme Committee will have to examine dozens of proposals. A clear message is the best way to make yourself understood.

B. Choice of speakers/chairpersons
Do not propose someone without his/her consent, or someone who is not eligible (see Eligibility). Individuals may participate to several proposals, but if accepted, they can participate in only one symposium or workshop. You must make sure that you have been informed about the other proposals in which your partners participate. The Programme Committee will assume that all partners of a given proposal are fully informed about each other's projects.
Each proposed person is committed to participate to the Forum in case of acceptance of the proposal. By submitting a proposal, each speaker and chairperson agrees to follow the rules described in the section Agreement and disclaimer.
A form will have to be filled for each proposed participant (chairpersons and speakers). The easiest way is to send your partners an e-mail with the list of items to complete that they will return to you (see model in the Necessary items for submission).

C. Proposal submission
All proposals must be submitted by internet on the FENS Forum website between February 2 and February 28, 2009 by connecting to http://forum.fens.org/2010

For administrative purposes, all correspondence with FENS will be done exclusively by the person who submitted the proposal (designated in the submission form as corresponding partner).

Prepare carefully your proposal before submitting it on the internet server. Submission consists of several forms or pages. It is essential that you fill in each one of the pages. Once the last page is completed, then your proposal will be effectively submitted. Incomplete proposals (i.e. no chairperson and/or less than 4 speakers, and/or missing communication titles) will NOT be considered by the Programme Committee.

Symposium proposal
For a symposium proposal, you will have to complete up to 7 pages
  • 1 for the proposal itself (title, description, scientific domains)
  • 1 or 2 for the chairpersons (name, address, communication title (if also speaker))
  • 4 for the speakers (name, address, communication title)
Technical workshop proposal
For a technical workshop proposal, you will have to complete 7 to 9 pages
  • 1 for the proposal itself (title, description, scientific domains)
  • 1 or 2 for the chairpersons (name, address, communication title (if also speaker))
  • 4 to 6 for the speakers (name, address, communication title)
Once a proposal is submitted correctly, the corresponding partner will receive a receipt on the internet and by automatic email, with a proposal number and a confidential code. These codes will allow the corresponding partner to access the proposal for editing whenever necessary until the deadline for submission. No modification will be accepted after the deadline. NOTE: the codes for a proposal should be used exclusively by the corresponding partner. FENS will assume no responsibility whatsoever if these codes are given away or misused.

A receipt, without codes, will be sent to all the other partners, with a possibility to view the proposal, but not to modify it. Should modifications be necessary, partners are invited to discuss with the "corresponding partner" who will be responsible for the editing of the proposal.

D. Editing of proposals
The corresponding partner is the only person who can edit a proposal, or even withdraw it, until the deadline for submission. To do so, connect to "Call for symposia and technical workshop proposal" page, and ask for editing using the proposal codes given after submission.

You may edit
  • the proposal page itself,
  • any speaker page (from minor changes to the replacement of a speaker by another speaker for example),
  • the function of any participant (chairperson and/or speaker).
You may delete a participant and/or insert a new participant and you may withdraw/re-submit the proposal. When withdrawn, the proposal is kept in the database, but marked as withdrawn, so that should you wish to re-activate it (with or without modification), you will not have to type in everything again.

Always review the proposal after editing to check its content and validity.

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DECISION ON PROPOSALS

The Programme Committee will examine all proposals, which are complete and follow FENS rules. Proposals may be accepted as they stand. In some cases, the Programme Committee may accept a proposal provided that the organisers include modifications necessary to improve the proposal and/or to make it coherent with other selected symposia.
Decisions will be sent by email to the participants shortly after the Programme Committee meeting (see Important dates). The proposals will be definitely accepted once the organisers have replied and confirmed their participation.

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DATES AND DEADLINES

February 02, 2009 Submissions open on the website
February 28, 2009Deadline for submission
March 31-April 1, 2009Programme Committee meeting
May 2009Decisions on proposals sent to the organisers
July 2009Preliminary programme on the web

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FUNDING

FENS will waive registration and abstract book fees of the chairpersons and speakers of accepted proposals. FENS will meet no other expenses of chairpersons and speakers. If you organise a proposal, make sure that all partners of the proposal are aware of these conditions. It is up to the proposal organisers or/and proposed speakers to find funding for travel and other expenses.

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AGREEMENT AND DISCLAIMER

By submitting a proposal, all proposed participants agree that:
  1. The proposal must comply with ethical guidelines for scientific research in general, and in particular for human and animal research (for details, see the European Journal of Neuroscience),
  2. FENS Programme Committee will not consider any incomplete proposal or any proposal including persons who are not eligible (see Choice of chairpersons and speakers),
  3. Each one of the proposed participants has given his/her consent for the proposal and is committed to participate to the Forum in case of acceptance,
  4. In case the proposal is accepted, each speaker accepts the conditions of participation to the Forum as defined by FENS,
  5. The Programme Committee may require changes in speakers or in topics for the proposal before final acceptance,
  6. FENS may refuse any change to a proposal after it has been accepted by the Programme Committee, and therefore may cancel a symposium which would no longer correspond to the approved proposal. Any change must have the prior approval of the Programme Committee,
  7. In no event will FENS be liable for the content of a proposal with respect to its participants or any other person or institution.
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NECESSARY ITEMS FOR PROPOSALS

List of items necessary to fill in the forms in the submission period February 2-28, 2009.

Proposal page
Type of proposal: symposium or technical workshop.
Title: < 100 characters. Please do not use abbreviations or Greek characters.
Brief description (for the public): 500 characters maximum, spaces included.
Objectives (for the Programme Committee): 1500 characters maximum, spaces included.
Domains: use the pull-down menus of the proposal form to select the main domain of your proposal (you may have 2 choices).
The main domains are
  1. Development of the nervous systems
  2. Neural excitability, synapses and glia: cellular mechanisms
  3. Disorders of the nervous system
  4. Sensory and motor systems
  5. Neuroendocrine systems and homeostatic physiology
  6. Cognition, behavior, learning & memory
  7. Techniques, history and teaching in neuroscience
Chairperson & speaker pages
Last name:
First name and initials of other names:
Ms / Mr
Title (Dr, Prof)
Status: PhD student -young scientist (aged < 45) -senior scientist (aged > 45)
Neuroscience society membership:
Institution 1 (laboratory, etc.):
Institution 2 (continued):
Institution 3 (continued):
Street:
Postal code (when preceding the city):
City:
Zip / Postal code (when following the city):
Country:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail address (mandatory):
For speakers only:
Title of presentation: < 150 characters. Please do not use abbreviations or Greek characters.
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USEFUL LINKS

List of Committee members, FENS Forum 2010:
http://forum.fens.org/2010/pages/committees.php

List of chairpersons and speakers at FENS Forum 2008:
http://forum.fens.org/2008/abstracts/speakers2008.html

Scientific programme, FENS Forum 2008:
http://forum.fens.org/2008/pages/program.html

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Last modified: 20/01/2009