Session submission guidelines

Deadline to submit your session: 10 April 2017, 23:59 CET.

Information for session submitters

Four types of sessions will be considered for submission to the 48^th Union World Conference on Lung Health:

Post-graduate courses

Symposia

Satellite sessions

Workshops
 

Please find below the list of tracks under which your session must be submitted: 

It is recommended that session submitters have initial contact with the proposed speakers before they submit a session to determine their availability to attend the conference, should the session be accepted. If a proposed speaker declines, it is the responsibility of the session submitter to provide the name and contact information of an alternative speaker. For speakers representing a UN programme, submitters are required to select the organisation in the list available in the drop down menu;

If the session is accepted, the submitter is expected to facilitate communication between the session speakers to ensure a coherent session and avoid duplication or contradiction amongst the presentations.

Important note: to accommodate the number of session slots available, chairs of different accepted sessions may be requested to merge their session in order to be able to present them.

Please consider replacement speakers in case the ones initially proposed decline the invitation. Facilitate communication between the speakers of the session to avoid duplication or contradiction.

New users: If you are a new user, click on ‘CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT (for first time users)’ below the ‘login’ button. 
 

Symposia

• Symposia sessions are 90 minutes in length and are scheduled during the core conference hours;
• 1-2 individuals serve as Chairs. They are responsible for coordinating the session, communicating with speakers, submitting the session online, promptly liaising with the Secretariat about changes and chairing the session.  The role of ‘Chair’ and ‘Coordinator’ from past conferences has now been combined;
• Description sub-heading: describe the overall objective of the session in 100 words or less (minimum of 10);  
• There should be a minimum of four and maximum of five speakers from a variety of countries/settings;
• Please make sure that you are entering the active email address of the chairs and speakers. Every communication will be made with the email addresses you are entering;
• A short description of 150 words or less should be submitted for each presentation;
• A biography of no more than 100 words must be submitted for each proposed speaker;
• The presentation description and biography will only be considered for reviewing purpose and not be included in the programme;
• A confirmation of submission will be emailed to all chairs and speakers.
• Symposia are editable until the closing date: 10 April 2017.  No further changes are accepted after the deadline;
• Symposia are peer-reviewed by a minimum of three experts and assessed based on objectives, relevance, presentation, originality, utilisation of evidence, geographical impact, and country representation.

Please note that this year, the scholarship applications for speakers will be open from 10 February to 10 April. A link will be shared with them once the platform opens.

Post-graduate courses

• Courses are 3 or 6 hours long and held on the opening days of the conference. Please select the duration (full‐day or half‐day) of the session and the maximum number of attendees. This information will be considered when allocating the room for your session, if your submission is successful;
• Each course should be organised around a specific theme, have clear learning objectives, specify skills and knowledge to be gained;
• Description sub-heading: describe the objectives, expected outputs/outcomes, and relevance of the topic for the target audience in 300 words or less;
• For 3-hour courses: minimum of 4 and a maximum of 5 speakers;
• For 6-hour courses: maximum of 10 speakers;
• A short description of 150 words or less should be submitted for each presentation;
• A biography of no more than 100 words must be submitted for each proposed speaker;
• The agenda must include ample time for discussion and activities that foster active participation;
• There should be at least one and up to two coordinators. They will be responsible for coordinating the course, communicating with speakers, promptly liaising with the Secretariat about changes and facilitating or co-facilitating the course;
• Please make sure that you are entering the active email address of the coordinators and speakers. Every communication will be made with the email addresses you are entering;
• You also have the option of including up to two chairs. In this case and for diversity purpose, it is important that the coordinators of the session do not chair the session they coordinate;
• Conference attendees pay a fee to attend the session and sign-up online or in-person;
• Sessions with fewer than 10 enrolled participants 8 weeks before the start of the conference will be cancelled;
• Modifications to post-graduate course submissions can be done until 10 April 2017;
• Post-graduate courses are assessed based on objectives, relevance, presentation, originality, utilisation of evidence, geographical impact, and country representation.

Satellite sessions

• Satellite sessions will be held on 12, 13 and 14 October outside the hours of the core programme: either for 75 minutes in the morning or 90 minutes in the afternoon;
• There should be at least one and up to two chairs. They will be responsible for coordinating the session, communicating with speakers, promptly communicating with the Secretariat about changes, and chairing or co-chairing the session;
• The maximum number of presentations is five;
• The session will be reviewed for compliance with The Union’s mission and vision;
• There will be two rounds of review and notification. Proposals submitted in the first round will have priority on the slots selection. Satellite sessions submitted before 3 July 2017 will receive notification by 10 July. If there are still spaces available, there will be a second round of reviewing of sessions submitted between 15 July and 5 September 2017. Notifications for the second round will be sent 11 September;
• Full payment should be made within six weeks of approval. If no payment is received, the slot will be allocated to another satellite; 
• The satellite session organiser should ensure costs of travel, accommodation and registration for the speakers and chairpersons will be covered.

Rooms and rates:

   *Non-commercial organisations with an annual spending of US $25 million or more will be billed at the commercial rate.

These rates include:

• Room signage before the session;
• Availibility of the room 15 minutes before the beginning of the symposium;
• Sound and basic audio-visual equipment;
• Details of the session and speakers in the conference programme;
• Hyperlinked logo on the conference programme online.
• Complimentary registrations depending on the room capacity:

          < 100 = one day pass
          100 – 200 = two day passes
          250 – 400 = one full conference registration

Submit

Submit session proposals

Workshops:

• Workshops are 3 or 6 hours long and scheduled for the opening days of the conference;
• Sessions should be organised around a specific theme and must have an expected output, i.e. report, plan of action, roadmap;
• Active learning and participation are expected including in the presentation format (i.e. videos). The session agenda should include ample time for discussion and interactive activities.
• Description sub-heading: describe the objectives, expected outputs/outcomes, and relevance of the topic for the target audience in 300 words or less;
• There should be at least one and up to two coordinators. They will be responsible for coordinating the workshop, communicating with speakers, promptly liaising with the Secretariat about changes, and facilitating or co-facilitating the workshop.
• Please make sure that you are entering the active email address of the chairs and speakers. Every communication will be made with the email addresses you are entering;
• You also have the option of including up to two chairs. In this case and for diversity purpose, it is important that the coordinators of the session do not chair the session they coordinate;
• For 3-hour workshops: minimum of 4 and a maximum of 5 speakers;
• For 6-hour workshops: maximum of 10 speakers;
• A short description of 150 words or less should be submitted for each presentation;
• A biography of no more than 100 words must be submitted for each proposed speaker;
• Workshops are assessed based on objectives, relevance, presentation, originality, utilization of evidence, geographical impact, and country representation;
• The workshop organiser should cover travel, accommodation and registration costs for their speakers and chairpersons;
• If accepted, a workshop organiser must pay to host a worskshop within six weeks of notification. If no payment is received, the slot will be allocated to another workshop;
• Workshops are editable until the closing date: 10 April 2017. No further changes are accepted after the deadline. 

Rooms and rates (if accepted by Scientific Programme Committee):

These rates include:

• Room signage before the session;
• Availibility of the room 15 minutes before the beginning of the workshop;
• Sound and basic audio-visual equipment;
• Details of the session and speakers in the conference programme.