» Conference Proposal Guidelines

In 2007 the newly formed APS Conference Committee (APSCC) began its task of improving the APS Conference Program and to encourage the submission of more conference proposals. The APSCC will work with the conference organizer every step of the way and will be a valuable resource during the task of conference planning.

The APS Conferences offer the Society membership the ultimate in programming opportunities. The organizing committee will select the theme or topic, meeting format, abstract categories, method of presentation, and duration of the meeting. Conference organizers will also benefit by having an APSCC representative assigned to their conference for additional help. The APS will be responsible for the financial and administrative aspects of conference management. Additionally, the Society provides a maximum of $30,000 toward reimbursement of invited speaker direct travel costs and conference registration. In essence, the Society is simply asking you to help organize a conference that presents the best science, and it will provide the vast majority of the logistical support you need to pull it off successfully. What more could you possibly ask?

Listed below are more specific guidelines to follow in organizing an APS Conference. Any questions regarding the organization of such meetings should be directed to Gerald Meininger, Ph.D., the Chair of the APS Conference Committee, or Linda Allen in the APS Meetings Department. The APS Conference Committee reviews all the conference proposals when they are submitted. The deadlines for submitting a conference proposal are: April 1, August 1, and December 1 of each calendar year. The Society expects proposals to be submitted more than 18 months prior to the desired conference date.

Proposals are easy to submit! No lengthy forms to fill out. Simply click here to go directly to the new and easy to use APSCC Proposal Submission Form. Answer a few brief questions, upload an executive summary and you are done. Need some help answering the questions? Once you submit your conference proposal, it will be entered into the next APSCC agenda for a review of your proposal.

The APSCC will review proposals as they are received. After reviewing the scores of competing applications and considering the number of proposals submitted for a particular year, the APSCC will make one of the following determinations:

1. The proposal should be recommended to Council for approval (no face-to-face meeting with the organizer is needed).

2. The proposal appears adequate but questions need to be addressed by the organizer at the next meeting or conference call of the APSCC.

3. The proposal is not adequate for recommendation to Council and an APSCC representative will provide feedback and work closely with the conference organizer to improve the nature and quality of the proposed conference.

Please note that failure to adhere to the guidelines in submitting a conference proposal may delay your conference proposal application and you will be asked to elaborate further on the sections that have not been fully answered.

If the proposal is adequate and there are already enough APS Conferences scheduled for that year, the APSCC will ask the organizer to consider holding the conference in the following year.

The APS Conference Program General Guidelines for Submitting a Proposal

Audience

Each APS Conference should deal with a circumscribed topic, which may be narrow or broad. Although the ideal size is 200-600 attendees, there is great flexibility in this number; except under unusual circumstances, the conference should not be so large as to require the scheduling of simultaneous sessions. Organizers should consider the suitability of a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, as well as different levels of investigation that might range from molecular through systems physiology and translational research.

The proposal should describe for whom the program is designed including any special background or experience requirements for this target audience. Educational objectives, content and methods should be described such as: (a) what knowledge and/or skills the participants will acquire; (b) what principal topics will be discussed, and; (c) what methods will be used to present these topics.

The conference must always be billed as an APS Conference, followed by the full title of the conference. The following is an example from a past APS Conference:

2007 APS Conference: Sex Steroids and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology

An APS Conference may be organized and proposed by one or more persons. At the beginning of the online application you will be requested to enter the contact information of the main conference organizer. Upon acceptance of the conference proposal you will be requested to provide more information about your organizing committee members.

To ensure a well-rounded conference, the Meeting Organizer(s) are required to demonstrate a percentage of the invited chairs and speakers who are junior and female investigators in their proposal. It is also required that there is a balance of academic rank and minorities demonstrated in the proposal. It is expected that the Meeting Organizer(s) will contact and confirm all invited chairs and speakers for the conference.

Invited Speaker Diversity

To ensure that an APS Conference is well-rounded, the Meeting Organizer is required to demonstrate a percentage of invited chairs and speakers who are junior and female investigators. Please consider including women and under-represented minorities as well as speakers from industry-related fields and trainee presenters as some of your invited speakers.

Scope of the Conference

This section should provide a brief summary of each of the proposed symposia sessions that will be held during your conference. This allows the APSCC to understand the topics that will be discussed at the conference and determine whether the conference is too narrow or broad in its focus.

The executive summary is designed to give the APSCC more insight into your conference proposal. Preparing a one page executive summary (which can be uploaded into the APSCC Online Proposal Form) must include the following information:

•  Goals and objectives

•  Topic

•  Symposia/poster sessions

•  Key points

•  Interest

•  How would this conference distinguish itself from other conferences

•  What would be the draw to your conference

To view a sample of what an ideal conference executive summary should look like, please click here.

APS Conferences are generally held between June and December of a given year to avoid overlap with Experimental Biology Meeting. The duration should be 2 to 3 days, usually with a Saturday stay over to allow easier flight arrangements and less interruption of the business week. Organizers may provide input about the desired date and/or location, including international locations.

After approval of the conference by Council and once the venue and dates have been selected, the APS Meetings Department in Bethesda will assume the financial and logistical management of the conference, marketing, and technical exhibits if appropriate. All contracts must be negotiated through the headquarters office. Contracts entered into by the organizer without knowledge by the APS will not be recognized.

Sections, Specialty Groups, Other Societies

It is best, though not essential, if a proposal for an APS Conference is submitted under the auspices of one or more Section or Special Interest Group of the Society. A multidisciplinary approach to the chosen topic is encouraged, so that it is not uncommon for a given Conference to draw participants from several Sections and Interest Groups, as well as from societies other than the APS. Responsibility for the Conference, however, will rest with the organizers working through the APS.

It is necessary to include a career-development workshop within each of the APS sponsored meetings and conferences. This workshop is organized by the APS Education office and the workshop is designed for students and postdoctoral fellows to get together with a member of the APS Careers Committee to enhance the education of the young investigators. There is no cost to the Meeting Organizer(s) for the workshop and is organized entirely by the APS.

The Society provides each APS Conference with a maximum of $30,000 to support travel expenses and registration fees for the invited speakers in the Conference. It is expected that the organizer(s) will make every effort to raise funds to defray costs of speaker travel, trainee awards, and/or the social program away from APS as much as possible. The APS will work with the organizer(s) to submit federal grant request(s).

To avoid scheduling conflicts and conference duplication, the Meeting Organizer(s) are expected to research and report on any conferences or meetings that will be taking place within a two year time period on the same subject matter.

To ensure that your conference is a success, the APSCC will assign one or two APSCC representatives to work with you and offer guidance on matters concerning your conference. These representatives will also attend the conference and provide feedback for the committee and the APS staff.

Gerald A. Meininger, PhD
Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, 134 Research Park Dr Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-9662
Fax: (573) 884-4232
Email: meiningerg@missouri.edu

Linda Allen, Manager
Meetings Department
American Physiological Society
9650 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-3991
Tel.: 301-634-7172
Fax: 301-634-7264
Email: meetings@the-aps.org

Website: www.the-aps.org