Call for 2023 Symposia Proposals

Symposia offer a unique platform for research presentations that differ from the opportunities provided by regular sessions. A symposium is intended to be a synthetic dive into a particular topic for the purpose of advancing discourse. The goal of a symposium is to either unify work that would not normally be presented or exhibited together (e.g., presentations on the same time period or from the same locality/geological unit but about different taxonomic groups; projects that use related analytical methods but on different types of animals, etc.) or mark a step-change in our knowledge of a particular group or research area. Appropriate presentations might include blended narratives, historical perspectives or overviews, methodological or research advances from outside the discipline of paleontology (e.g., neontological data), perspectives on future challenges. Symposia may be organized for a podium session or a live poster session or a combination of the two.

Proposals for SVP Symposia are expected to be in a face-to-face format.

Proposals for SVP Symposia should include:

A concise summary and discussion of the symposium topic. In particular, the unifying research themes underlying the symposium should be clearly elucidated and tied explicitly to the list of planned presenters. It should also be clear from this discussion why the symposium format is necessary and beneficial to the proposed topic. If appropriate, specific relevance to the meeting’s timing or location should be noted.
A summary of demographic data for confirmed presenters that provides information on a) gender and b) career stage. Although there are no specific requirements, diversity is encouraged and is a criterion that will be considered by the Program Committee in its deliberations.
A list of presenters and preliminary titles should be provided.
For podium symposia: Sessions are two hours, two and a half hours, or four hours in duration and must include either 8 or 10 presentation slots, respectively. All presentations are limited to 12 minutes each with 3 minutes for questions
For poster symposia: A minimum of 10 titles are required for consideration. Because of the flexible nature of poster symposia, additional titles may be added to the symposium when abstracts are submitted.
For combined podium and poster symposia: A minimum of 10 titles with both a tentative podium presentation and poster presentation list provided. Additional poster presentations may be added to the symposium when abstracts are submitted.

Proposals, including both the description and the list of presenters and titles, should not exceed two single-spaced pages in length.

Sample Symposium text from 2021 can be viewed here.

Please send symposium proposals to SVP at meetings@vertpaleo.org The deadline for proposal submission for SVP Podium and Poster Symposia is February 20th, 2023.