Format and Guidelines
Meeting Format
Meeting Format
The SETAC Europe Annual Meeting is organised as an in-person meeting, featuring an on-demand component to enhance inclusion. Participants will be able to benefit from 5 days packed with scientific sessions, plenaries, courses, seminars and other exhibitor and networking events. Registered participants will be able to access on-demand content through the meeting platform for three months after the meeting.
There is no live streaming, and not all platform presentations will be recorded. Recording is at the presenter’s discretion. Uploading posters is encouraged, but is at the presenter's discretion.
Scientific Programme
Scientific Programme
Scientific Sessions
Sessions are proposed by the SETAC community during the call for session proposals, which must be submitted by 15 August. These proposals are then evaluated by the programme committee. During the call for abstracts, scientists can submit their research to one of the accepted sessions. Accepted presentation types include platform presentations and poster presentations (please refer to the 'presentation formats' tab for more details).
Special Sessions
Special sessions are held to grant more time to topics requiring in-depth presentations, discussions, and panel debates, which traditionally are not covered in the regular scientific presentation sessions. This format enables the community to address emerging topics of high societal awareness and concern, discuss environmental and sustainability topics specific to the hosting region, as well as delve into global policy trends and foster transdisciplinary collaboration.
Special sessions are organised upon invitation from the SETAC Europe science committee and provide an opportunity to involve experts who are typically not active within the SETAC network. Special sessions typically do not take more than 5% of the meeting programme.
Plenaries
The meeting will include thought-provoking and informative plenary presentations, which are carefully planned by the programme committee and SETAC office, and will be recorded for online viewing afterwards.
Virtual Discussion Sessions
Virtual discussions are held after the annual meeting, typically on an overarching topic, aiming at summarising the state of the science from the research presented at the regular scientific sessions or prioritising key research questions that need to be addressed. Session chairs who have organised a topic at the conference are encouraged to view the virtual event planning schedule and propose an event after the meeting. Meeting participants are invited to attend the complementary presentation sessions (or view their recordings) to make the most out of them.
Parallel Programme
Parallel Programme
Training Courses
Training courses are scheduled for the Sunday of the meeting to provide educational opportunities for members and guests. The focus is on selecting both cutting-edge and general scientific topics of interest. Additionally, we offer non-scientific courses that help develop essential skills for scientists, such as communication and presentation skills. The deadline for submitting training course proposals typically falls at the end of October, allowing adequate time for planning and review by the SETAC Europe Education Committee.
SETAC Seminars
SETAC Seminars give room to SETAC groups to introduce, educate or discuss specific topics or projects. For example, the “Student Lunch Seminar” or IG seminars have been popular for years. SETAC Seminar proposals can be submitted through the room booking form available on the parallel programme page. For seminars taking place on the Sunday of the meeting, proposals should be submitted by mid-December to allow sufficient time for planning and will be reviewed by the office or programme committee. Seminar proposals happening on the other days of the conference can be submitted at a later stage.
If you plan a technical workshop or symposium, please review the SETAC Events Matrix for more information.
Sponsored Seminars
These events are planned by non-SETAC groups featuring a guest speaker presenting topics of interest to meeting attendees.
Networking Events
These are semi-formal events to provide networking opportunities for meeting attendees. They include socials, such as “Student Career Networking Lunch,” and other types of events, such as the “Job Event.” These are proposed by SETAC committees and organised in collaboration with the office.
Group Meetups
The annual meeting includes many informal group meetups aimed at gathering people with similar interests for engagement opportunities. We encourage SETAC Europe Regional Branches, Committees, Interest Groups and Affinity Groups to hold more informal group meetups to facilitate networking and engagement opportunities at the meeting instead of administrative meetings. Meetings can be scheduled through the room booking form available on the parallel programme page, or could be organised at the SETAC Square (please contact [email protected]).
Business Meetings
SETAC supports its members (e.g., Committees, Regional Branches, Interest Groups and Affinity Groups) and other organisations by allowing them to book rooms at the venue for business meetings. Meetings can be scheduled through the room booking form available on the parallel programme page.
Presentation Formats
Presentation Formats
Platform Presentation (Talk)
During a platform presentation, presenters can share and discuss their latest research live on stage. Session chairs will curate an engaging lineup of oral presentations from submitted abstracts and ensure effective moderation of the Q&A sessions between talks. Each platform presentation consists of a twelve-minute oral presentation (accompanied by slides), followed by a three-minute Q&A period. These presentations will be recorded onsite and made available on the meeting platform.
Poster Presentation
Poster presenters can showcase their hard copy posters in the exhibition hall for a full day during the meeting. Additionally, presenters can display a digital version of their poster on the virtual meeting platform. Therefore, poster presenters are required to provide a hard copy poster (A0 portrait format) and a virtual component (either a PDF poster, video or enhanced poster [e-poster]), which will need to be uploaded before the meeting. The exact upload deadline will be announced at a later stage.
Poster Corner Discussion
In addition to presenting their posters as described above, poster presenters may be invited to participate in Poster Corner Discussions. In these types of sessions, 6 posters or presenters with a common topic will be grouped together. Each presenter will have four minutes to summarise the key highlights of their poster, followed by a joint discussion with the audience, moderated by the session chair. The Poster Corner Discussions will take place during the afternoon coffee break on the same day as your regular poster exhibition. These sessions will be conducted on a digital screen and take place outside the exhibition area; the exact location will be announced later. Please note that this session will NOT be recorded or live-streamed.
Spotlight Presentation
In addition to presenting their posters as described above, poster presenters may be invited to deliver a Poster Spotlight Presentation. A Poster Spotlight Presentation is scheduled during the platform session that corresponds with your poster session, typically in the final time slot. The purpose of a Poster Spotlight Presentation is to briefly summarise the highlights of the poster (~4 minutes) using max. three slides. Presenters are encouraged to motivate the audience to visit their poster in the exhibition area during the socials. Poster Spotlight Presentations will be recorded onsite and made available on the meeting platform.