Formats and Guidelines

Session Chair Guidelines

Session Chair Guidelines

Session Chairs are expected to register and attend the meeting in order to chair the session. SETAC does not provide financial assistance for chairing a session.

Sessions are developed in collaboration between sessions chairs and the program committee, who are required to adhere to all SETAC policies, including the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct as well as Participants Policy. This is inclusive of SETAC’s Open Science and Confidentiality Policy and, as such, unpublished material in a submitted abstract is confidential and shall not be used or otherwise disseminated until published, and then with appropriate attribution as well.

Session Submission

Guidelines
  • Format: 
    • Title: Please use title case and spell out abbreviations and acronyms. There is a limit of 150 characters (including spaces) for the title of the session.
    • Description: Do not exceed 2,500 characters (including spaces and references). Keep abbreviations and acronyms to a minimum and be clear and concise.
    • Session chairs: Please list a minimum of two and a maximum of four session chairs. SETAC strongly encourages sector diversity and please consider including students and early career researchers as co-chairs. 
    • Please submit all communications in English, the official language of SETAC Latin America.
  • If the proposal is submitted by a SETAC Interest Group, this should be indicated during submission

A minimum of two chairs and a maximum of four chairs should accompany every session submission.

Session Review

The fact that a session is included in the call for abstracts does not guarantee that the session will be programmed at the biennial meeting. Depending on the number of individual abstracts received, the Organizing Committee will decide on the format and length of the session (number of time blocks). Moreover, it may happen that the session will be merged or cancelled if only a limited number of abstracts are received. The final session schedule will be announced in May.

During the Meeting

Session chairs are expected to interact with presenters in all associated session (talks and posters) in their sessions and make them feel welcome and included.

Chairs are expected to enforce the SETAC Code of Conduct during the meeting.

Oral Platform Session (Talks)

Platform sessions

At the beginning of the session, chairs should briefly introduce themselves, stating the session title and the session duration.

Prior to the start of the session, the chair should:

  • Arrive 20 minutes before the starting time of the session. We have asked presenters to arrive 20 minutes early and introduce themselves to the session chair(s).
  • Check that presentation slides for all presenters in the session are available on the presenter’s laptop. A volunteer will be available in the session room for assistance and will check the following: that presentation files are ready, manage the presenter and audience microphones, and assist with any general technical issue related to the presentation.

At the start and during the session, the chair should:

  • Welcome the audience and presenters, and provide a 3-minute introduction summarising the theme and objectives of the session.
  • Introduce the presenter by name and affiliation and then announce the talk title.
  • Keep the schedule and talk timing according to the overall program. Should there be a missing presenter, the session chair should engage the audience in a discussion until the next scheduled presentation.
  • Formulate a question to ask each speaker ahead of time, particularly if there are none from the audience.
  • Ensure that the session runs smoothly. If for any reason the Q/A period becomes unprofessional, please attempt to refocus the discussion.

Poster Session (Posters)

Poster sessions

The presenters will receive instructions on where and when to hang up their poster. Each poster board will be identified by a poster number.

As a poster session chair:

  • The presence of session chairs is not needed during the poster set-up;
  • Check all displayed posters for appropriateness;
  • Encourage attendees to view the posters in your session.

During the poster session, the chair should:

  • Ensure posters are attended by authors. Presenting authors have been asked to stand by their posters during the poster break. Please note any unattended display. Chairs are not required to stand by the poster boards in their session the entire day, however we do ask that one of the chairs visit the posters periodically.
  • Interact with each poster presenter and help facilitate interaction between presenting authors.
  • Ask for feedback from authors and attendees.

 

In case of any questions, please contact [email protected]