Symposia Guidelines

• The six theme areas identified are for practical reasons only and will not necessarily represent the final arrangement of the Congress. It is more likely that symposia will be grouped into broad themes addressing contemporary issues in science and the community.
  
  
• Scientific Committee members will also proactively contact potential symposia organisers in fields of particular interest to the Congress.
  
  
• The morning sessions will include Plenary Lectures and Keynote Symposia. If you have suggestions and ideas for these please contact the relevant Scientific Committee representative.
  
  
• General Symposia will be held in the afternoon of each weekday of the congress. Sessions will run from 1.00–3.00 pm, and 3.30– 5.30 pm, without breaks within symposia.
  
  
• Official language of the congress is English.

General Symposia

• Each symposium proposal should have two (or more) organisers, ideally no more than one of whom should be from Australia. A person may be listed as organiser of only one symposium, and may or may not choose to speak in that symposium.
  
  
• Organisers are responsible for: contacting their speakers to obtain their agreement to speak, scheduling the order of their speakers, providing speakers with information about the symposium, and communicating to the Secretariat any special needs of their speakers.
  
  
• In preparing a final roster of speakers, organisers should emphasize broad international participation and appropriate gender balance.
  
  
• Each symposium will consist of six 20-minute presentations. Because as many as 15-20 symposia will run concurrently, we must ask that organisers and speakers adhere strictly to this program. This will mean that all concurrent symposia, and to the degree possible all talks, begin and end at the same time, which will allow participants to move between symposia for specific talks. Organisers (or their designated session moderator) and speakers are strongly urged to respect this schedule.
  
  
• All Congress participants will be limited to one oral presentation at the Congress (including Keynote and General Symposia). The only exceptions are those delivering Plenary Lectures; since they have been specifically invited to speak by the Congress organisers, they may give one additional oral presentation if they so desire. Symposium organisers may speak in their own session or in another, but are limited to one talk.
  
  
• Speakers should prepare their presentations to last for 15 minutes and then 5 minutes question time. Rooms for the symposia will be moderate to large in size, so there will be a premium on clear enunciation (microphones available) and on concise, clear, and easily read visuals. Standard data projector facilities and pointers will be available in all rooms; any special requests regarding visuals should be communicated in detail to the session organisers and to the Congress Secretariat.