Session Proposals

SACNAS invites submissions of session proposals for our national meeting to build the conference agenda. Professionals are encouraged to submit session proposals for professional development, leadership, special events, or scientific symposia.

2012 SACNAS National Conference
October 11-14, 2012
Seattle, Washington

Session Proposal System Open: Wednesday, January 25
Session Submissions Deadline: Friday, March 30

Professional Development Sessions

Professional development sessions provide attendees with guidance and training in the beyond-the-bench skills.
Purpose: sessions support participants in professional skills development, determining & refining career choices, making successfully transitions from one level to the next, understanding opportunities for career advancement, and generally lay the foundation for attendees' career success.
Audience: general audience (all levels) or targeted to specific levels.
Session structure: professional development sessions are intended to actively engage attendees in learning. Presenters are encouraged to use a number of session formats to encourage participation, such as interactive panels, hands-on demonstration & skills practice, small group discussions, question & answer sessions, etc.

Submit a Professional Development Proposal

Leadership Sessions

Leadership sessions develop critical leadership skills and prepare participants to serve in scientific leadership roles.
Purpose: support the success of underrepresented minority scientists in their leadership capacities.
Audience: scientists at the postdoc, junior career, or mid-career levels.
Session structure: provide training & development activities in one or more of the following leadership skills areas: 1) influence and persuasion, 2) communication, 3) providing vision and setting goals, 4) developing one’s reputation as a leader, 5) decision-making and critical thinking skills, 6) developing professional networks with followers and stakeholders, 7) understanding one’s role in organizational contexts, 8) personal leadership development and reflective practice, 9) ethical reasoning, and/or 10) coaching and developing others.
Examples: submissions that would qualify as a leadership track proposal:

  • Managing Conflict for Lab Directors: Managing Relationships with Scientists, Sponsors, and Support Personnel
  • Developing Staff Through Mentoring: A Structured Approach to Enabling Staff to Take on Increased Responsibilities in Decision Making

Examples: submissions that would not qualify as a leadership track proposal:

  • Landing your Postdoc: Effective Interviewing for Scientists
  • The ABCs of Enhancing Your Creativity

Submit a Leadership Proposal

Special Events

These activities (preconference workshops, special interest sessions, etc.)
Purpose: preconference workshops—normally discipline-specific or topical in nature—have a strong professional development focus and provide up to eight hours of in-depth exploration of subject. Meetings & special interest forums allow conference attendees to connect with one another based on shared interest in research area, background, etc.
Audience: general audience (all levels) or targeted to specific levels.
Session structure: this type of proposal is for sessions that are more free-form, longer, or included special types of activities (e.g., movie presentations) and are scheduled prior to the official opening of the conference or during the evenings.

Submit a Special Event Proposal

Scientific Symposia Sessions

Symposia feature cutting-edge research by members of the scientific research community.
Purpose: present research from diverse disciplines, share advanced research and discoveries, interact with attendees, and mentor science students. The mentoring component seeks to 1) introduce students to various areas of research, helping them identify & refine their career goals and path; 2) model scientific presentation skills; 3) provide a real-life understanding of what a career in a particular scientific discipline is like; and 4) help students prepare to take part in discipline-specific meetings.
Audience: general audience; attendees at all educational/career stages.
Session structure: we recommend no more than four speakers per scientific symposium to allow ample time for presentations and discussion with the audience. Each talk should be approximately 15-20 minutes and chairs are expected to allow time for a session introduction and a closing question and answer period.

Submit a Scientific Symposium Proposal

Proposal Materials/Qualities of Strong Session Proposals:

  • Session title & narrative: title is catchy & specific; 50-word narrative is both specific and has broad appeal to a general audience.
  • Session goals: expresses clear goals and intended outcomes of the session aligned with the purpose of the type of session & mission of SACNAS.
  • Intended audience: indicate the target participant level (i.e., undergrad students, grad students, all students, postdocs, professionals, or all attendees) and discipline (if applicable).
  • Speaker diversity: speakers and chairs represent multiple institutions, various career stages, and ethnic & gender diversity in order to serve as role models to the SACNAS audience.
  • Speaker/chair details: complete chair & speaker info, including: full name, institutional affiliation, link to speaker websites. Listed speakers should be confirmed. For professional development & leadership proposals, a minimum of 1 speaker is required. Scientific symposia should include 4 speakers.
  • Talk titles (scientific symposia only): specific presentation titles for each confirmed speaker.
  • Examples:

Proposal Review

Session submissions review: April 1 - April 15.

The Program Committee reserves the right to decline or accept any proposal in full or in part in the interest of providing a balanced program or due to limitations in space. SACNAS does not accept sessions that are geared toward promoting any one institution or program.

More Information

Please contact Bryana Britts for information or assistance with your submission.