Symposium Submission

ISPGR is planning to have a series of symposia that cover various cutting-edge clinical and basic research topics in posture and gait research fields. Symposia offer a unique opportunity to showcase the work of yourself and that of your colleagues, into one complete story.

Symposia can be used to present conclusive evidence of a series of studies or to provoke discussion on areas where more work is required. There are no rules related to content, other than that the submissions have to be of high-quality and relevant to ISPGR delegates. Symposia are a crucial component of the ISPGR conferences to discuss the most outstanding posture and gait research with other experts from around the world.

All symposia are selected by the Scientific Program Committee with priority given to:

• topics that address novel or contentious issues
• bridge between basic and clinical fields
• include a diverse range of speakers that bring unique approaches or perspectives to the topic
• encourage in-depth discussion and debate between presenters and the audience
• Student-led Symposia are also encouraged

These sessions always prove very popular at the World Congress, and we encourage our membership to submit a proposal to present research that will start conversations, and encourage debate.

Please note: This year, we invite submissions for symposium and individual abstracts at the same time. Symposia are the core part of our program and therefore highly competitive. We understand that some of you might want to present an individual abstract if your symposium is not selected. Therefore, we will trial the below:

• If you would like to be considered for an oral presentation, we invite you to submit your talk as an individual abstract at the same time.
• If you would like to be considered for a poster presentation, we ask to submit your talk as a late-breaking abstract after the symposia outcomes have been announced.
• If you only want to present as a part of a symposium, you don’t need to do anything additional

Successful submissions will be informed of their inclusion in the 2023 world congress program in February 2023.

Please note: we cannot provide any support for travel or other expenses for symposia speakers or organisers.

Submission Guidelines

To submit a proposal, please read and adhere to the submission guidelines below:

General Information:

• Prepare to enter the contact name, affiliation/institution name and email address for each of the symposia presenters. Please note: all symposium presenters must be ISPGR members in good standing
• Prepare a symposium title (max 225 character limit including spaces – approximately 40 words)

Required Submission Questions:

1. Include the name and affiliation of your symposium Chair.

2. Provide a brief description of the topic, and justify why the proposed topic is novel, contentious, or highly relevant for discussion. 1800 characters including spaces maximum (approx. 300 words)

3. Provide a brief description of how each speaker will offer a unique approach/perspective to the proposed topic. 600 characters including spaces max (approx. 100 words) per speaker. Please include each speaker name

(If accepted, each symposia presenter will be required to submit an individual abstract for their presentation by March 20, 2023.)

4. Provide a brief outline of the proposed format for a moderated, interactive scientific exchange with the audience, which follows on from the individual presentations. Note that access to an electronic polling app will be made available and encouraged for use as a creative means to further engage the audience. 1800 characters including spaces maximum (approx. 300 words)

5. Indicate who will be the moderator of this exchange

6. Provide two (2) stimulating questions to the audience as a starting point for the discussion

7. Within the 1 hour and 45 min symposium, you will be required to indicate how much time will be used for the Symposium introduction, individual speaker presentations, and moderated, interactive scientific exchange

8. Provide a disclosure of potential conflicts of interest for each of the symposium participants (if applicable)

General abstract summary:

• Prepare a general abstract summary of the proposed symposium (max 3000 character limit including spaces- approximately 500 words). If selected, this summary will be included in the Congress proceedings. Note: speakers included in successful proposals, will be invited to submit individual abstracts for their specific presentations within the symposium by no later than March 20, 2023.