Symposia Submission


The Program Committee for ISOT 2020 (18th International Symposium for Olfaction and Taste) invites proposals for symposia on topics of special interest in the chemical senses. We expect the ISOT symposia to be a major forum for oral presentations communicating the latest developments in areas of significance to the broader chemical senses community. Up to 18 symposia will be selected for inclusion in the meeting program, depending on the merit and relevance of the submitted proposals.

Symposia will follow a standard format. A symposium is 2.5 hours long. Three symposia will run in parallel. Each will begin with a short Introduction given by the symposium Chair. Symposia will include 4 invited speakers, each giving talks of 25 minutes (plus 5 minutes for questions). We recommend that the participation of these invited speakers is confirmed prior to the submission of the proposal to avoid speaker overlap in multiple proposals. Additionally, 2 short talks of 15 minutes (including question time) on the symposium topic will be selected by the Program Committee from submitted general abstracts. Alternatively, because the meeting is still 1.5 years away, this 30-min slot may be reserved for an emerging scientist as long as the theme of the symposium is strengthened. This ‘late-breaking’ speaker can be proposed by symposium organizers up to the time for short talk selection (approximately 4 months before the meeting).

Symposium proposals must include the following:

  • Symposium Title.
  • Names and affiliations of up to 2 symposium organizers.
  • A paragraph synopsis of the symposium theme/idea.
  • Names, affiliations and tentative talk titles for 4 speakers.
  • Suggestions for potential sponsors including corporations, government agencies or non-profit organizations.

In evaluating proposals, the program committee will favor proposals whose topics concern newly emerging fields. In particular, the committee would like to encourage the inclusion of young investigators, as well as geographic and gender diversity among the speakers and discussants.

Proposals not only on basic chemosensory research but also on other related topics such as chemesthesis, clinical studies,ethology, biosensor, etc. in a variety of organisms from invertebrate models to human will be considered. Symposia should not serve as an opportunity to showcase the work of the symposia organizers and their students. The Program Committee may suggest combining proposals if the same attractive themes are proposed. To attract excellent investigators from all over the world, funds are available to support the meeting registration and banquet fees for all invited 30 min-speakers and symposium organizers except members of the AChemS, the host association.

Please contact ISOT 2020 Program Chair with any questions:

Jay Gottfried, MD, PhD
Departments of Neurology & Psychology
University of Pennsylvania
[email protected]