Guidelines for submitting a Harden Conference proposal

Unique to the Biochemical Society, Harden Conferences are residential research conferences covering a specialist topic. The conferences bring together scientists from various backgrounds with a common interest in - but varying approaches to - the topic of the conference. Young Researchers/Students are entitled to apply for bursaries towards the registration fee.

To maintain a suitably high level of discussion and presentation at the conference, it is desirable that participants be experienced in the field covered; most of the participants will be expected to have postdoctoral or equivalent experience, although Ph.D. students will also be welcome. Each conference lasts four to five days, with planned scientific sessions morning and evening, and the afternoon left clear for informal scientific interchange and recreation.

The planned scientific sessions feature speakers invited by the Conference Organizers and, in addition, time is left for extensive discussion and for short contributions (including posters) by other conference participants.

In order to encourage free discussion, abstracts and proceedings of Harden Conferences are not published.

This paper lists the information that should be contained within your Harden Conference Proposal. In addition, information and questions frequently asked by Harden Conference Organizers are included.

Agreement by the Meetings Board to accept a proposal as a Harden Conference means that the organizer retains responsibility for the scientific content of the meeting. Organizers are expected to liaise very closely with the Meetings Office staff to ensure the meeting runs to schedule, and is on budget.

Please use the following form to submit your proposal either as:

1. Hard copy to:
   Meetings Office
   The Biochemical Society
   Third Floor
   Eagle House
   16 Procter Street
   London
   WC1V 6NX
   
   
2. Email to meetings@biochemistry.org
   
   
3. Fax: 020 7280 4167

If you would like to discuss submitting a proposal, please telephone Kay Miller on 020 7280 4155 or email Kay.Miller@biochemistry.org

On the proposal form, please complete each heading and fulfill the specified criteria:

1. Full Meeting Title
   Provide the working title for the Harden Conference.
   
   
2. Theme Panel
   Please indicate (if appropriate) which Theme Panel your proposal fits within:
   
   

   I Genes

   II Molecular Structure and Function

   III Bioenergetics and Metabolism

   IV Cell Biology

   V Signal Transduction

   VI Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

   VII Development and Disease

   
   
3. Date
   Organizers are asked to suggest a date for the meeting which should not clash with other Society meetings. Please contact the Meetings Office for more information. See Meetings Office home page to view agreed future meetings.
   
   
4. Venue
   If you have a suggestion for the venue, please ensure that it is spacious enough to accommodate a poster session. If you do not have a venue in mind, the Meetings Office will help to find possible sites.
   
   
5. Organizers
   Please supply full contact details of all Organizers. If joint with another Society, please list details here.
   
   
6. Length/duration
   State the proposed length of programme, Harden Conferences are usually between four – five days in duration.
   
   
7. Anticipated audience description and numbers:
   Include an approximate number of delegates and also if they are likely to include full/student or non-members of the Society. Note Harden Conferences usually attract an audience of up to a maximum of 150 attendees.
   
   
8. Case for the scientific programme
   

   State the case for the science programme (half page A4) in terms of e.g.:
   
   

   importance

   timeliness

   topicality

   when last organized as a Harden Conference (if appropriate)

   target audiences
   
   

9. Competing/recent meetings
   Give information, if known, about any competing meetings and the last known meeting on the topic in UK/rest of the world.
   
   
10. Include details of the additional meeting programme, such as networking slots, oral presentations selected from abstracts and poster sessions:
    Meeting Organizers are asked to include time for networking opportunities and poster sessions at Harden Conferences. Networking opportunities can include structured events such as the scheduling of meetings between delegates. The Meetings Office will organize these events, if time is allowed within the programme. Poster sessions should be attended by Speakers, who should be asked to judge poster prizes where applicable. In addition to the invited Speakers detailed below, slots should be included for oral presentations selected from abstracts.
    
    
11. Speaker details
    List the proposed speakers (7 maximum per day), their topic titles, affiliation and travel costs (see recommended allowances below). Additional speakers should also be drawn from authors of poster abstract submissions, but these speakers are not offered financial assistance.
    
    Diversity guidelines
    
    1. Appropriate representation of women as invited speakers in relation to their participation in the specific field of the meeting. Where there is a high proportion of women in a specific field at least 25% of the invited speakers should be women.
    2. A good balance between established and new investigators on the speaker list.
    3. There is an attempt for broad geographical representation where possible.
    
    
12. Organizer details
    Please give full contact details of all Organizers
    
    
13. Sponsorship and support
    Harden Conferences receive up to £8,000 financial sponsorship from The Biochemical Society. To cover costs and keep delegate fees down, Organizers are asked to seek financial support for the meeting. Please include in the proposal a realistic level of sponsorship you aim to raise – with details of the sources of sponsorship confirmed and to be approached.
    
    Extra notes for Harden Conference Organizers:
    
    
    • The Society provides full secretariat support for Harden Conferences
    • Registration fees are a combination of
      
      1. Venue and accommodation costs
      2. A contribution towards the science programme costs
      3. Charges for any social programme
      
      The Biochemical Society advises Organizers to consider educational venues rather than dedicated conference venues, which can be expensive.
    
    Note: The final level of registration fees will be decided at the discretion of The Biochemical Society, in order to ensure that the meeting has a neutral budget.
    
    
14. Recommended Speaker Travel Allowances
    For recommended Speaker Travel Allowances, please refer to the Speaker Travel Allowances sheet.
    
    
15. Timetable for submission
    All proposals will be considered at the February Meetings Board Meeting at least 18 months before the proposed Conference date.

Additional information and questions frequently asked by Meeting Organizers

The Biochemical Society

• Why should I choose to organize a Harden Conference with The Biochemical Society?

The Biochemical Society’s Harden Conferences are modeled on the hugely successful Gordon Conferences, and our Meetings Office has many years of experience in organizing and producing highly successful meetings. We will help you at every stage of the process from finding a venue, marketing your meeting and right through to support on the day itself.

The Biochemical Society will also underwrite the cost of the meeting, as well as providing bursaries for attending Young Researcher/Student Members of the Society.

• What will be the role of The Biochemical Society?

The Meetings Office will provide full secretariat support for your meeting. We will take responsibility for the administrative side of the meeting including liaising with venues, speakers and delegates. We will also deal with abstract submission and meeting registration.

However, the ownership of the meeting will be retained by the Organizers. You will have control of the scientific programme and be fully consulted in decisions regarding the venue, social events and marketing.

The Venue

Organizers of Biochemical Society Harden Conferences are not obliged to suggest a meeting venue.

• Is the proposed venue likely to be expensive?

Some venues such as the Oxford and Cambridge Colleges are very expensive to use. This can result in prohibitively high fees for delegates. It is useful for meetings Organizers to suggest venues where they can get reduced hire fees (as a member of staff). If this is not possible then the Meetings Office will suggest venues that have been host to successful, non-expensive Conferences in the past.

• Is it easy to reach?

When suggesting a venue it is important to consider how good its transport links are. Be aware that our meetings attract many international delegates; therefore it is important to keep the journey as straight forward as possible.

• Is it near to delegate/speaker accommodation and the meeting dinner venues?

Some consideration should be given to the facilities that are available near your chosen venue. Harden Conferences are always residential. We aim to have accommodation as close to the venue as possible.

• Does the proposed venue have enough space?

It's useful to remember that space will be required for more than just lectures. A large space for all poster sessions and refreshment breaks is essential.

If your venue of choice doesn’t meet these criteria, the Meetings Office will be more than happy to help you in finding a suitable venue.

Meeting Duration

• What would be a good length for the Conference?

With regards to meeting duration, it’s useful to think about the science behind the meeting and your target audience. Harden conferences are usually two – four or five (six as a maximum) days in duration. This allows development of a scientific programme with a number of different sessions focusing on distinct fields of research.

Organizers

• How many Organizers are needed?

It is entirely feasible to have only one Organizer or a committee of Organizers. It is important, however, to consider how the work will be split. Very often, our meetings have several Organizers with one being the main point of contact. Alternatively, Organizers split the responsibility for assessing abstracts, generating sponsorship etc between them.

Publication of the proceedings of Harden Conferences

Harden Conferences are closed Meetings. Abstracts are not published on the Biochemical Society web pages, and no proceedings are published. This is to encourage the open discussion of novel data at the meeting.

The Science

• Is it an exciting and novel area of research?

It is essential to be realistic about the interest surrounding your meeting topic. Meetings which focus on hot-topics often attract a lot of delegates from outside the field who are interested in learning more. It is also beneficial to consider if researchers outside your field of expertise would be interested in the cross-over between their field and your own.

The Speakers

Organizers are asked to consider inviting those speakers who will stay for the duration of the meeting, and interact with the delegates. We ask that speakers judge posters, should a prize be available.

• How many speakers should be invited?

This really depends on the length of the meeting. The Meetings Office recommends no more than 7 invited speakers per day of the meeting.

• Where are your speakers travelling from?

The Biochemical Society will provide a travel allowance for all meeting speakers. However, it is expected that the level of sponsorship raised by Meeting Organizers will cover most of the cost of the scientific programme. If there are a high number of speakers invited from the USA or Japan/Australia then the cost of the scientific programme can be very expensive. It’s best to have a few key international speakers and then to approach prominent European/British speakers to complete the programme.

• What is the male:female speaker ratio?

The Biochemical Society is keen to address the current issues surrounding gender inequality in science. To help us in this goal, meeting Organizers should aim to include some women speakers who are prominent in their field of research. We appreciate that some fields are more male-dominated than others, and that including female speakers from overseas will affect the meeting budget.

Meeting Budget

• Who will deal with the meeting budget?

The Meetings Office will work with the meeting Organizers to formulate a preliminary meeting budget. Once this budget and the meeting registration fees are agreed, the Meetings Office will take over updating and maintaining the budget. You will, of course, be able to see the budget at any time you wish.

• Am I responsible for any meeting deficit?

The Biochemical Society provides up to £8,000 to support a Harden conference and aims for a cost neutral outcome. However, any deficit incurred by the meeting, will be underwritten by The Biochemical Society

Sponsorship

• Would this area of science attract meeting Sponsors?

It's worth considering the links with companies that your research has enabled you to make. Are there a number of companies whose reagents you use regularly? Does your work need specialised equipment for imaging, assaying etc? Are you currently collaborating with any industry researchers? It is also useful to investigate whether your meeting is eligible for support from charities and groups such as The Company of Biologists, EMBO, The Gatsby Foundation and The Ipsen Fund.

• How much sponsorship will the meeting need?

When considering your target for sponsorship, it is important to think of how many speakers you will have and where they will be travelling from. It is useful to aim to raise enough sponsorship to cover a large part of the scientific programme (such as the speaker travel costs). Then delegate fees can be kept low.

• Who will raise the sponsorship?

The Biochemical Society prefers that meeting Organizers are the main driving force behind meeting sponsorship. Companies usually respond better to Organizers as they have usually built up a relationship with suppliers and company representatives. Organizers are also more aware of which companies have expertise in their area of research.

• What help will The Biochemical Society provide in raising sponsorship?

The Meetings Office will be happy to supply you with information to send to potential Sponsors. We can also give you a list of companies who have sponsored our meetings in the past.

Once Sponsors have committed to the meeting, then the Biochemical Society will take over the administration of sponsorship.

Please note Harden Conferences are not usually suitable for Trade Exhibitions.

Marketing

• Where can I advertise the meeting?

Your knowledge of keywords, research groups and publications in your field will enable the Meetings Office to market your meeting effectively.

It is important to think about your target audience for the meeting, as the Meetings Office can use this information when marketing the meeting. We are open to suggestions of other societies and journals that we can seek to advertise our meetings with. The Biochemical Society also has a list of sister societies that we would be happy to provide you with. Once you have identified target societies, the Meetings Office can pass that information on to our Marketing Team and take things from there.

The Biochemical Society’s Sustainable Meetings Policy

The Meetings Office is committed to making our conferences as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. There are a number of benefits to making this commitment, including:

• Conservation of resources and reduction of waste.
• Adding value to the local community where the meeting is being held.
• Ensuring delegates and Organizers are aware of green issues.

These changes will influence all stages of the conference organization procedure from the initial proposal stage right through to the day of the meeting itself. These stages can be broken down as follows:

Initial proposal stage and Organizers meeting

• Making Organizers aware of our commitment to sustainable meetings by providing them with guidelines.
• Highlighting venues with good green policies.
• Arranging Organizers meetings for locations that are easily reached by public transport and require the minimum amount of travel.
• Video/telephone conferencing where possible.

Choosing the meeting venue

• Finding venues which are easily reached by public transport.
• Researching the venue’s own sustainability policy.
• Evaluate the possibility of organizing shuttle buses to reduce number of vehicles used getting to the venue.

Speaker and delegate accommodation

• Research hotels with good sustainability policies.
• Ensuring accommodation is close to meeting venue. Preferably within walking distance.

Catering

• Sourcing caterers who use mainly local and organic produce.
• Fair-trade teas and coffee.
• Reusable tablecloths and napkins.
• Use crockery and cutlery in place of plastic.
• Provision of tap water instead of mineral water.
• Food served in reusable containers instead of individual sachets.
• Ensuring low levels of leftovers by not over-catering.

Registration and Marketing

• All registrations made online.
• Reducing level of printed flyers, by producing and distributing HTML emails..
• Communicate with delegates and Speakers by email.

Trade Exhibitors and Sponsors

• Encourage Sponsors away from paper inserts towards pens etc. Provide opportunity for adverts in the programme book.
• Ask trade-exhibitors to provide product information online instead of giving out catalogues.
• Assist trade-exhibitors in getting stands etc delivered to the venue to allow them to use public transport instead of driving.

At the Meeting itself

• Move away from using delegate bags.
• Provide programme books printed on paper from sustainable forests.
• Use badge holders with pin and clip instead of lanyards.
• Ask delegates to return badges after the meeting.
• Encourage delegates to use public transport and/or taxi-share.
• Provide delegates with an electronic delegate list.

After the meeting has taken place

• Ask delegates to complete an online evaluation form.
• Provide Trade Sponsors with an electronic delegate list.

The Meetings Office
April 2008

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