VSS is seeking creative visual images to be used as the banner image of the Vision Sciences Society website and the V-VSS 2021 meeting website. Images should be related to the field of vision science, the Vision Sciences Society, or the Virtual VSS annual meeting.

Because this year’s meeting is a virtual event, the 2021 graphic competition is different than in past years. Instead of two separate graphic competitions (the T-Shirt Design Competition and the Program Cover Competition), there is a single Website Banner Competition.

The winner of the competition will receive $500 USD, an image credit on the website, and recognition in the digital meeting program.

The winning image will be chosen by a vote of the VSS Board of Directors at their January meeting. The winner will be announced before the end of February.

The winner grants VSS unlimited rights to copy, publish, edit, print, and use the winning image for any purpose, including publishing images online, and on other electronic and hard-copy media.

Entering the Competition

To enter the graphics competition, submit an image for the Home Page Banner as defined below. If your image wins the competition, you will be asked to create variations of your image for other purposes (see Additional Images).

Home Page Banner – This image will appear on the home page of the VSS website, replacing the current image. The image width must be 1450 pixels. The image height must be between 200 and 300 pixels.

Your banner image must contain at least the year and name of the meeting (eg: V-VSS 2021, Virtual VSS 2021) and the dates of the meeting (May 21-26). The image can optionally contain the VSS logo or other text appropriate to the meeting.

All images must be submitted in PNG format.

Submitting Your Image

Email your image as an attachment. You may submit more than one image for consideration. One email per submission please. In your email you may optionally include a brief description of your image that the board will consider when reviewing the submitted images.

You must be a current VSS member to participate in the Graphics Competition.

All images must be received by end of day Friday, January 15, 2021.

Additional Images

If your image is chosen by the VSS board as the winner of the competition, you will be asked to create additional variations of your image as described below. You do not have to create these images to enter the competition, but you might consider what these images will look like when creating your submitted image.

Secondary Page Banner – This smaller banner image will appear on all secondary pages of the VSS website. The image width must be 1450 pixels. The image height must be between 50 and 100 pixels. The Secondary Page Banner can be a cropped or resized version of the Home Page Banner or a different complementary image.

Submissions Open: December 2, 2020
Submissions Close: January 15, 2021

In January 2020, the Vision Sciences Society created a new committee committed to fostering improved networking for all members at VSS and in vision science. At the 2020 V-VSS meeting, the Committee co-organized a Town Hall to listen to the experiences of our community. The Networking Committee is currently exploring a number of initiatives, including:

• Fostering more undergraduates to attend the VSS annual meeting and providing them with mentoring
• Improving networking opportunities at VSS
• Garnering funding to support future society initiatives
• Formalizing processes for reporting any issues that might occur at the meeting, and making transparent existing VSS processes

Committee Members:
Anya Hurlbert (Chair)
Rich Krauzlis
Shin’ya Nishida
Jes Parker (SPC rep)

Advisory Board

Michael Grubb (Visibility rep)
Amy Lindsey
Alejandro Lleras (SPARK rep)
Hongjing Lu
Liuba Papeo
Karen Schloss (FoVea rep)

Community Engagement Liaison:  Prof. Jennifer O’Brien, University of South Florida-St. Petersburg.

VSS 2026 – May 15-20
TradeWinds Islands Resort, St. Pete Beach, Florida

VSS 2027 – May 21-25
Seattle, Washington

The Vision Sciences Society is pleased to announce the formation of a new Student-Postdoc Advisory Board. The Society is now soliciting nominations.

VSS is creating this board because of the importance of the activities of VSS to its trainee members, including areas such as networking, transitions to careers, opportunities to present research before an international audience, and opportunities to learn about current and emerging areas of research, as well as the important contributions made by trainees to the conference and to the society. VSS seeks to ensure that its activities and policies continue to meet the evolving needs of this key population.

The Student-Postdoc Advisory Board will share ideas and proposals about how VSS events, workshops, meeting structure and activities can best target the needs of trainee members and attendees. SPA Board members may also have opportunities to increase the role of students and postdocs in designing and running appropriate events or workshops. VSS envisions the creation of a SPA Board as a means to better address the needs of the large group of students and postdoc VSS members. Serving on the SPA Board, as well as participating or leading any resulting activities, also may serve as a source of useful professional experience for the engaged trainees.

Nomination Procedure

Those interested in becoming members of the Student-Postdoc Advisory Board should send the following information in a single PDF file:

1. One-page statement summarizing the reasons for interest in serving on the SPA Board, as well as any relevant prior experience or qualifications;
2. List of previous VSS conferences attended;
3. Statement of intention to attend the VSS conference in 2020 and 2021 as a student/postdoc VSS member, as well as a statement that the nominee expects to retain status as either a student or postdoc for the 12 months following the 2020 conference;
4. Names and contact information of two individuals who could provide letters of support for the nomination; and
5. Current CV, including current affiliation and contact information.

Membership is for a period of one year, beginning on the first day of the Annual Meeting, with the opportunity for appointment to a second year.

Please send nomination materials to by March 12, 2020.

Schedule

Nominations Open: February 13, 2020
Nominations Close: March 12, 2020
Board Announced: April 15, 2020

With funding from the National Eye Institute, VSS is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of travel grants for postdoctoral researchers to attend the 2019 meeting. The grants are intended to cover most or all of the travel, lodging and registration costs. Grant recipients will be recognized at the VSS awards ceremony. The deadline to submit an application is March 22, 2019.

Eligibility

The grants are available only to US citizens and permanent residents. To address historical disparities in our membership and the field, applications from females, under-represented minorities and individuals with disabilities are especially encouraged. Applicants need not be a co-author on an abstract at the 2019 meeting, but for all applicants, approval by their postdoctoral advisor must be confirmed. Applicants performing both basic and clinical research are encouraged to apply.

Grant Selection

Applications will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the VSS Board of Directors. Grant recipients will be contacted by Friday, April 5, 2019.

Schedule

Applications Open: February 19, 2019
Applications Close: March 22, 2019
Recipients Notified: April 15, 2019

Submit an Application

With funding from the National Eye Institute, VSS is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of travel grants for early career tenure or non-tenure track research faculty to attend the 2019 meeting. The grants are intended to cover most or all of the travel, lodging and registration costs. Grant recipients will be recognized at the VSS awards ceremony. The application deadline is March 22, 2019.

Eligibility

The grants are available only to US citizens and permanent residents. To address historical disparities in our membership and the field, applications from females, under-represented minorities and individuals with disabilities are especially encouraged. Applicants need not be a co-author on an abstract at the 2019 meeting. Applicants may have no more than 10 years of active research experience since earning their terminal degree, allowing for the exclusion of times that typically “stop the clock” in academic tenure track positions. For the upcoming 2019 grant, if there was no break in active research/teaching, the degree must have been awarded in or after 2009. Applicants performing both basic and clinical research are encouraged to apply.

Grant Selection

Applications will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the VSS Board of Directors. Grant recipients will be contacted by Friday, April 5, 2019.

Schedule

Applications Open:
Applications Close:
Recipients Notified:

Please direct any questions to .
Submit an Application

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