VSS is currently seeking proposals for symposia to be held during the 2018 VSS Annual Meeting. Four to six symposia will be scheduled, each lasting two hours.

VSS Symposia deal with contemporary research topics in vision research. Symposia can be organized by content area or by method, but talks within a symposium should focus on broader conceptual themes than a typical VSS presentation. There should be at least four but no more than five speakers within a symposium session, and each talk should be scheduled for between 20 and 30 minutes, including time for discussion. Discussion time can be scheduled after individual talks and/or at the end of the session.

The symposium organizer must be a 2018 VSS member, but invited speakers need not be members. All speakers are required to register for the meeting. Submitting a symposium proposal and/or speaking in a symposium does not prevent you from submitting an abstract for a talk or poster presentation at VSS. Complete submission instructions and how to submit a proposal can be found at Symposium Submissions. The quality of the speakers is important to a symposium, so scheduled speakers may not be substituted, even by coauthors. By submitting a symposium proposal, the organizers agree that all speakers will participate in the symposium and that speakers have not committed to participate in more than one symposium.

Symposia will be selected by the VSS Board of Directors on the basis of scientific merit, timeliness, theoretical innovation and/or breadth, methodological innovation and/or diversity, and overlap (less being better) with last year’s symposia and with the regular program. Symposia often benefit from a diversity of perspective and institutional affiliations. Proposals from young investigators are particularly encouraged.

For more information about submitting a symposium proposal, go to Symposium Submissions.

Proposal Deadline: November 7, 2017

Decisions will be made by November 20, 2017. Please direct any questions to .