Call for Symposia and Roundtables

IAFP's 13th European Symposium on Food Safety
29 - 31 March 2017
Brussels, Belgium

The IAFP European Symposium Organising Committee invites interested individuals to submit a symposium proposal for presentation during the IAFP European Symposium on Food Safety, 29 - 31 March 2017 in Brussels, Belgium. Symposium proposals are due Tuesday, 4 October 2016 (no late submissions will be accepted).

Begin a submission to the following:

Instructions and Guidelines:

1. What is a Symposium?

   A symposium is an organized, 90 minute session emphasizing a central theme relating to food safety and consists of three presenters each giving 30-minute presentations.

   Symposia may include a discussion emphasizing a scientific aspect of a common food safety and quality topic, issues of general interest relating to food safety and microbiological quality, a report of recent developments, an update of state-of-the-art methodologies, or a discussion of basic and applied research in a given area. The material covered should include current work and the newest findings. Symposia will be evaluated by the Organising Committee for relevance to current science and to Association Members and attendees.

2. What is a Roundtable?

   A roundtable is a discussion forum that is 90 minutes in length with 4-6 panelists, each giving a 2-3 minute introduction, followed by time for a discussion that includes audience participation. Panelists are not allowed to give presentations and should have no slides (no data projector will be provided for roundtable sessions). Roundtable convenors cannot also be panelists.

3. Submission Instructions

   Proposals must be submitted using the Association's online submission program. Suggested presenters or panelists do not need to be confirmed at this stage, only identified. Proposals are due 4 October, 2016. No late submissions will be accepted.

4. Presenters

   The International Association for Food Protection does not reimburse invited presenters for travel, hotel, or other expenses incurred during the European Symposium. However, invited presenters will receive a complimentary European Symposium registration.

5. Travel Support

   The International Association for Food Protection Foundation has offered limited funds for travel support of presenters. After final acceptance of the proposal (November 2016), organizers may submit an application to apply for travel support for speakers(s). REQUESTS SHOULD ONLY BE SUBMITTED WHERE A SINCERE NEED IS DEMONSTRATED BY THE SPEAKER. This travel support is not intended to fully pay travel expenses for speakers, but is intended to defray the total travel expense. Only speakers are eligible to receive travel support.
   

   Requests are reviewed on an individual and on a first-come, first-served basis until the funds are depleted. A maximum of �650 per presenter will be available per symposium. Organisers are welcome to seek funding from other sources and the Association will provide recognition for these supporters in our program materials. Organizers are asked to inform the Association if they obtain outside funding for speaker travel.

6. Select Procedure

   The primary focus of the proposal selection procedure is to provide a balanced educational program for attendees of the IAFP European Symposium. To achieve this goal, proposals may be combined or modified by the Organising Committee during their initial or final review, as appropriate, to prevent overlap of topics among competing sessions. The Organising Committee also reserves the right to suggest alternative speakers and/or topics in an effort to round out the program. During the selection process, only the most relevant and promising proposals will be selected for further development.

7. Submission Guidelines

   1. Proposals must be pertinent to IAFP members. Priority will be given to proposals that address one or more of the following program areas:
      • Safety and Microbial Quality of Foods (dairy, meat and poultry, seafood, produce, water)
      • Viruses and Parasites, Retail Food Safety, Epidemiology and Public Health
      • Non-microbiology Food Safety Issues (food toxicology, allergens, chemical contaminants)
      • General-applied Food Safety Microbiology (advances in sanitation, laboratory methods, quality assurance, food safety systems)
      • General-food Protection for the Future (risk analysis, emerging pathogens, biotechnology, predictive models, etc.)
      • Developments in Food Safety Education
      • Other pertinent food protection topics may be considered if space is available
   2. In addition to addressing pertinent program areas, proposals accepted for further development should:
      • Be new, emerging and/or address areas not covered in last 2 years
      • If covered in last 2 years, provide new information that warrants another session
   3. Submissions must include:
      • Titles that clearly convey the topics to be covered
      • Topics that are unique to prevent overlap of basic information among speakers
      • Names of suggested speakers from a variety of backgrounds, such as industry, regulatory, academic researchers, or consumer perspective (as appropriate)
      • Suggested speakers who are knowledgeable and good communicators
   4. Special consideration will be given to submissions that:
      • Are directly applicable or provide viable safety options for food manufacturers, including small- to medium-size manufacturers
      • Attract or involve students
   5. Other considerations for selecting proposals for further development:
      • The Organising Committee reserves the right to limit the number of sessions devoted to a single topic area to provide a balanced program.
      • If relevant topics are proposed by more than one submission, the Organising Committee will make the final decision to combine or modify proposals as appropriate to avoid overlap of topics among competing proposals. In this case, organizers may be asked to work with one another to combine proposals.
      • The Organising Committee reserves the right to review proposals, including proposed subjects and speakers, and make modifications in order to provide the most comprehensive and balanced program. Invited speakers need to be made aware of these conditions when they are contacted.
      • Due to space and time limitations, only the most relevant and promising proposals will be selected for further development. Again, the Organising Committee will make final decisions regarding symposium breadth and length.
      • Additional sessions may be added at the discretion of the Organising Committee to accommodate emerging issues.

8. Review Process and Timeline

   4 October 2016 - Proposal Submission Deadline. No late submissions will be accepted.
   17 November 2016 - Organizers notified of final decisions regarding session proposals.

9. Who to Contact

   Tamara Ford
   International Association for Food Protection
   6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W
   Des Moines, IA 50322-2864, USA
   Phone: +1 800.369.6337; +1 515.276.3344
   Fax: +1 515.276.8655
   E-mail: tford@foodprotection.org

   Technical Support

   For help in submitting an abstract online, email Tech Support.