Symposia Submission Criteria for Entomology 2024

Submission criteria vary by each program and/or Section. Be sure to check the submission criteria for any programs to which you are submitting. Unsure which category is appropriate? Check out the submissions infographic.

All symposia and workshops submissions should take into consideration the recommendations from ESA’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee.

Have additional questions? Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions for Session Submissions.

Program Symposia

Submissions should reflect the meeting theme, Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science. Organizers should propose timely, thought-provoking, and appealing sessions that incorporate the meeting theme. We especially encourage formats that feature innovative dialogue and approaches that include topics which focus on challenges to the future of entomology and opportunities to meet those challenges with new ideas, techniques, technologies, and collaborations with scientists both within entomology and outside of entomology. In particular, we are looking for symposia that includes speakers from multiple Sections and that emphasize the cross-disciplinary and collaborative nature of modern insect science. 

The Program Committee is seeking proposals for sessions which are inclusive and diverse, including diversity of entomological science, speaker locality, career path (research, education, industry, extension, government, etc.) and background (gender, ethnicity, career stage, etc.). Submissions that include speakers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged.

Please bear in mind that the process for getting program symposia accepted is competitive, as the number of proposal submissions always exceeds the available slots by a wide margin. Organizers should strive to be creative, collaborative, inventive, and thoughtful in developing session proposals that are engaging and forward focused. Be sure to provide a comprehensive proposal that addresses the meeting theme to maximize your chances of earning a slot.

The Program Committee is looking for symposia formats that encourage engagement before, during, and after the in-person sessions at the Annual Meeting. Some suggestions on facilitating two-way conversations between the audience and speakers include the active use of social media to engage with audiences online, hosting panel discussions, including a poster and networking session, insect-related visual and performing arts, or providing open-mic opportunities for audience members to share their perspectives. In addition, the Committee is encouraging organizers to think about creating a product (i.e., white paper, journal article, future meetings/collaborations or proposal writing).

Feel free to contact the Program Committee for feedback on your idea before submission.

Section Symposia - Formal and Informal Teaching (FIT) Pilot Section

The Formal and Informal Teaching (FIT) Pilot Section* seeks symposia submissions that showcase best practices in outreach and education, present research on these practices, and/or provide professional development and learning opportunities to students, Early Career Professionals, and members exploring these fields. High-quality symposia not selected as Section Symposia may be recommended as Member Symposia. 

The following are highly encouraged in submissions:

  • Incorporating the 2024 ESA meeting’s theme “Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science” to create innovations or address challenges in outreach, science communication, and education.
  • Incorporating audience participation through panels, breakout groups, associated poster sessions, and other creative mechanisms.
  • Featuring speakers from diverse perspectives explaining how participants contribute to diversity in terms of gender, career stage, underrepresented groups in science, background, and/or geographic region. 
  • Including speakers who are current members of FIT. 
  • Including tentative presentation titles along with 2-3 sentences explaining the objectives of the presentation, (full abstracts are not expected). 
  • Including an indication of speaker confirmation (clarify which speakers are confirmed to attend, confirmed pending PEF or other funding, or invited)

*The Formal and Informal Teaching (FIT) Pilot Section is designed for entomologists and educators who use arthropods in their teaching, extension, and outreach. These include science communication content creators, museum educators, outreach educators, extension educators, formal educators in K-12 and institutes of higher learning (including graduate student TAs), and industry professional educators. Learn more about FIT.

Section Symposia - Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Section

To be selected as a MUVE Symposium, symposia should:

  • As much as possible, symposium requests should include objectives, purpose, and reflection of this year’s ESA Annual Meeting theme: "Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science."
  • Relate broad aspects in medical, urban, and veterinary entomology.
  • Focus on timely and cutting-edge topics.
  • Include speakers from diverse backgrounds (e.g., under-represented populations, variety of career stages, diverse taxa within MUVE umbrella, diversity of approaches).
  • Reflect the general interest among MUVE members and include a combination of basic or applied research advances, policy, extension, or teaching topics.
  • Have at least one organizer who is a member of the MUVE Section (note, any MUVE member can submit a symposium).

Chances of acceptance increase with: 

  • Probable speaker list with tentative titles.
  • Statement of diversity and inclusivity of the speakers and topics.
  • Rationale/potential interest to broader MUVE audience.
  • Statement of timeliness of topic and why the topic is cutting-edge.
  • Uniqueness (lack of potential overlap with other symposia) - organizers are encouraged to seek out others thinking of proposing similar symposia and collaborate.

Inclusion of the suggested additional information is not necessary for acceptance, but will make a particular symposium submission more competitive.

Section Symposia - Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology (PBT) Section

The PBT Governing Council will use the guidelines described below to rank symposia submissions. PBT Section symposia submissions should seek to maximize inclusion of the following criteria.

  • Relationship to the annual meeting’s theme, “Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science.” 
  • At least one organizer is a member of the PBT section.
  • Anticipated magnitude and breath of impact. Symposia that are transdisciplinary and offer solutions to complex problem as strongly encouraged. 
  • The rationale, goal and objective of the symposia should be clearly stated in the proposal.
  • Relevance of scientific and technical content to PBT members, and ESA members at large. 
  • The proposal should also highlight and foster collaboration and diversity of speakers from diverse backgrounds and geographic regions (including gender, ethnicity, career stage, and organization/affiliation), reflecting the diversity of our members.
  • Timeliness of the topic relative to major research and societal trends
  • Confirmed list of speakers (not required for submission but will be weighted higher than concept-only submissions without any speaker confirmation)
  • Involvement of Early Career Professionals and students as organizers and or presenters
  • Inter-sectional relevance and fostering cross-sectional interactions.

Section Symposia - Plant-Insect Ecosystems (P-IE) Section

The P-IE Governing Council will use the following guidelines to evaluate the submissions. High-ranking symposia not selected as Section Symposia may be recommended as Member Symposia.

  • Relating symposia submissions to the meeting’s theme, “Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science”, is encouraged.
  • We encourage organizers to be innovative, wildly creative, and thoughtful in proposing sessions that are engaging and visionary. Proposals that cover a diversity of topics, such as concepts, disciplines, ecosystems, taxa and others are highly encouraged.
  • In addition to the research topics, we also encourage formal and informal education methods and related topics that contribute to the mission of P-IE and the theme of the annual meetings.
  • Proposals should explain how the symposium meets the selection criteria of P-IE Section.
  • Proposals are strongly encouraged that include collaborations and feature speakers from a variety of backgrounds and geographic regions (including gender, ethnicity, career stage, and organization/affiliation), reflecting the diversity of our members. Submitters should indicate how they have made an effort to ensure their proposal is inclusive and representative of the diversity of scientists that work on plant-insect ecosystems.
  • Proposals should clearly define symposia objective(s), statement of purpose, speakers, and presentation topics.
  • Symposia proposals must provide an indication of speaker confirmation, and not just an ‘idea list.’
  • At least one organizer must be a member of the P-IE Section at the time of submission.

Section Symposia - Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity (SysEB) Section

The SysEB Governing Council will use the following guidelines to evaluate section symposia submissions. High-quality symposia not selected as Section Symposia may be recommended as Member Symposia.

  • SysEB Section Symposia submissions should focus on broad topics and subjects across the diverse interests of SysEB Section membership. As such, submissions should include a detailed explanation of how their proposal will appeal to the broad interests of the Section. Submissions proposing taxon-focused topics may be submitted for consideration for Section Symposia but are typically better suited as Member Symposia. Taxon-focused submissions should include justification as to why they are limited to a particular taxonomic group and how this choice broadly benefits SysEB Section members.
  • Proposals should reflect the diversity of SysEB Section membership. Proposals should indicate explicitly how the symposium is inclusive and representative of the Section (these may include diversity with respect to gender, career stage, underrepresented groups in science, background, and/or geographic region).
  • Symposia proposals should indicate speaker confirmation (e.g., whether the speaker has been invited, confirmed, or just an “idea” of who may present).
  • One organizer should be a current member of SysEB.
  • Submissions on topics that are multidisciplinary in scope or are integrative/innovative in their approaches are encouraged (e.g., insect biodiversity declines, invasive species, new technology).
  • Symposia that incorporate the meeting theme “Empowering Tomorrow with Insect Science” are encouraged.

Member Symposia

Submissions to this program may cover a wide range of topics and subject matter and may be more narrowly focused than submissions to the above categories and feature a variety of topics of interest to members, provided that the proposal is well crafted.

The Program Committee is seeking proposals for sessions which are inclusive and diverse, including diversity of entomological science, speaker locality, career path (research, education, industry, extension, government, etc.) and background (gender, ethnicity, career stage, etc.) are encouraged.

Workshops

Workshops are interactive educational sessions for attendees. Submissions focused on emerging insect science topics, innovative technology, science communication, as well as those devoted to equity, inclusion and allyship, professional development, and undergraduate and K-12 teaching are strongly encouraged. All workshops should actively engage attendees.

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