COSIs receive four (4) complimentary registrations. Please note that the code does not allow a non-member to receive the complimentary ISCB membership and will not work if the free membership is chosen.
Speaker Funding - $1000 per COSI per day to support the TRAVEL of invited speakers. Speakers who will not be presenting in person may not take advantage of funding. COSIs may choose to use their escrow funding to give stipends, honoraria, purchase additional registrations, etc.
Attendee Commissions - At the end of the conference, ISCB will calculate the COSI commissions. Commissions are based on the number of registrants identifying your group as one of their COSIs of interest. A registrant may select up to four COSIs when purchasing a conference registration. A set commission rate is applied to each paid registrant and shared based on percentage to the COSI(s) of interest.
Unrestricted use of your COSI's escrow funds to support COSI track speakers or additional events.
Any sponsorship raised by a COSI goes to that COSI's escrow. Note: COSIs are responsible for fulfilling any benefit promised to a COSI-only sponsor. Sponsors wishing to participate in the exhibit hall, for example, would need to pay the conference exhibitor fees.
Open Science Track (formally Invited Sessions or Special Sessions) Benefits
Open science tracks receive two (2) complimentary registrations. Please note that the code does not allow a non-member to receive the complimentary ISCB membership and will not work if the free membership is chosen.
The rest of this page regularly refers to different roles. These roles have been bolded to emphasize which roles are associated with different tasks. This document outlines the roles and their responsibilities as well.
EasyChair Track Build and Submission Requirements
Each track manages the decision and notification process for abstracts submitted to that track.
Each track identifies 2 or 3 abstract chairs from within their community to manage the review process for their track. If separate abstract chairs are not identified, the track organizers will serve in this role. These individuals will be added to EasyChair as track chairs.
Abstract chairs are responsible for identifying a programme committee to review the abstracts for talk and poster presentations within their track. Abstract chairs will add the programme committee members to their track within EasyChair.
Authors may submit abstracts for consideration as:
Poster only
Talk or Poster (abstracts in this category should be considered for a poster if they are not accepted for a talk).
Ideally, each abstract should get a minimum of two (2) reviews and preferably three (3).
Abstract chairs are encouraged to quickly review the abstracts that are submitted to their track. If a submitted abstract is not relevant to your track, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as quickly as possible, and the submission will be transferred to a more appropriate track. Please identify the track you suggest is most appropriate to receive the transfer.
Abstract chairs must report their tentative talk/poster acceptance decisions to ISCB via the abstract sharing tool, so that submissions that are not accepted for a talk by the primary track can be made available for consideration by other tracks.
Abstract chairs are responsible for notifying the authors of all abstracts submitted to their track of acceptance or rejection (via EasyChair)
Notifications to authors should state whether the abstract was accepted for a longer talk (of a specified time), a shorter talk, a poster, or rejected.
Each presenter will need to register for the conference and sign a Confirmation of Participation (CoP), sent from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To complete the form, it is also required that the presenter be registered for the conference. This is confirmed by providing the conference registration confirmation number. It is available in the confirmation email sent upon successful completion of registration. This number is unique to the registrant and cannot be used for more than one presentation on the same work. The presenter is asked to provide permission under CC-By4.0 for ISCB to store and share their recording, in that order. These permissions are required as ISCB is GDPR compliant, and we cannot keep or share the recording without explicit permission from the presenter. The permission to share the recording can be updated at any time by the presenter through the ISCBtv page ( https://www.iscb.org/iscbtv). Recordings we are not granted permission to keep cannot be recovered, and so those permissions cannot be updated once submitted. Denying permission to keep a recording will force a denial to share said recording.
The CoP MUST be completed for submitted abstracts no later than 21 days before the start of the conference; no extensions will be granted. Any submitted presentation that has not submitted a CoP will be assumed as being declined, and the presentation will be removed from the schedule or poster pool.
All presentations, virtual or in-person, invited or submitted, must submit a CoP.
Talk durations can vary, but talks must be scheduled in blocks that end on the top of the hour or every twenty minutes (:00, :20, :40), with time for questions included. You may have shorter talks IF they end on these limits.
Abstract chairs are responsible for reviewing Late Poster submissions to their track.
Track organizers may wish to recognize a top talk and/or poster. If doing so, the track is responsible for awarding their own prizes. The information of the prize winner: name, affiliation, and title must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than an hour before the closing awards ceremonies so the award can be recognized.
Track Schedule and Presentations
Tracks must provide their detailed schedule (including titles, authors, and start/end times) using the schedule builder provided by ISCB. If you have not received the credentials to log in to the Schedule Builder for your track, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Track schedules are available on the conference website under Programme & Schedule -> Scientific Programme -> <Track name>
These schedules will also be available through the online ISCB Nucleus platform
Invited Talks
With limited exceptions, all invited talks are expected to be in-person.
Track organizers must provide ISCB a list of confirmed invited speakers (name, affiliation, email) when completing the schedule builder. All presenters must be registered for in-person attendance.
Posters
All abstracts accepted for poster presentation will receive instructions on how to enter their poster to the ISCB Nucleus platform.
ISCB will use the abstract, title, and author list, as entered in EasyChair.
We require that in-person presenters upload, at a minimum, a PDF or an MP4, but prefer they upload both so that our virtual attendees get the most from their work. This also serves to extend the life of their work so that all attendees are able to watch it on demand after the conference. Virtual presenters are required to upload both.
Presentations
All talks should be presented in person, with limited exceptions for health reasons (see Live/Virtual Platform Talks).
All virtual talks must be pre-recorded by the presenting author and submitted via the ISCB Nucleus platform
Communication with Presenters
ISCB and Performedia will handle the communications with all presenters on how to upload talks and use the ISCB Nucleus platform.
ISCB will handle the communication for the Confirmation of Participation.
All presenters must be registered for the conference. Complimentary passes can be allocated however track organizers wish. Additional passes can be covered from track escrow, if applicable.
ISCB also has a fellowship program that grants a limited number of complimentary ISMB registrations (in-person or virtual). Fellowships are prioritized based on career level and income status of the applicant's country of residence.
Logistics and Track Execution
Track organizers are responsible for monitoring their tracks on their scheduled day(s).
Session moderators are required to monitor Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences and to ensure the track remains on schedule
Virtual questions should get priority over in-person questions as virtual attendees are unable to talk to the presenters during breaks or after talks.
We suggest assigning 2-3 individuals to share the work of monitoring sessions.
ISCB will assign a volunteer technical moderator to each of your sessions to assist with AV and ISCB Nucleus platform needs
For a variety of reasons, ISCB strongly prefers that scientific research accepted for oral presentation be presented in person at the conference venue. We understand that some presenters will have valid reasons to avoid in-person attendance. ISCB will grant remote presentation options for reasons associated with maternity/paternity leave, care for a family member, personal/medical disability, sickness, financial hardship, or potential visa problems. If research is accepted for oral presentation and the presenter is unable to present in person, ISCB requires notification ASAP. If unable to participate in person, the presenter will need to request a waiver by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Any pre-approved virtual presenters will be required to provide a pre-recorded talk in advance of the conference as a precaution due to possible technical issues.
In-person presenters MUST use the provided podium computer (PC) to present slides. Video of the presenter is captured with an in-room webcam. Audio and slides are captured through the in-house AV system. A volunteer technical moderator (VTM) is responsible for ensuring the image, slides, and sound are transmitted/available through the ISCB Nucleus platform to virtual participants.
A session moderator will be responsible for introducing speakers, keeping talks on time, and moderating questions from the live and virtual audiences.
Acceptance and Rejection Template Letters
All abstract chairs will be required to use the provided templates to notify the submissions within your track of their status (Accepted Talk, Accepted Poster, Reject). All red text should be edited for your track specifics. Templates are available at the bottom of this page.
For the past several years, we have used an abstract sharing spreadsheet to ensure quality submissions might have the opportunity for presentation in an alternate track if not selected for a talk within the originating track. This year, a site has been created to replace the spreadsheet and will update tracks via email as abstracts are passed or requested between tracks. As track chairs can only see abstracts in your area, the tool is a way of sharing basic information on all submissions outside of EasyChair.
As you continue your review process, we ask that you update the sharing tool to let others know the status of your submissions. For example, a quality submission that might only be accepted by your track as a Poster could be offered a talk with another track.
Each abstract can be given the following decisions:
Accept Talk - Track will accept this for a Talk
Accept Poster - Track will accept this as a Poster
Reject - Abstract not acceptable for presentation (IE, scientifically unsound)
Available to another track - Submission is better suited for another track
The tool is available through the Schedule Builder link that will be emailed out to you once it's open.
**Remember, you must still enter your final decisions in EasyChair, and if no other track requests a submission, be moved from your area, you still need to complete the review**