Links within this page: Track Benefits | Submission and Programme Build Process | Live/Virtual Platform Talks | Abstract Sharing Tool | Notification Templates

Schedule At A Glance

https://www.iscb.org/ismb2024/programme-schedule/schedule-at-a-glance

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COSI Track Benefits

• COSIs receive four (4) complimentary registrations. Complimentary discount codes* will be issued to COSI organizers by March 15, 2024.
  *(Please note 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 day to support 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 if purchasing a full conference registration. A set commission rate is applied to each paid registrant and shared based on total percentage to the COSI.
• Unrestricted use of your COSIs 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 (formally Invited Sessions or Special Sessions) Track Benefits

• COSIs receive two (2) complimentary registrations. Complimentary discount codes* will be issued to COSI organizers by March 15, 2024.
  *(Please note the code does not allow a non-member to receive the complimentary ISCB membership and will not work if the free membership is chosen.)

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Key Dates

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Submission and Programme Build Process

EasyChair Track Build and Submission requirements

• Each COSI/Track manages the decision and notification process for abstracts submitted to that COSI/Track.
• Each COSI/Track identifies 2 or 3 Abstract Chairs (ACs) from within their community to manage the review process for their COSI/Track. If separate ACs are not identified, the track chairs will serve in this role. These names will be added to EasyChair as Track Chairs for each COSI.
• COSI/Track or ACs are responsible for identifying a review / programme committee to review the abstracts for both talk and poster presentation within their COSI/Track. ACs will add the programme committee names to their COSI/Track within EasyChair.
• Authors may submit abstracts for consideration as:
  • Poster only
  • Talk or Poster (abstracts in this category if not accepted as a talk should be considered for a poster).
• Ideally each abstract should get a minimum of two (2) reviews and preferably three (3).
• COSI/Track or Abstracts Chairs are encouraged to quickly review the abstracts that are submitted to their COSI/Track. If a submitted abstract is not relevant to your COSI/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 COSI/Track. Please identify the COSI/Track you suggest is most appropriate to receive the transfer.
• No later than May 6, COSI/Track or Abstract Chairs must report their tentative talk/poster acceptance decisions to ISCB, so that submissions that are not accepted for a talk by the primary COSI can be made available for consideration by other COSIs/Tracks.
• COSI/Track or ACs are responsible for notifying  the authors of all abstracts submitted to their COSI/Track by May 13 (via EasyChair)
  • You are required to use the Acceptance and Rejection Template Letters provided by ISCB. 
  • 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., NLT June 14.
    • 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. 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 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.
• Talks should be scheduled in 20-minute time slots (running in parallel with other conference tracks), with time for questions included. (Typically, if a talk is chosen for a 20-minute slot, the author should be asked to prepare a 15-minute talk, with 5 minutes allocated for Q&A). You MAY NOT put items into the Programme Builder that are less than 20 minutes. If you have shorter talks, such as poster flash talks, you must bundle them into a 20 minute segment with the lower divided times, title, and presenter listed where the abstract would belong.
• Late Posters: COSI/Track Chairs are responsible for reviewing Late Poster submissions to their COSI/Track (opens April 22, closes May 20). *Acceptance notifications sent May 28.
• COSI Chairs may wish to recognize a top talk and/or poster. If doing so, the COSI is responsible for awarding their own prizes.  The name of the prize winner name, affiliation and poster title should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  Tuesday, July 16, 2024 (no later than 2:30 pm EDT for posters and 4:00 pm EDT for talks) so the award can be recognized during the closing ceremonies.

Track Schedule and Presentations

• Tracks should provide their detailed schedule (including titles, authors, and start/end times) NLT May 31 using the template/programme builder provided by ISCB.
• Track schedules will be made available on the conference website and through the online ISCB Nucleus platform NLT June 3, 2024

Invited Talks

• With limited exceptions, all invited talks are expected to be in-person. 
• Track Chairs must provide ISCB a list of confirmed invited speakers (name, affiliation, email), when completing the programme builder, NLT May 31. All presenters must be registered for in-person attendance NLT June 14.

Posters

• All abstracts accepted for poster presentation will receive instruction on how to enter their poster to the ISCB Nucleus platform.
  • ISCB will use the abstract, title, author list, as entered in EasyChair.
  • All poster presenters (including those presenting in-person) at minimum will upload a PDF of their poster no later than July 2, 2024. Failure to do so will result in not receiving a slot for the in-person sessions. Additionally, a short 5-7 minute video is strongly encouraged.
     

Presentations

• All talks should be presented in-person, if possible, with limited exceptions for health reasons (see section below on Live/Virtual Platform Talks).
• All talks, including 5-7 minute poster talks, should be pre-recorded by the presenting author and submitted via the ISCB Nucleus platform

Communication with Presenters

ISCB and Juno 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 NLT June 14. You can allocate your complimentary passes as you wish or cover additional passes from your escrow if applicable.
• ISCB also has a fellowship programme  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

• COSI/Track Chairs are responsible for monitoring their tracks on their scheduled day(s).
• COSI/Track Chairs session moderators are required to monitor Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences and to ensure programme remains on schedule
  • We suggest assigning 2-3 individuals to share the work of monitoring each session.
  • ISCB will assign a volunteer technical moderator to each of your sessions to assist with AV and ISCB Nucleus platform needs

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Live/Virtual Platform Talks

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 your research is accepted for oral presentation and you are unable to present in person, ISCB requires notification at the time of acceptance and no later than May 15, 2024. You will be asked during your confirmation of participation to confirm your in-person participation. If unable to participate you will need to request a waiver by writing  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 for the virtual platform library in advance of the conference as a precaution due to possible technical issues.

In-person presenters will use the provided podium computer (PC) to present slides. Video of the presenter is captured with in-room webcam placed on mic stand in front of podium. Audio and slides are captured through 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. Meeting rooms will also be serviced by a volunteer room assistant who will  support the VTM, AV staff and virtual platform technicians.

A session moderator will be responsible for introducing speakers, keeping talks on-time and moderating questions from the live and virtual audiences.

All presenters will be required to provide a pre-recorded talk for the ISCB Nucleus platform library in advance of the conference. The pre-recorded talk will be available shortly after the live presentation to provide faster and more seamless access to the conference content for virtual participants.

Acceptance and Rejection Template Letters

All COSI/Tracks Chairs or ACs 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 here: weblink to come

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Abstract Information Sharing tool

For the past several years we have used an Abstract Information Sharing tool to ensure quality submissions might have the opportunity for presentation in an alternate COSI/Track if not selected for a talk within the originating COSI/Track. As 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 I ask that you update the sharing tool (link below, using the decision column) to let others know the status of your submissions. (for example, a quality talk submission that might only be accepted by your COSI/Track as a Poster could be offered a talk with another COSI/Track). 

The decision column is set up with the following options:

• Accept Talk - COSI/Track will accept this for a Talk
• Accept Poster - COSI/Track will accept this as a Poster
• Reject - COSI/Track will not accept (e.g. scientifically not sound)
• Available to another COSI/Track - Submission better suited for other COSI/Track

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1en9vNTkDOZkFdBaOT1tNaqyvpOZ0YJWgWn8t8qHg-10/edit?usp=sharing

Please enter your decisions on the sharing tool no later than May 6 (5:00 pm EDT).  COSI/Track Chairs wanting to accept / request a submission from another area need to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on May 7, 2024 to facilitate any abstract moves.

**Remember you must still enter your final decisions in EasyChair and if no other COSI requests a submission be moved from your area you still need to complete the review**

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Notification Templates

Use the templates below when sending notifications to submiters.

Accept Talk Template

Accept Poster Template

Reject Template