Tēnā koutou, hello!

The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) annual conference will be held as a hybrid conference both onsite in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland in Aotearoa / New Zealand, and online, from 10-14 July 2022. This conference will be an opportunity for many of us to reconnect and to build new relationships (whanaungatanga, in our Indigenous language, Māori).

We’re delighted to announce that we are now accepting proposals for symposium topics for the 2022 conference. The deadline for symposia applications is 30 November 2021 (23:59 NZT).

Note that as a hybrid conference our symposia will be run live online as well as in-person; speakers, chairs and participants can attend remotely. We encourage symposia that capture the breadth of SMBE membership in terms of research areas, geographical area and diverse participants.

Please visit https://www.smbe2022.org/call-for-symposia/ – to access the submission portal.

Proposals will be reviewed by the committee with around 20-30 topics selected for inclusion within the scientific programme.

Key dates

• 30 November 2021 (23:59 NZT) – Deadline for symposia applications
• 15 December 2021 – Symposia selection process concludes
• 20 January 2022 – Abstract submission system opens and selected symposia announced to Society
• 20 February 2022 (23:59 NZT) – Abstract submission system closes
• 28 April 2022 – Talks and posters finalized by SMBE reviewers
• Proposals should span the range of interests of SMBE members, including exciting new scientific developments, and should represent the geographic and gender diversity of our membership.

Symposium Proposal Guidelines

Please review the following guidelines before submitting a Symposium Proposal:

• Individuals can only be listed as an organiser for one symposium proposal, although organisers can be listed as an invited speaker on another proposal
• Each symposium will include one invited speaker plus a number of contributed speaker
• The invited speaker included within a symposium should have verbally agreed to be involved before the proposal is submitted
• An individual can only give one talk at the SMBE meeting, so in the event that a speaker is invited to two successful symposium applications the organisers should consider a back up
• The Society provides some financial support, in the form of complimentary conference registration, to facilitate symposium organisers in attracting outstanding invited speakers
• Symposium organisers should provide a description of the symposium (250 words max) that will be made public if selected. The symposium organisers will also provide a description of how their proposal brings forward the SMBE’s objective of equity and diversity, as well as any additional information for the committee to make an informed review (250 words max).

The symposia proposals selected for inclusion within the SMBE 2022 scientific programme will then be listed on the abstract submission portal, which will open on 20 January 2022, for members to indicate that they would want their contributed talk to be featured in a specific symposia.

We are committed to an inclusive, diverse and child-friendly congress that showcases the best research in molecular biology and evolution from around the world, as well as featuring the best New Zealand and Auckland have to offer, from culture to science to our natural assets. We are ready to host an exceptional event in Auckland for SMBE 2022 and very much look forward to extending manaakitanga – the uniquely Aotearoa New Zealand way of giving and making people feel welcome.

Noho ora mai, be well,

Prof Alexei Drummond (Chair)

Amelia Lowe (Conference Manager)

Prof Quentin Atkinson, Dr Austen Ganley, Dr Simone Linz, Prof Anthony Poole, Dr Anna Santure and Dr David Welch (Organising committee)

Please direct all questions regarding SMBE 2022 to the Conference Manager, Amelia Lowe, University of Auckland Event Services, at Amelia.Lowe@auckland.ac.nz  

https://www.smbe2022.org/