Satellite meetings awarded and postponed until further notice due to COVID crisis:

• “Evolution of Reproduction”, Portugal.
• “Evolution of Meiosis”, USA.
• “Mechanisms of Cellular Evolution”, USA.

Please consult our archive for further information on previous satellite, regional and interdisciplinary meetings HERE.

SMBE INTERDISCIPLINARY AND REGIONAL MEETINGS

SMBE will promote interdisciplinary research and extend its actions worldwide by sponsoring (1) joint meetings with meetings of other societies; symposia or plenary lectures on molecular biology and evolution at meetings whose primary focus is not molecular evolution; (2) regional meetings outside the US, Europe, and Japan; (3) small regional meetings in the US, Europe, or Japan targeted towards PhD students and postdocs with the purpose of helping them develop their presentation skills and facilitate networking. This year, given the various international COVID travel restrictions, we are particularly interested in receiving applications for regional meetings on any topic that falls within the research scope represented by our society. 

Most recent SMBE Regional and Interdisciplinary meetings were:

• “Israeli Society of Evolutionary Biology inaugural meeting”, Israel, December 2019
• “Evolutionary genomics at the human-environment interface", Malawi, September 2019 (regional)
• “Population Genomics of Mobile DNA”, USA, 2019 (interdisciplinary)
• “Regional workshop on Computational Biology”, Mexico, 201
• “Satellite workshop on Genome Evolution in Pathogen Transmission and Disease”, Japan, 2018 

Guidelines for satellite, interdisciplinary and regional meetings 

• SMBE will provide financial support for up to 80% of the cost of each satellite meeting, up to a maximum of $40,000 USD per meeting (most meetings are funded at $20,000-$30,000 each). SMBE will cover the cost of plenary lectures, up to a maximum of $3,000 USD per lecture. A model of no more than 3 plenary lectures per satellite meeting is expected. A proposal containing more than 3 plenary lectures per meeting would require specific justification. 
• SMBE will provide financial support for up to 100% of the cost for the regional and interdisciplinary meetings, up to a maximum of $25,000 USD per meeting outside N. America, Europe and Japan and up to $10,000 USD for meetings in North America, Europe, or Japan. In addition, SMBE will cover the cost of plenary lectures, up to a maximum of $3,000 USD per lecture and a maximum of 2 plenary lectures per meeting. 
• A detailed projected budget, including the expected number of participants, travel/food/lodging costs, and registration fees must be submitted with the application. Please note that SMBE funds cannot be used for indirect costs or overhead costs.
• At least one of the organizers must be a member of SMBE. Current SMBE Council members, or members who have rotated-off Council in the last calendar year, are not eligible to serve as meeting organizers or co-organizers.
• For satellite meetings, funds will be awarded on a competitive basis to members of the molecular evolution research community that propose an important, focused, and timely topic. Topics not well represented in symposia of SMBE annual meetings will be favored over those that are already well represented at the annual meetings or previous SMBE satellite meetings. For Interdisciplinary and Regional actions, meetings/symposia/lectures will be selected based on the scientific importance, timeliness and anticipated impact on the fields of molecular biology, genome biology, and evolution.
• Proposals are encouraged to include details for plans about the recruitment of speakers and participants that will ensure broad representation across SMBE membership, including gender and geographical location. We would like to gather information on the number of male and female speakers, where the speakers are coming from and their status summarized as senior/mid-career/junior faculty/trainee. Proposals for meetings to be organized in geographical areas that have been traditionally under-represented in SMBE meetings (annual or satellite) are especially encouraged.
• Proposals should outline strategies for hybrid/virtual meetings as response to the dynamic COVID situation. Talks presented at regional, satellite and interdisciplinary meetings are expected to be made available to the SMBE community as recordings.  
• Proposals will be received and reviewed by three SMBE Council Members that will make a recommendation to SMBE Council, whose decision is final. The SMBE Council may decide not to support any meetings in any particular year. The selection committee may contact the proposers for clarifications during the reviewing process and a timely response will be required. A proposal that was unsuccessful can be invited by the committee for revision and reapplication.
• Events will be named “SMBE Satellite Meeting on XYZ”, or “SMBE Interdisciplinary Meeting/Symposium/Lecture” and “SMBE Regional Meeting in XYZ (Geographic Location)”. Meeting organizers should host a website for the meeting that highlights the main theme as well as the program, including the speaker list. This website should stay active for at least 3 years after the meeting date. Symposium and lecture organizers should provide a link to be advertised on the SMBE webpage. The sponsorship of the SMBE must be mentioned in all pre-meeting publicity and in the meeting program.
• Satellite meetings, workshops and regional meetings must be standalone events, should not form a symposium or other part of a larger meeting and should not immediately follow or precede any other meeting at a given location.
• Organizers will be required to submit a copy of the final workshop/symposium/meeting program and a short (~2 page) summary of the workshop/symposium/meeting organization and financial aspects to SMBE Council within 3 months of the event.  The summary for Satellite, Interdisciplinary and Regional Meetings should be sent to Josefa González (josefa.gonzalez@csic.es) and Katerina Guschanski (katerina.guschanski@ed.ac.uk). 
• Organizers will be required to submit a brief scientific report on their meeting for publication on the SMBE website or, alternatively, in one of the SMBE journals after consultation with the editorial board.

Instructions for proposals 

Satellite meeting/workshop proposals should be sent by email to the executive administrator of the society Lulu Stader (smbe.contact@gmail.com) and will be considered by the selection committee comprising council members:  Mary O’Connell (chair) (mbzmjo@nottingham.ac.uk), Josefa González (josefa.gonzalez@csic.es) and Katerina Guschanski (katerina.guschanski@ed.ac.uk).

The EXTENDED deadline for submission of proposals is November 17th 2021.

1. Provide the name(s) and full contact information for all organizer(s) and institution(s) involved. Universities/organizations providing additional financial support, if involved, should also be listed. If additional funding is being simultaneously applied for, please state the status of that request as well.
2. Workshop/meeting summary (4 single-spaced pages max). Describe the scientific rationale for your proposed workshop. In doing so, be sure to clearly state (1) the importance and timeliness of the topic, (2) the anticipated short-term and long-term impacts of your meeting or workshop on the fields of molecular biology, genome biology, and evolution, (3) the proposed structure of your workshop/meeting (e.g., lectures only, lectures + hands-on training sessions, contributed talks, poster sessions, etc.), (4) an indicative list of proposed invited speakers; (5) for satellite meetings only: why a workshop/small meeting format is preferable to a symposium at the SMBE annual meeting;(6) for interdisciplinary actions only: the relevance of mixing communities (for joint meetings, symposia and plenary lectures at non-evolution meetings); (7) for regional meetings outside the US, Europe, and Japan only: the relevance of promoting actions in specific regions; (8) for small regional meetings in the US, Europe, and Japan only: the extent and nature of student/postdoctoral fellow involvement; (9) for regional meetings: considerations of current COVID related travel restrictions.  
3. Financial summary. Please summarize your financial request, including estimated total budget, registration costs (if any), travel support for speakers / trainees, and details of non-SMBE funds to be used.