(note: whilst editorial revisions have been introduced after the above date, the contents have remained unchanged)
TECHNICAL SESSIONS
The current plan is for all technical sessions to be proposed by the community and then managed by their respective convenors.
Yes, this is indeed possible.
Technical sessions will typically comprise two parts; a plenary one where presentations will be delivered on stage one at a time to all (seating) attendees of the technical session, and another where up to four simultaneous presentations will be delivered and discussed with sub-groups of the session attendees that will be standing-up by the monitors where the presenter’s slides are being shown.
The standard block of time for each part of a technical session will be 75 minutes (i.e. 75 minutes for the ‘stage presentations’ part, plus an additional 75 minutes for the ‘monitor presentations’ part). However, very popular technical sessions, that will have attracted and feature contributions from a large number of enrolled participants (for instance, and for the sake of example, 50 participants), might be spread over two (i.e. a full morning) or three (i.e. a full day) of these blocks.
Convenors will have the freedom to organise the ‘stage presentations’ part of their sessions in the manner that they will find more efficient and effective. For instance, they may choose to:
- organise a panel/debate type of session, where e.g. 15 min introductory/summary presentation is delivered by a convenor, followed by a 60 min debate stimulated and moderated by the convenors, involving selected speakers
- foresee a succession of flash talks by a relatively large number of speakers (e.g. 10 flash talks of 5 min duration each), followed by a 25 min discussion and debate involving all speakers and session attendees
- invite e.g. five speakers to deliver 10 min talks, each of which followed by 5 min discussions involving session attendees
- etc… (do be creative!)
This requirement is aimed at reassuring us that the session being proposed by the convenors is of interest to at least three other research groups (different from those of the convenors themselves).
No, we are aiming and hoping that a significantly higher number of abstracts/papers (in the range of a few tens of contributions) will then be submitted to the proposed technical sessions, and that opportunities for stage/e-monitor presentations will be given to many conference participants other than those invited by the convenors.
This depends on the number of invited speakers, as well as on the format and duration of the ‘stage presentations’ part of the session (see FAQs above on these two latter issues). For instance, if (i) you have invited 8 speakers, (ii) your session will have been assigned a standard 75 minutes duration, (iii) you wish your session to be structured in blocks of 10 minutes presentations + 5 minutes discussion each, then it will not be possible for all 8 invited speakers to feature in the ‘stage presentations’ part of the session. On the other hand, if you decide to organise the ‘stage presentations’ part of your technical session in the form of a debate, or if you envisage it to consist of flash talks of 5 minutes duration, then you will certainly manage to engage a higher number of speakers.
No, not at all. As already noted, technical sessions will feature two parts (‘stage presentations’ and ‘monitor presentations’), and we are certainly envisaging and expecting that all technical sessions will attract submissions from many conference participants other than those initially invited by the convenors.
It will then be the task of the convenors to define which submitted contributions will be presented in the plenary ‘stage presentations’ part and which in the ‘monitor presentations’ one, taking also into account the duration and format of the session.
Given that session convenors will certainly publicise their technical session and in this way attract a high number of contributions, we are not expecting that there will be sessions with a limited number of submissions.
In any case, should such a scenario develop, the session in question might need to be merged within another (more attended) session on a similar topic.
No, convenors and speakers cited in a technical session proposal must have been informed and agreed to the proposal before its submission.
We are asking technical session proposers to have in mind the important issues of diversity, equity and inclusion when preparing their proposal, but do appreciate that it will not always be immediate for a convenor to identify, at the proposal submission stage, potential speakers from different continents, gender, etc. In such cases, do proceed nonetheless with the technical proposal submission (and maybe during the abstracts/papers submission stage a better balance will be achieved).
Abstract/Paper Submissions and Presentations
There is no template for abstracts; these are to be typed-in or copied&pasted directly on the abstracts submission platform (note the maximum of 2500 characters, spaces included). For what concerns instead the papers, we will be uploading the template onto the Contributions page in the month of May July 2023.
There is no such limit; conference participants may submit, at no additional cost, as many abstracts/papers as they wish to different technical sessions (these will then be subjected to a review by the convenors of the technical sessions to which such abstracts/papers were submitted).
Considering, however, the limit on the number of stage/monitor presentations that an individual conference participation may deliver (see FAQ below), you might wish to limit the number of submissions uploaded through your own account to two, and get your remaining contributions submitted by other presenting co-authors. Submissions that will not be presented by a registered conference participant will not be included in the conference programme and proceedings.
Because we wish to give an stage/monitor presentation opportunity to a large number of conference participants, we are limiting the number of individual presentations to a maximum of two. In other words, even if you are able to submit as many contributions as you wish to, at no additional cost, only a maximum of two of these may then be accepted for stage/monitor presentation by yourself, whilst the remaining ones will need to be presented by other co-authors.
Yes, and no. Whilst authors that so desire may indeed present traditional static posters (prepared in electronic format), we are actually foreseeing the organisation of so-called ‘monitor presentations’, as discussed already in a FAQ above. These monitor presentations will be an integral part of each of the technical sessions, and will thus be managed by the convenors of the technical session, who will be introducing the speakers and moderating the discussions, just like in the ‘stage presentations’ part of the session.
We strongly believe, therefore, that monitor presentations will be as engaging as their stage counterparts, and perhaps even more, considering the extended and more personalised discussion (rather than being presented on stage to all (seating) attendees of the technical session, monitor presentations will be delivered to and discussed with sub-groups of the session attendees that will be standing-up by the monitors where the presenter’s slides are being shown).
As soon as they get accepted, the description of the technical sessions will be previewed on this page. Once you identify a technical session that you deem appropriate for the abstract that you would like to submit, you may then select it in the abstract online submission system.
If you feel that the topic in question is of interest and relevance to the wider community, perhaps you might want to consider proposing and promoting a technical session yourself. If, however, it is no longer possible to submit technical sessions proposals, you may chose the option ‘Other topics’ when carrying out your submission.
Yes, contact us at the email address included at the very bottom of this page, so that we may assist you with this submission updating process.
No, not at all. As discussed in other FAQs above, we are envisaging and expecting technical sessions to feature a large number (i.e. a few tens) of contributions, hence do feel free to submit your abstract/paper to any session you are interested in, independently of the number of invited speakers it already features.
We appreciate that, but in a conference of this size it is simply not feasible for all submitted contributions to be presented on stage (in similar past earthquake engineering world conferences, c.a. 2/3 of the submissions were typically presented in the form of posters). The only way of guaranteeing stage presentations to all those registered participants interested in doing so would have been for the scientific programme to be made up of several tens of parallel sessions, something that would however render the event too dispersive and leave those tens of parallel sessions very scarcely attended.
We note, however, that, as discussed in previous FAQs, in this conference, monitor presentation will be an integral part of the technical sessions to which they were submitted to, given that each technical session will comprise two parts; one featuring traditional stage presentations, and another dedicated to monitor presentations and discussion. There will therefore be limited difference between the two types of presentation, which will both be orally delivered with the support of slides; the only variation being that in the ‘monitor presentations’ part, the presentations will be delivered on stage and one at a time to all (seating) attendees of the technical session, whilst in the monitor presentations’ part, up to four simultaneous presentations will be delivered and discussed with session attendees that will be standing-up by the monitor where the presenter’s slides are being shown.
Yes, this indeed possible. However, as discussed in another FAQ above, when submitting a technical session proposal, convenors cannot list themselves also as invited speakers.
If, during the paper submission and pre-registration process, you select the ‘monitor presentation’ option, then your contribution will only be considered for deliver in the ‘monitor presentation’ part of the session.
Otherwise, it will be the role of the convenors to select which contributions are to be delivered in the ‘stage presentations’ part and which will be featured in the ‘monitor presentation’ part of their session.
We are indeed envisaging the possibility of giving session convenors the flexibility of accepting abstract-only contributions. However, such abstracts cannot be part of the conference proceedings, for reasons of Scopus indexing (see point on this issue below).
The convenors of each technical session will be responsible for the process of review/acceptance of, first, the abstracts submitted to such session, and then also the papers from authors that, upon acceptance of their abstract, chose to prepare and submit a paper.
We are taking the necessary steps for this to happen, though definitive confirmation from Scopus will arrive only once the event is concluded.
REGISTRATION
Even if this conference will be an in-presence only event, pdf copies of slides/posters, potential streaming of some plenary sessions (e.g. opening, keynote, closure), video-recordings of some presentations, and some other selected material will be rendered available online for ‘remote attendees’ (as well as for those participating in presence, of course).
The pre-registration cost is 150 Euro. When participants will then complete their registration, the pre-registration payment will be deducted from the full registration fee that they will be asked to pay (see this table). Hence, for instance, if a foreseen full registration fee is 600 Euro, then a participant who will have carried out a pre-registration already, will be asked to pay only 450 Euro.
Pre-registration reimbursements are not foreseen. However, your pre-registration will provide you with full access to the material that will be rendered available online during the conference, just as in the case of a ‘Remote Attendance’ registration.
Yes, the submission of papers will only be possible under the payment of the pre-registration fee.
Yes, in order for your contribution to be considered for inclusion in the scientific programme of the conference, a pre-registration will need to have been carried out, independently of if your contribution comes in the form of an abstract or paper (see some other FAQs above for further details on the issue of abstract vs. paper contributions).
No, you do not. As discussed also in another FAQ above, there is no limit to the number of contributions that a single participant may submit (though, always as discussed above already, only a maximum of two of such submissions can be presented by the same participant).
It is foreseen than accompanying persons will be able to take part in the Welcome Cocktail of Sunday 30th of June, as well as joining conference participants in all coffee/lunch breaks from the 1st to the 5th of July 2024. They will instead not have access to the conference rooms.
Our plan is to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Bank classification. However, if you believe that there is a strong case for us to open an exception for participants from your country, do contact us at the email address indicated at the very bottom of this page.
SPONSORSHIP
A Sponsored Session is a technical session proposed and managed by convenors identified by the sponsor. The name of the sponsor will be included in the title of the session, which will be listed in the conference’s scientific programme. Abstracts are expected to be submitted following the indications on this page, and accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings.
An Exhibitor Presentation, delivered in the exhibition area of the conference, will not be part of the conference’s scientific programme and will thus not foresee the submission of abstracts or papers. The presentation may include marketing references to products and services.
