ESUR 2008 Guideline for Lectures, Workshops, Scientific Papers, Posters and Disclosure Statement

 

Speaker and Chairperson Disclosure Statement

-          It is the policy of the European Union of Medical Specialists (U.E.M.S.) to ensure balance, indepedence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all of its individually sponsored or jointly sponsored activities. All individuals who are in a position to control the content of an educational activity must disclose to the audience any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of the continuing educational program. This pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of presentation topic. The intent of this policy  is not to prevent an individual with a potential conflict of interest from planning the program. It is merely intended to disclose relationships openly so that the listeners may form their own judgements about the activity with full knowledge of the facts. It remains for the audience to determine whether the outside interests of the faculty and program committee may reflect a possible bias in either the expedition or the conclusions presented.

-          Please download the Disclosure Statement Form (.pdf) and return it to the registration desk on site upon signing in for the conference!

 

Scientific Papers

-          Scientific papers (including Young Radiologists’ Forum) accepted for presentation will have a strict time limit of 7 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes for discussion. Please review the general information on the preparation of lectures, workshops and scientific papers.

-          The three best scientific papers of the members’ session and two best papers of the “Young Radiologists’ Forum” will be awarded a certificate of merit during the opening ceremony. The first price winners will receive free registration for the next ESUR meeting.

 

Posters

-          Scientific posters are exhibited in the poster area on the lower level of the conference venue, in front of the lecture halls. Posters will be displayed on backboard panels and may be up to 90 cm (3 feet) wide (right to left) and 120 cm (4 feet) tall (top to bottom) and must not exceed these dimensions. There will be no back-lit illumination. Posters must be hung by power strips. Power strips will be available onsite. Presenters are responsible for transporting, hanging, and removing their poster. For optimal viewing, you may prefer to produce your poster with non-glossy paper.

-          ThePoster exhibition is open from Thursday, September 11th 2008, 12:00 p.m. until Sunday, September 14th 2008 12:30 p.m. A guided Poster Tour with discussion is planned. Detailed information will be available here in the next future.

-          Posters must be dismantled between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 14th 2008. Posters should not be removed prior to this time.

-          The three best scientific exhibits will be awarded a diploma in the opening ceremony. Evaluation of the posters will be based on novelty, accuracy, educational value and design.

 

Lectures

Lectures are supposed to provide the audience with an overview of the current state and future directions of the subject matter. To serve those needs best, it is suggested that authors of lectures adhere to the following structural ideas:

-          In an introductory slide, provide a short overview of the contents of your lecture and its learning objectives.

-          Structure your lecture into evidence-based state of the art, important new findings published in 2007 and 2008, and future directions of the subject matter (the latter will necessarily be the part of your lecture which most reflects your own opinion; nonetheless, it will be helpful if you can show how your opinion is based on currently available evidence).

-          In the end of your lecture, provide the audience with 3 or 4 important take-home messages that clearly and simply summarize the core contents of your lecture.

-          You may chose to select individual clinical cases to illustrate the core contents of your lecture; however, lectures at ESUR 2008 are aiming at providing the audience with an overview of the subject matter, while case discussion is the subject of workshops.

-          Unless stated otherwise, your lecture will be assigned 30 minutes: the first 20 minutes are reserved for the actual lecture, while the last 10 minutes are meant to be interactive; for the last 10 minutes, you may chose to prepare for either, a free question-and-answer session with the audience, a structured question-and-answer session during which you present what you perceive of as frequently asked questions regarding your subject matter and provide the respective answers, or a small selection of cases to discuss in view of current controversies of your subject matter.

-          In preparing your lecture and the interactive discussion, please be aware that technical equipment in the various modalities, methodological approach, and even the range of the subject of radiology may vary greatly between different departments and different countries throughout Europe; thus, please be prepared to answer questions such as: “how can I pursue the subject matter when all that my department is equipped with is …”.

 

Workshops

Workshops are supposed to provide the audience with an opportunity to both experience how an expert in the subject matter solves clinical cases and discuss their own respective approach. To serve those needs best, it is suggested that authors of workshops adhere to the following structural ideas:

-          In an introductory slide, provide a short overview of the contents of your workshop and its learning objectives.

-          Structure your workshop into individual case presentations that convey your respective approaches.

-          Within each case presentation, provide the respective clinical question or indication for imaging, state which previous information (including other imaging) was available at the time of your involvement with the case, which imaging strategy you selected and why, which modality or modalities and technical parameters you chose, what the imaging findings were, and which clinical conclusions you drew; when available, please discuss the final diagnosis and outcome of the case.

-          Please involve the audience wherever possible within your case presentation.

-          Please be aware that the time for your workshop is limited to 30 minutes; you may have to put all your messages into 3 to 6 cases to keep the audience with you; in case of doubt, less is oftentimes more for the audience to take home with.

-          In the end of your workshop, provide the audience with 3 or 4 important take-home messages that clearly and simply summarize the core contents of your workshop; be aware that your take-home messages need to be understood by the audience (i.e., broadcasted by the cases you present) even if you can only present 3 or 4 of your 6 cases.

-          In preparing your workshop, please be aware that technical equipment in the various modalities, methodological approach, and even the range of the subject of radiology may vary greatly between different departments and different countries throughout Europe; thus, please be prepared to answer questions such as: “how can I pursue the subject matter when all that my department is equipped with is …”.

 

General Information on the Preparation of Lectures, Workshops, Scientific Papers and Workshops

The local organizing committee of ESUR 2008 is aware that there is a range of technical equipment available to presenters of lectures and workshops; however, the range of equipment available to the local organizing committee is limited. Thus, presenters are asked to make their respective presentations compatible with the following standards:

-          All lectures, workshops, and scientific papers have to be submitted to the presentation center at least 2 hours prior to the beginning of the respective session. It will not be possible to use your own laptop computer. Please adhere strictly to restrictions on Powerpoint software (no younger than Powerpoint 2003 for Windows) and Windows operating systems (no younger than Windows 2000 or XP). For example, it will not be possible to make a presentation based on Windows Vista or on Powerpoint 2007 for Windows. Please note that if you have prepared your presentation on a Macintosh computer, you should convert it such as to match with Windows programmes as mentioned above.

-          There will be no chance of presenting conventional slides or overhead sheets or other lecture modalities.

-          Please, refrain from bringing your own personal computer for your presentation, since it may not be compatible with the equipment on site.

-          Please be aware that MacIntosh computers are not available, and that lectures and workshops prepared on MacIntosh computers may appear differently when displayed on personal computers.

-          Please refrain from elaborate movies or animated graphics in your lecture that require additional programmes or files or folders to perform; rather, try to keep it simple for the sake of both yourself and the audience.

-          The preferred data storage device to carry your lecture or workshop would be a memory stick or similar device which is USB-2-compatible; however, if you prefer, you may bring a CD ROM.

 

The local organizing committee of ESUR 2008 is aware that there are a lot of different ways to present information on Powerpoint slides; however, the following suggestions may help you to keep your audience with you at all times throughout your presentation:

-          All presentations are in English, regardless of the nationality of the presenter.

-          In case of doubt about the correct use of a phrase or an idiom, please try to contact a native speaker in due time when preparing your presentation.

-          Some of the audience may be seated far away from the projected Powerpoint slides; thus, you may want to restrict individual slides to a maximum of 5 lines of text, well spaced, and a small number of large images; also, it may be helpful to select letter types that are easy to read and frequently used, such as Arial or Times Roman, rather than using wingdings or your own, individually designed super-fancy magic type style.

-          Do not go over the edge: rather, allow for a margin on each of your slides, since the computers available on site may display you Powerpoint slides slightly differently than does your own personal computer

-          Although it is nice for the audience to know your affiliation to a most famous hospital or university department, please do not crowd your Powerpoint slides with fancy seals or logos at the cost of space available for your text and images.

-          Remember that detail is being lost from your images when you decrease their size, since the spatial resolution of the graphic card within personal computers is limited; thus, if you want the audience to see small detail within your images, keep the images large.