Symposia Guidelines
Session dates
18-22 November 2025
Session time
Symposia will take place during core programme hours; dates and time of presentation are allocated by the Secretariat to accommodate the complexity of the programme and minimise the overlap of tracks.
Session duration
90 minutes
Track
The most appropriate track will need to be chosen. This is to assist with programme planning, and track choice has no impact on the selection process.
The list of tracks is available here
Chairs
Symposia should have one to two individuals serving as chairs. Chairs play the role of coordinators, communicate with speakers, submit the session online, liaise with the Secretariat about changes and moderate the session.
Speakers
Minimum of four and maximum of five speakers.
Session description
Describe the overall objective of the session in 150 words or less (minimum of 10)
Presentation description
A short description of 100 words or fewer must be submitted for each presentation. The presentation description will be considered for publication in the Abstract Book and in the online programme.
Biographies
A biography of no more than 100 words must be submitted for each proposed speaker. The biography will be considered for publication in the online programme.
Submission
Online submission will be open on 19 February 2025 and close on 9 April 2025 at 23:59 Central European Time (CET). Symposia are editable until then. No further changes are accepted after that deadline.
Review
Symposia are peer-reviewed by a minimum of three experts and assessed based on objectives, relevance/advances in the field, potential impact coherence of session, originality, and country representation.
Symposia covering novel, emerging or previously neglected topics and those presenting new methodologies or significant new data will be given priority.
Read more about the review system here
Use of non-stigmatising language
The Union is committed to promoting people-centred language in all conference abstracts and presentations. When drafting your submission, The Union requests that you follow the guidelines laid out in the Stop TB Partnership’s publication, Words Matter – Suggested language and usage for tuberculosis communications (Second Edition 2022).
Proposals using stigmatising language will be penalised in the review process.
Below is the list of stigmatising words that will be considered by the reviewers:
- TB Contact (prefer ‘contact person’)
- Defaulter (prefer ‘person lost to follow-up’)
- Illegal/alien worker (prefer ‘noncitizen resident or unauthorized resident/worker’)
- He-his or she-her (prefer ‘they-them’)
- Suspect (prefer ‘person with presumed TB’)
- TB control (prefer ‘TB prevention and care or ending TB’)
- AIDS patient (prefer ‘person living with HIV/AIDS PLWHA/PLHIV’)
Contact with submitters
Please make sure that you are entering the active email address of the chairs as all communication will be made to the email addresses you enter.
IMPORTANT: Each chair and speaker must use one single email address for identification purpose in our submission, registration and conference digital devices and apps. Otherwise, the system will not recognise the user.
Notification
Notification about the status of the submission will be emailed to the session chairs and submitter by mid June 2025.
Attendance and registration
All delegates registered for the conference can attend symposia as a part of the core programme.
Speakers and chairs must register for the conference.
Consent
If selected, the chairs and speakers agree to the attached information relating to the release, recording and publication of their presentation and session.