BSPS 2021 Annual Conference: Call for Symposia

 Submission is now open for proposals for symposia to be presented at the BSPS 2021 Annual Conference in Kent on 7–9 July 2021. The deadline for submitting symposium proposals is 25 January 2021.

Overview

A symposium should involve several presenters, typically 3-4, organised around a topic of interest. Symposia may be on any topic in the philosophy of science. A maximum of 90 minutes of space on the programme will be allocated to successful symposia. The symposia will be selected by the BSPS committee. The committee will strive for quality, variety, innovation, and diversity on the programme; ideally the programme will reflect the full range of current work in the philosophy of science. Symposia that make connections with, or include, working scientists are warmly invited. We will not be considering ‘Author Meets Critics’ sessions, but topical sessions that build upon recently published books are acceptable.

 

Instructions

Proposals must include sufficient supporting material to permit the committee to evaluate the quality and interest of the symposium. Proposals for symposia should include:


  • The title of the proposed symposium
  • A short descriptive summary of the proposal (100-200 words)
  • A description of the topic and a justification of its current importance to the discipline (500-1000 words)
  • Titles and abstracts of all papers, with 250-500 words for the title and abstract of each paper
  • A list of participants and either an abbreviated curriculum vitae or short biographical description (not to exceed 1 page) for each participant, including any non-presenting co-authors.
  • Institutional affiliation and e-mail addresses for all participants, including any non-presenting co-authors.
  • Our current planning assumes that we will be able to hold the BSPS 2021 Conference face-to-face. If it turns out that this is not possible, we will hold this conference online instead. Please indicate in your application whether or not you will be willing to deliver your symposium in an online format.

 

Deadline and dates

The deadline for submitting symposium proposals is 25th January 2021. Symposium organisers will receive an email confirming receipt of their submission and will be informed of the committee’s decision by 8th February 2021 (prior to the deadline for submitting contributed papers, 15th February 2021). Please see important information below on BSPS policy regarding multiple submissions.

 

Submission

Proposals for symposia should be submitted via email as one pdf file to bspsconference2021@gmail.com.

 

Rules for Acceptance

No one will be permitted to present more than once at BSPS 2021. Thus, if a symposium proposal in which you are a presenting author is accepted, you cannot submit a contributed paper for which you are the presenting author. Commentators that are part of symposia are considered to be presenting authors. A scholar may appear as co-author on more than one paper or symposium talk, but may present at BSPS 2021 only once.

Any individual can be part of only one symposium proposal in which he or she is a presenting author. Note that this policy excludes the practice of being a presenting author for more than one symposium proposal and subsequently choosing to present in only one symposium if multiple proposals are accepted.

If an accepted symposium subsequently loses participants, maintaining acceptance will become contingent upon the symposium organiser developing satisfactory alternatives to maintain the quality and coherence of the committee.

All questions about submissions should be directed in the first instance to the conference organiser, Kirsten Walsh, at bspsconference2021@gmail.com.