Call for Scientific Session Proposals

10-Minute Flash Talks

Submission site opens: Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Deadline for submission: Thursday, April 18, 2019

Proposals will not be accepted after the deadline

Envisioning Tomorrow's Earth

2020 AAAS Annual Meeting
February 13-16, 2020
Seattle, Washington

The scientific endeavor has been at the forefront in developing innovations which have improved life on Earth in immeasurable ways. Now, life on this planet is facing new challenges from both nature and the built world, and scientific application is our best tool with which to react. By drawing on our current understanding of the world, and bravely experimenting with forward-thinking visions, the scientific community needs to respond with discoveries and developments to help solve many pressing problems. Some research that may be addressed include:

• Within the agriculture-water-energy nexus, the developments that are needed to provide sufficient and higher quality, sustainable food for an ever-growing population;
• The science and technology that combat the risks of increasing air and water pollution;
• Biology at the molecular, cellular and organism levels, and how discoveries in this area may lead to further human well-being;
• How data from blood samples and advances in medical imaging can improve medical diagnostics, prognosis, and treatment;
• Determining the value and means of maintaining natural ecosystems and biological diversity in a changing planet;
• Changes in extreme weather events, preventative actions, and the possibilities and limitations to adaptation strategies;
• Prospects to improve urban living and mobility;
• The science of the next industrial revolution – automation, robotics, artificial intelligence – and the how to mitigate the social disruption of displaced workers

This Annual Meeting celebrates the scientific position on appreciating and addressing the future of planet Earth by considering and collaborating with advances across disciplines, and the ways in which scientists are building networks with policymakers and the public to work more effectively and best take advantage of the many new developments that science and technology are introducing at an ever-increasing pace.

General Information

Proposals of Interest
10-Minute Flash Talk Format: Flash talks offer Early Career researchers the opportunity to have the stage to themselves for ten minutes (one speaker only per submission). Flash talks can be on any novel and inspiring topic relevant to those attending the AAAS Annual Meeting. The range of possible topics is broad but talks themselves should be focused on a big idea that can be presented clearly and concisely in ten minutes. A video clip of a polished, well-organized prior talk is required in the proposal. Talks should be dynamic and engaging, oriented toward a more public audience, and showcase good public communication skills -- including the use of high-quality visuals, a focused message, and plain language. The Program Committee will group the accepted flash talks into sessions by topic or cross-cutting theme, with Q&As at the end of talks.

Flash Talks are evaluated with different criteria than the other scientific session types. See the Proposal Review Considerations section for the information provided to reviewers.

Successful proposals are characterized by:

• Newsworthy and/or novel and inspiring topics with broad relevance for the interdisciplinary AAAS audience.
• A clearly articulated message about the big idea to be conveyed.
• Demonstration of good public communication skills and experience through the required video clip of a prior talk.

Audience:
Based on previous registration data, here is a brief profile of Annual Meeting attendees

• The top work sector categories are 60% from the academic sector, 11% Government, and 9% Research. AAAS is very interested in receiving proposals that draw from the industry sector.
• 85% have advanced degrees, with 50% holding PhDs.
• 50% identified as male, 45% as female, and 5% non-binary/prefer not to answer
• The age groups are equally spread between the following groups: 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years, and 65 years or over.

Session Set Up
Each flash talk will be provided with

• one podium with microphone
• one projector and accompanying screen
• one audience microphone for audience questions and comments

The audience will be set for theater. No additional equipment will be available.

After proposal selection, if your proposal is conditionally accepted to be included in the Annual Meeting program, the Program Committee may suggest ways to modify the composition of the session to ensure greater diversity among session participants.

Communication
To receive notifications and updates, please ensure that the following email addresses will not be blocked: meetings@aaas.org; agreene@aaas.org; cjones@aaas.org; nmaylett@aaas.org, and aaas@confex.com.

NOTE ON LANGUAGE: For language choice, use American English spelling and translations. Spell out all abbreviations and acronyms.

*AAAS reserves the right to edit all submissions for publication, as they will be published in the online meeting program, pocket guide, and app. Modifications are sometimes made to improve clarity and encourage attendance.

Five Steps to Follow to Submit a Proposal

Read these instructions carefully first, then click the “submit” button in the sidebar. Incomplete proposals will be eliminated from consideration.

1. Set Up Proposal

Proposed Title (Maximum of 80 characters with spaces)

• Avoid jargon.
• Ensure that a keyword for your presentation is used in the first three words in the title.
• Make sure the title does not include the words “Envisioning”, “Tomorrow”, or “Earth.”
• When creating a title, keep in mind that meeting attendees may be more likely to attend a session with an interesting title.

SUBMITTER EMAIL ADDRESS
Please enter a valid email address where messages can be received and accessed year-round. The submitter will immediately receive an email confirming the initiation of a session proposal and provided a link for returning to and editing your submission.

CATEGORIES AND KEYWORDS
Please select the Primary and Secondary Subject Categories that best describe the overall nature of the proposal. This information is used by the Program Committee to help generate broader scientific session tracks or sub-themes.

GOALS
Describe your goals for this Flash Talk presentation (up to 750 characters including spaces). For example, what kinds of questions or reactions do you want from the audience? What do you hope to get out of the experience – either research-related or other kinds of takeaways?

VISUALS
Please describe a visual you may use. This could include props, video clips, or graphics. Please do not use graphs and tables from scientific papers. Maximum of 750 characters including spaces.

SPEAKING EXPERIENCE
Please share any experience with public speaking and engaging non-scientific audiences. This experience might include science cafes or festivals, public lectures, or non-science major courses. This should not include other teaching or scientific conferences (maximum of 750 characters including spaces).

NEWSWORTHINESS
Highlight how the material would be newsworthy. Is it relevant to current events? Is the discovery new or unexpected? How could it impact the public’s lives?

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
AAAS requires clear disclosures from all presenters at its Annual Meeting regarding any affiliations, funding sources, or financial holdings that might raise questions of bias or be perceived to have potentially influenced presentation content.

Organizers will be asked to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest for the panelists or list conflicts of interest. Speakers will also be asked to provide this information at a later date.

VIDEO CLIP
A video clip of a polished, well-organized course lecture, presentation, or departmental talk is required in the proposal. Please link to the video by providing a working URL. If you would like to create a video for the purpose of this proposal submission, please adhere to the following guidelines:

Lighting:

• Light subject, make sure speaker is brighter than background
• Goal is strong but even light, rather than harsh or shadowy
• Your main options: supplement lights with a good cheap alternative, described below, or to use natural light or available/everyday (interior) lights
• Adding lights: Good/cheap option to consider is a china ball, which casts an even, attractive light.
• Natural light: Shooting outside may work well, if you can find quiet place, which isn’t easy in urban areas. If shooting inside is best option, try positioning subject near a window.
• Available/everyday (interior) light: If lighting subject with available lights, don’t position subject right under light, which can leave their facial features shadowy. Make sure subject is lit evenly, and is brighter than background.

Camera:

• Keep shot steady
  • Use a tripod if available. If tripod isn’t available, find something else on which to mount it, such as a table, box or trashcan. If you must shoot without a tripod or other support, shoot a wider angle shot. The wider the focal length, the steadier the shot.
  • Avoid panning and zooming during presentation.
• How to frame a good shot:
  • Avoid excessive headroom, but don’t cut off person’s head. There should be just a little room above a person’s head in a shot. It’s better to have that room below the person’s face, space you then could use when you are editing the video to add a title with the person’s name. But don’t have the shot too low where you crop the top of the person’s head. And if you are shooting a person standing, don’t chop them off at the knees – get their entire body in the shot.
  • Similarly, it’s better not to have the subject in the center of frame. Use the ‘rule of thirds’ to frame more interesting shots. Here’s a good model to follow.

Wardrobe/set design:

• Wear a solid, bright color that stands out against background.
• Avoid busy backgrounds with distracting elements.
• Avoid shooting subjects flat against a wall, which doesn’t look good.

Audio:

• Good sound is among the most important elements in your shoot.
• Use a lavalier/clip-on microphone if available.
• If lavalier is not available, position yourself no more than a few feet from mic source.
• Find quiet place to shoot, without distracting noise like traffic, babies crying, or dogs barking.

You may submit an unlisted video from YouTube or Vimeo.

If you choose to upload a video, the format should be in a MP4 or MOV file type, not AVI, WMV or MKV. The video should be created in 720 or 1280HD, and the it should be H264 encoded. Sound and video should both be clear. You will be evaluated on your presentation style rather than your videography skills.

2. Add/Edit People

SCHEDULING NOTE: When selecting speakers, please ensure they are available to participate at any time between

Friday, February 14 through the evening of Sunday, February 16, 2020.

Once the scientific session schedule is announced in the fall of 2019, it will be considered final.

TRAVEL SUPPORT NOTE:
Organizers, speakers, and others participate in the program at their own expense or use funding secured by an organizer from a source that has been vetted by AAAS Meetings to avoid conflicts of interest. As a nonprofit organization, AAAS does not have the financial resources to fund travel expenses for the more than 1,000 program participants at each year’s meeting. However, one of the 24 disciplinary sections of AAAS may choose to authorize travel support for speakers, organizers, and discussants from their modest budgets. Funding is limited and typically provides partial support.

EXPLANATION OF ROLES

Speaker
Flash talks have only one speaker per proposal submission. If you are submitting on behalf of someone, you may include your email as the “Alternate email address” to receive a copy of all correspondence.

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION
You will be required to enter the following information for each individual:

• Name (confirm correct spelling)
• Email address (confirm address where messages can be received year-round)
• AAAS Member status
• Job Title
• Status (Confirmed or Invited)
• Affiliation (primary institution; confirm correct spelling)
• Complete mailing address
• Telephone number

AAAS needs this information to:

• Confirm participation;
• Communicate with speakers who apply for travel assistance;
• Or send speakers information about AAAS Annual Meeting Newsroom requests.

3. Keywords

To significantly assist in finding the appropriate peer reviewers for your proposal, please select between three (3) and five (5) keywords that best describe your proposal. To improve matching, there is now only one write-in option. The full list of keywords is available here.

4. AAAS Sections

Select up to three (3) AAAS Sections that are related to your proposal's disciplinary areas. After you have confirmed proposal submission, a link to your proposal will be sent to section officers for informational purposes.

5. Confirmation

Once you have entered the required information for Steps 1-4, review all the information you have submitted. If you need to make corrections, click on the appropriate step link in the left frame. Otherwise, click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page. To log out, simply close your browser window. If you run into any problems, please email your questions or comments using the hyperlink for Technical Support that appears in the Scientific Session Control Panel.
Additional Note: Once a proposal has been accepted into the program, any change to the session topic or participants must be approved by AAAS.

Proposal Review Considerations: 10-Minute Flash Talks

The following are considerations provided to reviewers. Submitters should carefully follow the instructions for submitting their proposals, which will be evaluated for completeness and clarity. Incomplete proposals will not be reviewed.

Note to Reviewers: Flash talks are different from 90-minute sessions and thus are evaluated separately. Individual speakers give a concise, 10-minute talk on their “big idea” -- a novel, inspiring topic with broad relevance to the interdisciplinary AAAS audience -- and showcase excellent public communication skills, including the use of high-quality visuals, a focused message, and plain language.

Evaluate the proposal in general:

• Is information adequate for evaluation?
• Does the proposal include a video adequate for evaluating their speaking abilities?

Evaluate the topic:

• Is the topic timely?
• Is the topic too narrow for a multidisciplinary audience?
• Does it involve a novel idea, new and exciting developments in research, or interesting perspectives about an issue of broad disciplinary or interdisciplinary interest?
• Can the topic can be addressed adequately within the restricted timeframe of 10 minutes?

Evaluate the content:

• Are the submitter’s intended goals and messages clear?
• Do they describe a visual they plan to use?
• Do you think they are likely to successfully engage the audience with the content?

Evaluate the speaker:

• Can the presenter speak authoritatively on their topic, based on their research and speaking experience?
• Are they an effective communicator, based on the video provided?