Session Format
Chairs are assigned to:
Contributed Paper Sessions
Two or three individually submitted papers. Each paper has a 35-minute slot: 20–25 minutes for the presentation (25 minutes maximum), followed by Q&A, with 5 minutes between talks to allow participants to move between parallel sessions.
Keynote and Plenary Sessions
105 minutes in total: up to 60 minutes for the lecture, followed by Q&A.
Symposia do not have assigned Chairs. Symposium organisers are responsible for managing their own sessions.
What Chairs Are Asked to Do
→ Arrive at the room 10–15 minutes before the session to meet the speakers and make sure everything is ready. If you need assistance, please ask one of the ECAP12 assistants wearing conference T-shirts.
→ Briefly introduce each speaker and talk (see below).
→ Keep strictly to the scheduled times, for both presentations and Q&A. Please give speakers appropriate time warnings (e.g. 5 minutes and 1 minute remaining).
→ Ensure that the 5-minute interval between contributed talks is preserved, so that participants can move between parallel sessions.
→ Moderate the Q&A and bring each talk to a close on time.
Introducing Speakers
Contributed Papers
Please keep introductions to a minimum. The speaker’s name and affiliation and the title of the talk are sufficient. If the speaker is an Early-Career Prize or Honourable Mention recipient, mention this fact too. There is no need to provide further biographical information; discussion time is more valuable.
Keynotes and Plenaries
You should spend 1–2 minutes introducing the speaker and mentioning one or two relevant achievements, but please keep the introduction brief so that the session can focus on the lecture and discussion.
If a Speaker Is Absent
If a speaker does not appear, leave that time slot empty and begin the next talk at its originally scheduled time. Participants may have planned to move between parallel sessions specifically to attend a particular talk.
Managing the Q&A
→ At the beginning of the Q&A, invite those wishing to ask a question to raise their hands, and make a note of the order. Continue to watch for people who wish to join the queue later.
→ Try to give as many people as possible an opportunity to ask a question.
→ Ask participants to keep their questions brief and to ask one question at a time.
→ If there are further questions pending, follow-ups should be disallowed save for clear cases of misunderstanding. If there are no further questions, follow-ups on previous exchanges are welcome.
→ It is helpful to have a question of your own ready in case there are no immediate questions from the audience.
→ Please ensure that the discussion remains respectful and focused on the paper.
→ Please make sure that the Q&A finishes on time and does not extend into the 5-minute interval before the next talk.
Thank you very much for helping us make ECAP12 run smoothly.