MiniSymposia Organizational Guidelines

A thematic MiniSymposium consists of a set of Congress sessions that focus on an area of Computational Mechanics distinguished by discipline, application, product or theme. It is organized by one or more experts in that area. The list of covered topics should be sufficiently broad to attract a critical mass of participants, but sufficiently focused to capture the continued interest of a non-captive audience.

The organizer(s) of a MiniSymposium invite, collect and review contributions, and communicate a final list to the Congress organizers as described under items 6 and 7 below.

Basic organizational guidelines for MiniSymposia are as follows.

1. Number of Sessions. A MiniSymposium consists of 2 to 6 sessions identified by the same title. If it covers 2 or 3 sessions, these will be normally scheduled consecutively in the same day, unless organizers recommend otherwise. If it extends over 4 to 6 sessions, these will be normally scheduled over two consecutive days. Each session will be allocated two hours.

2. Contributed Papers. Contributed papers will be allocated 20 minutes, with 15 minutes for presentation and 5 for discussion. Since each session is allocated two hours, a session may have a maximum of 6 contributed papers.

3. Keynote Speakers. A 2-3 session Minisymposium may have one Keynote Speaker, who is allocated 40 minutes: 30 for presentation and 10 for discussion. The Keynote Speaker normally opens the first session. A 4-6 session MiniSymposium may have one or two Keynote Speakers. If two, these normally will open the first session of each day. (Organizers may request, however, that the speakers open the first session in back to back presentations). The selection and invitation of Keynote Speakers is the responsibility of the MiniSymposium organizers.

4. Session Chairing. The MiniSymposium organizers are responsible for chairing the sessions and announcing the speakers.

5. Posted Announcement. MiniSymposium organizers should provide a summary announcement before September 4, 1998 to Carlos Felippa at carlos@titan.colorado.edu, to be hyperlinked to this page. The announcement specifies the scope and objectives as well as abstract submission instructions and deadlines. Here is a sample in PDF, which was prepared from this TeX document.

6. Abstract Submission. MiniSymposium organizers should specify a firm deadline for abstract contribution in their announcement. Normally this deadline will fall on or before December 1998. Contributed abstracts are to be submitted electronically to one of the organizers in the format(s) specified in the announcement. All subsequent correspondence with each author, or corresponding author, is carried out by e-mail. Thus provision of a valid e-mail address is essential.

7. Abstract Acceptance and Communication. Organizers review and select abstracts deemed to fit the scope and objective of the MiniSymposium. Selected abstracts are collectively submitted to the Congress organizers on or before January 15, 1999. Corresponding authors are notified of acceptance. Authors may submit a final version (if different or expanded from the original) of the abstract to the Congress organizers for printing in the Book of Abstracts before May 15, 1999. This final version should follow these formatting instructions.

8. Special Invitation-Only MiniSymposia. Organizers have the option of declaring a MiniSymposium to be by invitation only. An example is History of the Finite Element Method. In such a case the announcement must indicate that contributed abstracts are not accepted. Organizers of these special Minisymposia may adjust the time allocated to speakers to fit the thematic purpose.