Virtual Symposia Topic Proposal
Topic Selection Timeline
Virtual Symposia Topic Proposal: Call for Submissions
ISOQOL will be holding 2 virtual symposia per year. Open submissions are in September and January, one and a half years in advance.
ISOQOL is seeking to identify and address topics of importance to our members and the HRQL field. Topics may be:
- a particular application (e.g., Clinical Practice, Clinical Trials, Observational Research…)
- a specific disease area (e.g., Neurology, Cardiology, Mental health…)
- a particular population (e.g., Children, Caregivers, Patients…)
- a particular methodology
- or a combination of the four
Co-Chair Commitment
Upon submitting a topic proposal, you are indicating your intent to serve as a co-chair of the virtual symposium and develop the direction of the symposium (commitment noted below). Please indicate who the co-chairs (two) are in the proposal. Two-three co-chairs are needed to organize a symposium.
Co-chairs work with ISOQOL Staff and are responsible for:
- Developing a program outline with topics
- Developing the curriculum
- Developing session learning objectives
- Proposing speakers/presenters
- Attending monthly/biweekly calls with staff & speakers
- Review speaker presentations/content and provide feedback
- Moderate sessions on live days
- Estimated time commitment:
- Within 15 months of planning:
- 10 monthly calls with ISOQOL staff and co-chairs
- Monthly calls (4 months prior to the live event) with ISOQOL staff and speakers from each session.
- Within 15 months of planning:
Staff Responsibilities
- Formally invite possible speakers
- Collect speakers’ materials and documents
- Keep co-chairs and speakers to planning timeline
- Schedule, host and attend all planning calls (Zoom/Microsoft Teams)
- Send reminders to participants
- Provide logistical support
- Create and manage marketing
- Open and manage registration
Items to consider when proposing a virtual symposium
As much as possible, incorporate these responses in your proposal:
- Why was the content chosen and how is it relevant to ISOQOL’s mission/vision ?
- How does this proposal differ from, or build upon, previous virtual symposia topics and ISOQOL webinars with similar content?
- What steps are taken to ensure state-of the-art concerns and methods are included?
Below is the information requested for a virtual symposium topic proposal, which opens twice a year.
Topic Proposal Questions
Submitter and Co-Chair Details
- Submitter(s) Name, Title, Affiliation
- Names and email addresses of two-three proposed symposium co-chairs
The two co-chairs must be current ISOQOL members and one of the co-chairs is the person submitting the proposal.
Proposed Topic/Theme Information
- Symposium Title
- Describe the topic/theme and why it is relevant to the ISOQOL audience.
- Level of experience needed
- Note: this is your recommendation and not a requirement. Registration for a symposium of any level is
open to all. - Basic: No prior training is needed to understand the content.
- Intermediate: Some prior training or work experience relevant to the topic is
recommended to aid in understanding of the symposium content. - Advanced: Substantial prior training or work experience relevant to the topic is
recommended to aid in understanding of the symposium content.
- Note: this is your recommendation and not a requirement. Registration for a symposium of any level is
- Is this topic regional? If yes, please indicate why and the region of the greatest interest.
- Category area (Select all that apply)
- Theoretical Work
- Methodological
- Application: Clinical Research
- Application: Clinical Care Applications
- Application: Policy
- Outline how each category (selected above) will be addressed. (Max: 500 words)
- Intended audience(s): (Select all that apply)
- Academics
- Clinicians
- Consultants
- Industry
- Patients/Advocacy
- Early Career
- Mid-career
- Late Career
- Other
- Symposium synopsis (Max: 500 words)
- Interactive Component Options (Will finalize during planning call with staff, check all that may apply.)
- Breakout Groups
- Live Q&A
- Poll Questions
- Chat
- Foundational Training add-on (optional)
- There may be a need to cover foundational material that is well-known by a majority of the
targeted audience but is not common knowledge for a specific stakeholder. In these instances,
organizers should consider a 20-30 minute presentation covering the foundational knowledge
needed by this stakeholder. This presentation will be pre-recorded and released on-demand to
the audience, one week prior to the live dates of the symposium.
- There may be a need to cover foundational material that is well-known by a majority of the
- Will there need to be a foundational training session before the symposium for better understanding? If yes or maybe, please explain.
Symposium Organization
- Describe how the symposium will be organized: (e.g., plenaries, breakouts, case studies; general format of the meeting)
- Provide an outline for each session: (There is a minimum of 4 sessions in total and a maximum of 8 sessions in total. An average session is no longer than 60 minutes, spanning over the course of 2 days.)
- Provide a title, description and objectives for each of the proposed sessions
- List potential names, affiliations and brief description of expertise (no CVs please) of the speakers you intend to invite.
The International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) is a global community of researchers, clinicians, health care professionals, industry professionals, consultants, and patient research partners advancing health related quality of life research (HRQL).
Together, we are creating a future in which patient perspective is integral to health research, care and policy.