Call for Expressions of Interest to organise Symposia, Special Sessions, and Lunch Sessions at the EAS Annual Meeting 2021

The European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting, previously known as the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) will take place in Leiden, the Netherlands, on 28 June - 2 July 2021. The meeting is organized by the European Astronomical Society (EAS), in collaboration with the Royal Dutch Astronomical Society (KNA). The venue, the Event & Convention Center and the Holiday Inn, is located near the city center. Although we will carefully monitor the developments regarding the coronavirus in the coming months, we prepare for a physical meeting, likely with an online component. If necessary, we may decide at a later stage to organize a virtual meeting alike the very successful EAS 2020 meeting (with 1777 participants).

The EAS council asked us, EAS 2020 chair and co-chair, to take up this role one more time for EAS 2021.

We hereby invite proposals from colleagues who are interested in organising a Symposium, a Special Session, or a Lunch Session at the EAS Annual Meeting 2021.

A broad range of parallel sessions can be accommodated as:

(A) Symposia

which normally consist of up to 6 blocks of 1.5 hours, stretching over 2 days, although exceptionally and in well-justified cases these symposia can be longer,

(B) Special Sessions

consisting of up to 3 blocks of 1.5 hours on the same day.

(C) Lunch Sessions

taking place during the lunch break for 1-1.5 hours on one day.

Proposers should strive to make their proposals of interest to large fractions of the European astronomical community. All proposals should be submitted as plain text email, with of the order of 500 words, and should include the following information:

1. Title and type of proposed session
2. Summary of the goal(s) of the session
3. A preliminary Science Organising Committee, identifying the Chair and possible co-Chairs. Gender, geography, seniority, and expertise balance should be taken into account.
4. Justification for proposed duration of the session (how many 1.5-hour blocks?)
5. Anticipated audience size
6. Possible review talks and possible speakers
7. Whether or not you plan to accept posters

Proposers should also indicate that and how they will adhere to the EAS policy regarding diversity and non discrimination and to the EAS Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice.

Organisers of EAS Annual Meeting sessions will benefit from the logistical support including the venue, registration handling, the portal for abstract submission and reviewing, and the hosting of a web page on the EAS Annual Meeting website. Organisers should not count on additional support from EAS for attending the conference, neither for themselves nor for their invited speakers.

There are typically no general EAS Annual Meeting proceedings. The decision to have proceedings for each Symposium and Special Session is taken by the SOC of the individual session, upon approval by the EAS Annual Meeting Board.

Proposals should be sent to the Science Organising Committee (SOC) Chair per e-mail at <eas2021-soc-chair @ strw.leidenuniv.nl>.

The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is:
Wednesday, 30 September 2020.

Applicants will be notified November 2020 about the outcome of the selection.

Individuals within the Astronomy and Space Science communities, as well as EU sponsored networks, are strongly encouraged to propose and organise sessions. Astronomers not connected with any European institution are also welcome to propose sessions, but should plan to involve a European collaborator.

Please refer to the sessions included in the programs of EAS 2020 and EWASS 2019.

Joop Schaye and Conny Aerts
Chair and co-Chair of the Scientific Organising Committee
European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting 2021