Biophysical Society Newsletter - September 2015

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 12 SEPTEMBER 2015
How the Scientific
Programming was
Developed
The 60th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Soci-
ety will soon be upon us, and the Program Com-
mittee has been hard at work since fall of 2014
to assemble the topics and speakers to represent
some of the most exciting areas of Biophysics. To
understand how the scientific meeting sessions are
developed and programmed, we asked the 2016
Co-chairs, Michael Ostap (University of Penn-
sylvania) and Vasanthi Jayaraman (University of
Texas) questions about what goes on behind-the-
scenes.
Who is in charge of assembling the scien-
tific program for the Annual Meeting?
The Program Committee develops the scientific
program for the Annual Meeting. Their job is
to assemble a diverse program that represents the
scientific interests and expertise of the Society,
while trying to identify emerging areas that are
of interest to our members. Given the breadth of
biophysics research and how biophysics continu-
ously grows and evolves, the Program Committee
faces a daunting task each year!
Who is on the Program Committee and
how are its members selected?
The Committee is co-chaired by two Biophysi-
cal Society members selected by the incoming
President two years in advance of the meeting
they will chair. To learn the ropes, these indi-
viduals serve as members of the Program Com-
mittee for the Annual Meeting that precedes their
chairmanship. The Program Committee consists
of three members of the Biophysical Society
Council elected on a rotating basis to serve one
three-year term, co-chairs from the preceding
year, and additional Biophysical Society Members
recruited by co-chairs to fill-in missing expertise.
This structure ensures a conservation of expertise
over a three-year span while providing a yearly
turnover of the members. The Committee for
the 60th Annual Meeting includes, Michael Ostap
(co-chair), Vasanthi Jayaraman (co-chair), Olga
Boudker, Enrique De La Cruz, Karen Fleming, Sa-
mantha Harris, Antoine Van Oijen, David Piston,
Cathy Royer , David Rueda, and Claudia Veigel.
How are the topics for the symposia and
workshops selected?
Many of the Symposia and Workshop topics are
proposed by the Biophysical Society membership.
In August of every year, the Society sends a “Call
for Topics” email to current and past members
asking for proposed research topics and appropri-
ate speakers. We received 58 proposals from
members for the 2016 meeting, and seven of the
2016 Symposia and Workshops grew from these
suggestions. As a general guideline, 70-80% of
the Symposia are directly related to the research
interests of the members as determined from the
number of abstract submissions in past years.
The remaining 20-30% represents emerging top-
ics or areas to attract new constituencies. These
areas are determined by discussions among the
Committee Members and from ideas provided by
the Society Council. Care is given to select topics
that showcase new developments and that have
not recently been presented at the Meeting or in
recent BPS thematic meetings.
How are the symposia and workshop
speakers selected?
Speakers are selected by the Program Commit-
tee. First and foremost, the Committee selects
outstanding scientists who are leaders in their
research area. Every effort is taken to ensure that
the speakers reflect diversity in terms of gender,
geography, ethnicity, and institution. To pro-
mote additional diversity, Symposia and Work-
Michael Ostap
Vasanthi Jayaraman