Call for talks and posters

1. A clear structure

Keeping the structure of your abstract clear and simple will make it easier for reviewers and participants to understand your research. Your abstract should contain:

• an opening (2-3 sentences) to introduce your topic;
• your hypothesis (1-2 sentences);
• methods and results (4-6 sentences) describing how you addressed your hypothesis;
• a conclusion (1-2 sentences) summarising your discoveries.

2. Less is more

How often have you stumbled across an abstract that was too long and detailed to read? Don’t make the same mistake! Describe only one or two key results of your research, there is no need to go into all the details and to exhaust the provided word limit.

3. Choose the right words

Use common everyday words as much as possible: reviewers and participants come from different scientific and linguistic backgrounds and may not be familiar with technical details, acronyms or field-specific jargon. E.g., replace long words with shorter ones (methodology -> methods), and simplify words and expressions whenever possible (employ -> use, or in order to -> to).

4. Don’t exaggerate

Avoid too many adjectives and stick to neutral language: reviewers are generally allergic to claims such as the research is of tremendous impact on the well-being of all future generations. Simply saying that your results may positively impact the health of future generations may be closer to reality =)

5. Get active

Use active voice over passive! The passive sentence An analysis to simulate the impact of temperature on protein folding was conducted is more difficult to read than its active version We simulated the impact of temperature on protein folding.

The same holds true for nouns and verbs: An increase in folding speed was observed for proteins at higher temperatures is more complicated (and longer) than Folding speed increased at higher temperatures.

6. Choose the right keywords

To better understand your abstract, reviewers and participants will focus on keywords. Integrate some common vocabulary and keywords to guide them: e.g., if you are working on next-generation sequencing technologies - then say it! - and don’t mumble around new methods to sequence DNA.

7. Get feedback

Share your abstract with colleagues and friends outside your academic field: if the abstract is well structured and clearly written, they will understand the key message - judging its scientific quality and relevance for the conference is only a second step and will be done by the reviewers.

1. Create an account

To submit an abstract for [BC]², you have to create an account on the [BC]² conference platform.

There are three different ways to create an account:

1. Are you an employee at SIB?
   Use your SIB LDAP to sign in to the [BC]² conference platform.
   
2. Are you a SIB Member, or at a Swiss university?
   Use your university account to sign in to the [BC]² conference platform. Depending on whether your university already integrated SWITCH edu-ID or not, you will have to use your SWITCH edu-ID account or your normal university account. For security reasons, SWITCH recommends closing your browser window after the session.
   
3. Neither at SIB, nor affiliated with a Swiss university?
   No problem! Create a new account to sign in to the [BC]² conference platform.
   

Please note:

• If you are already signed in to another application with your SIB LDAP or university account while signing in to the [BC]² conference platform, the system will automatically recognize you.
• Once you created an account, you need to continue using the same login option (SIB LDAP, university account or newly created account)!
• Creating an account does not equal a registration for the conference. You will be able to register for [BC]² using the same account as soon as the registration is opening.

2. Complete your profile

Before submitting an abstract, please update your account profile with the required information.

3. Go to "My abstracts"

Click on your user icon on the top-right corner of the screen and go to "My abstracts". Here, you will find an overview of all your submitted abstracts. To create a new abstract, click on "Submit a new abstract".

4. Write and submit your abstract

You can now write your abstract. If you wish to save your abstract and resume at a later point, you can do so by clicking on "Save draft". If you are happy with your abstract, submit it by choosing "Submit abstract". Once submitted, you can still see, but no longer modify your abstract.