Call for Proposals
Call for Proposals
Proposals are now closed.
AGU Fall Meeting 2021 is planned to be a hybrid in-person and online meeting that is based on feedback from our virtual #AGU20 and past meetings. We are focused on decreasing our carbon footprint while increasing attendees’ flexibility and experiences.
#AGU21 design principles include:
- Accessing all presentations and posters online.
- Recording sessions so they are available for all attendees.
- Expanding open discussion and engagement times.
- Shortening session times (from two hours to 75–90 minutes).
- Accommodating virtual presentations as much as possible.
We encourage proposals (i.e., general scientific sessions, Union & special sessions, town halls and scientific workshops) with diverse groups of conveners and session chairs who can work together to broaden participation. General sessions can also be collaborative across AGU sections. When submitting a proposal, the convener can indicate a preference for one or more of the session formats below (e.g., discussion presentations, panel, poster, etc.). After abstracts are received, the final decisions are made by the Fall Meeting Program Committee.
As you prepare your proposal, we also want to ask you to focus on diversifying your conveners and ultimately the presenters once the proposal is approved. When we think about diversity, it’s everything from race, geographic region, ethnicity and gender, but also opinion, age and science. As you know, AGU has made diversity and inclusion a foundational element to everything we do. All conveners have an important role in improving diversity and inclusion in the Earth and space sciences community.
Our primary goal, as always, is to ensure a safe and productive meeting. We are actively watching advice on gathering and travel and working with local, national and international advisory groups. If conditions and advice change and warrant a reduced in-person event, or fully virtual event again, we will inform conveners and the AGU community as soon as possible. We expect to have further updates at least by the time abstracts open for submission in mid-June.
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Proposal Types
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1. General scientific sessions - Includes discussion sessions (covering oral and eLightning sessions), poster discussion and panels.
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2. Union & special sessions - Includes Union sessions and innovative sessions.
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3. Town halls
General scientific session types
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1Discussions are oral or eLightning sessions that are live 75-90-minute sessions, including short overviews and 20-30 minutes for Q&A in-person or online. Pre-recorded presentations will be available to view on-demand.
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2Poster sessions will include space in the poster hall and should be available online as iPosters and/or as PDFs. All poster sessions will include a group discussion or poster walk. Online-only posters can be accommodated.
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Panels will have up to six presenters and session chairs share a short overview with optional slides in a live 75-90 minute discussion.
General scientific sessions
Considerations for General scientific sessions
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Discussion sessions, covering oral and eLightning sessions, will be mostly shortened from two hours to 75–90 minutes. Sessions will be recorded and available for all attendees. Virtual presentations will be accommodated and included whenever possible.
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Sessions that further AGU’s Strategic Plan and its goals are strongly encouraged.
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Visit #AGU21 submission instructions for tips and tricks to submitting a successful general scientific session proposal.
Union and special sessions
Also known to as a meeting-within-a -meeting or innovative sessions, these sessions should focus on interdisciplinary topics and convergent science themes of interest to a broad membership. Proposals should have a creative format, a combination of any of the formats above and designed and proposed for one session (75–90 mins), half day or a full day.
Considerations for Union and special sessions
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Union and special sessions should optimize in-person and virtual participation with dynamic presentations that creatively demonstrate the value and potential of remote participation and engagement.
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These sessions may showcase or connect remote locations, labs and/or field sites as part of the presentation and session.
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Visit #AGU21 submission instructions for tips and tricks to submitting a successful Union and special session proposal.
Town Halls
These sessions, open to all meeting attendees, are best for collecting feedback or raising awareness for individuals from government agencies, academic programs, special projects and other focused interest groups via presentation, roundtable or a panel discussion.
Considerations for Town Halls
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Town Halls should be one-hour in length and focused on topics that do not compete with or duplicate scientific sessions. They should NOT be submitted on topics that would be better suited as a session proposal.
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Visit #AGU21 submission instructions for tips and tricks to submitting a successful town hall proposal.
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Describe clear audience engagement/participation options during the one-hour long session using a variety of formats (e.g., presentation, roundtable or panel discussion).
Scientific Workshops
Considerations for scientific workshops
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The workshop must be educational or co-creative in nature. We strongly encourage analysis and reflection on scientific subject matter that formulate challenge problems and promote discussion, debates and long-term visions for the discipline.
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Workshops are either half-day or full-day workshop (4 hours and 8 hours respectively for in-person and 3 hours and 6 hours respectively for virtual). All in-person workshops will include breakfast and/or lunch depending on full-day or half-day scheduling. In addition to paying the registration fee for Fall Meeting, AGU will charge workshop attendees an additional fee to attend each individual workshop.
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Visit #AGU21 submission instructions for tips and tricks to submitting a successful scientific workshop proposal.