Dear ISHers,

Please find below the CfA/P for the next ISH meeting in Porto.

Best regards,
Lucie

ISHPSSB PORTO MEETING, 20–25 JULY 2025

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS/PAPERS/PROPOSALS

University of Porto


The International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies
of Biology <https://www.ishpssb.org/> (ISHPSSB) brings together scholars
from diverse disciplines, including the life sciences as well as history,
philosophy, and social studies of science. The biennial ISHPSSB summer
meetings are known for innovative, transdisciplinary sessions, and for
fostering informal, cooperative exchanges and ongoing collaborations.


The upcoming ISHPSSB meeting will be held in Porto, Portugal, from 20–25
July, 2025. The website for the upcoming conference
<https://ishpssb2025.icbas.up.pt/> is currently under development.


The submission deadline is 1 November, 2024.
Organized Sessions

We encourage participants to submit organized sessions. They are submitted
by one organizer, who must also participate in the session (e.g., chair,
presenter, or commenter). All organized sessions will have exactly 90
minutes. There are two different types of Organized Sessions:



   1.

   Traditional Session
   2.

   Diverse Format Session



To organize a session, you can invite participants directly to form a
“closed” session proposal. Or, you can solicit participants by posting on
the Session Topic Proposals Board
<https://ishpssb.org/resources/ishpssb2025-proposals> on the ISHPSSB
website. (To use this option, you must be a current ISHPSSB member and
login using your ISHPSSB member credential or create an account by signing
up for ISHPSSB membership).


A completed proposal for an organized session must include a session title,
abstract (up to 300 words), and the contact details for the chair and all
participants (first and last name, email, institution, and country). Once
the organizer enters the organized session information into the proposal
system, speakers included in the session will receive an email inviting
them to submit their individual submissions for the session in the system.
See further instructions and links under the “Submission” heading below.
a) Traditional Session (3 speakers, 90 minutes)

Each Traditional Session proposal should include three speakers and a
chair; the chair may, but need not be one of the speakers. Each speaker
will have 30 minutes total, including a discussion. This submission format
requires a session title and an up to 300-word session abstract; titles and
up to 300-word abstracts for each talk; and the names, affiliations, and
email address for all participants. It is possible to submit a double
Organized Session, with the same title, six speakers, with two 90 minutes
slots.
b) Diverse Format Session (2+ participants, 90 minutes)

Each Diverse Format Session should have at least two participants,
including a chair who may be one of the participants. These sessions may be
organized as roundtables, panels, dialogues, theater games, performance
lectures, longer talks, lightning talks, commentaries, films, artistic
performance-based formats, etc. This submission format requires a session
title and an up to 300-word abstract, as well as the names, affiliations,
and email address for all participants. Additional information relevant to
the particular format (for example, short bios in the case of panels) can
also be included in the information submitted by the session organizer.
Individual Papers (oral presentations)

Individuals may also submit a paper proposal, which requires a paper title,
an up to 300-word abstract, and the full names, affiliations, and email
addresses of the presenter and all co-authors. The submission should be
made by the person who will present the paper at the meeting. The paper
presentation must be no more than 20 minutes in length, with an additional
10 minutes for discussion. Individual Paper submissions will be grouped and
scheduled into 90-minute sessions by the Program Committee. Individuals may
submit only one individual paper or present as part of one organized
session, but may also chair a session and/submit a poster. Before
submitting your individual paper, please check the Session Topic Proposals
Board <https://ishpssb.org/resources/ishpssb2025-proposals> to see if there
might be a proposal for an Organized Session that your contribution fits
with.
Poster Presentations and Poster Flash Talks

The submission for the Poster Session requires a title and up to 300-word
abstract, and the full names, affiliations, and email addresses of the
presenter and all co-authors. If your poster presentation has particular
technical and/or space requirements (over and above a board to hang a
standard academic poster), please contact [log in to unmask] after you
submit your abstract. The Poster Session will be held in person.



Poster presenters may additionally submit a video for a flash talk
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Q8VlIZJMK3mBzTRtEePKZtKKw58foAyxlpRJ5I8t8SI/edit>
(1 min) that introduces your poster in a brief, accessible and, if
possible, entertaining way. At the start of the poster session, we will
have a poster slam in which the submitted flash talk videos are screened. All
accepted flash talks will be automatically considered for the new prize for
the best (and most entertaining) poster flash video (see below).



Participants who propose a poster are also allowed to submit an individual
paper or to participate in an organized session.


Participation in multiple sessions

You may give one oral presentation (in an organized or diverse format
session, or as an individual paper), as well as chair one session and/or
give a poster (including a flash talk). Please note that an oral
presentation in a retirement or memorial session does not count as your one
oral presentation.
Prizes

To encourage interdisciplinary exchange, participants can apply for an
Interdisciplinary Organized Session Prize (US $500). The session organizer
should select this option when creating an organized session. Candidate
sessions are expected to stand out as a fruitful combination of approaches
or methodologies from several of the ISHPSSB disciplines, and especially
through contributions from the social studies and history of the life
sciences. Besides this, the meeting will also give a prize for the best
(and most entertaining) submitted poster flash talk (US $300).
In-person or hybrid presentation

Sessions may be in person or hybrid. While we understand that attending in
person will not be possible for all participants, we may not be able to
accommodate all requests for hybrid sessions due to the technical and
personnel requirements of good hybrid meetings. In hybrid sessions, to
enable fruitful discussions, at least 2 (out of 3) speakers need to present
their papers in-person. All chairs should be present in Porto. The schedule
of all sessions, including hybrid ones, will be adapted to the meeting
location in Porto. Posters will be presented in person in Porto.



NOTE: If, due to visa application requirements, you need to know the
outcome of the abstract proposal assessment early, please get in touch with
the program committee at [log in to unmask] Please make sure your
proposal is submitted at the time of inquiry.
Submissions

To submit your organized session, individual paper, or poster:


   -

   If you are the organizer of an organized session, please fill out this
   form with your details,
   <https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/events/73530/symposia/create> then
   enter the e-mail addresses of all participants in the session to invite
   them to submit their contributions.
   -

   If you are submitting an individual paper or poster, please fill out
   this form with your details.
   <https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/75921/submitter>
   -

   If you are a participant in an organized session, please wait to receive
   an e-mail inviting you to submit your submission after the organizer of
   your session creates the session in the system.