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Call for Sessions

We are excited to announce that the Call for Sessions for Plenary 17 is now open! 

Given the current uncertainty with government measures around COVID-19, RDA’s 17th Plenary is planned as a hybrid event, accommodating both virtual and physical participation at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The virtual platform that will enable you to join us from around the globe, with more details to be announced in the coming months. 

As the safety of the community is our primary concern, should the situation develop in a way that we are not able to guarantee a physical presence, the meeting may shift to virtual participation only. Please keep that in mind when submitting your application. Sufficient notice and support in shifting your session to a virtual only meeting, if you so wish, will be provided. 

Plenary 17 will include all of the main elements of our typical in-person plenary event (breakout sessions, plenary sessions, poster event, networking events, etc.). For those new to RDA, breakout sessions are a large part of the event programme and include the following:

  • Working and Interest Group Sessions
  • Joint Meetings (including multiple working and interest groups)
  • Birds of a Feather Sessions

For Working and Interest Group Sessions and Joint Meetings, the meeting format is typically interactive and informational, giving both group members and new RDA members an opportunity to learn about the groups’ objectives and progress to date and in achieving deliverables, while also collaborating to determine and implement next steps regarding adoption and other related activities.

Birds of a Feathers sessions provide members an opportunity to consider potential topics that could be recommended for the creation of new working and/or interest groups. Topics should be sufficiently distinct from the work of existing groups or BoFs held at recent plenaries.

For P17, breakouts will be scheduled on each day of the meeting at set times. In your submission request, please select which time(s) you and your group will be available to present. Both live and recorded presentations are options, although for recorded presentations, we recommend a representative from your group be available for a live question and answer session. 

There are additional breakout slots available on Friday 23 April 2021 (breakouts 9, 10 and 11), aiming to accomodate international timezones, where BST is a critical issue. We will do our best to accomodate these timezones. 

The deadline for Plenary 17’s Call for Sessions is 12 January 2021 at 23:59 UTC.

To submit your request for a breakout session, please complete the form below which corresponds to your meeting type. 

Note, submissions for Working/Interest Group Sessions and Joint Meetings are accepted from group chairs only. For joint meetings, all group chairs must be notified prior to submission.  

Proposed Plenary Timeline (tentative)

Upon submission, the Technical Advisory Board will review all requests to ensure they align with RDA’s mission and principles, and are written to attract both existing group members and individuals new to the RDA community. Submissions should include a component of interactivity with the audience so that the meeting is not solely a slide-based presentation.

Notifications of Session Acceptance will be sent out by 12 February 2021. 

Questions or concerns related to the Call for Sessions can be sent to enquiries{at}rd-alliance.org.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in April!