Programme Committee Guidelines
Structure of the Programme Committee
The Programme Committee (PC) consists of the following:
| (i) | PC Chair |
| (ii) | PC Executive: PC Chair, EGU President, EGU Vice-President, EGU Treasurer, EGU Executive Secretary, Chair EGU Outreach Committee, Copernicus |
| (iii) | Programme Group Chairs |
| (iv) | PC Officer for Social Media and Outreach to Young Scientists |
Each Programme Group (PG) includes the following:
| (i) | PG Chair |
| (ii) | PG Scientific Officers |
| (iii) | PG Conveners, Authors, Participants |
The PG Scientific Officers and the PG Chair for each PG are responsible for organizing the programme for their PG.
From Skeleton Programme to Session Programme
The EGU General Assembly Session Programme consists of multiple topical programme groups and their respective sessions. Abstract submission and session organization are based on this Session Programme. The generation of this Session Programme is split into four steps (please check the Deadlines & Milestones):
- Call-for Skeleton Programme: The PG Chairs together with their respective PG Scientific Officers are asked to implement sessions into their respective PG. These can be sessions that are re-used or modified from former conferences, new sessions, or draft sessions (e.g. title only) to be commented on by the public in the next step;
- Public Call-for-Session Proposals: The public is invited to suggest new sessions, or modify Skeleton Programme Sessions (title, conveners, etc.);
- Session Programme Finalization: The PG Chairs & their Scientific Officers are asked to complete their Session Programme by modifying Skeleton Sessions, including public suggestions (if applicable), or adding more new sessions;
- Co-operation between PGs: PG Chairs & their Scientific Officers have two possibilities for cooperation. Co-organization between PGs means that there are large areas of overlapping interest between two or more PGs. Co-listing indicates that a given PG believes a session in another PG to be of interest to their members. Both levels of co-operation can be done during the Call-for-Skeleton and Session Programme Finalization steps, using the Implementation of Cooperation tool. This tool guarantees that all PG Chairs & their Scientific Officers have the chance to react on proposals, even if such a suggestion arrives after the finalization of the Session Programme.
The Call-for-Skeleton Programme Tool
The Call-for-Skeleton Programme tool is available via the PC Overview and the corresponding links will be provided by email. You can then fill out your Skeleton Programme by three different options:
- Re-using (and modifying) sessions from the former conference;
- Defining new sessions;
- Defining sub-programme groups.
Re-use of previous session(s) or sub-programme groups: select which entries (title, conveners, session details) should be included in the new programme. Please ensure that ALL conveners have been contacted and they are aware they have been put down as conveners. All entries can be modified later! Re-used sessions are then marked as already selected and cannot be picked up again to avoid a double usage.
New sessions: enter a title (mandatory), conveners, and session details. Although the latter two are not obligatory, they are recommended. The conveners will be entered by first name, last name and email and searched in the Copernicus Office user database to connect them with an appropriate user ID (invisible for you). The same is valid for the modification of re-used sessions. Session numbers can be entered but are not mandatory at this early stage.
Convener recommendations: We strongly encourage you to consider gender diversity (i.e., are there one or more women as Conveners), diversity in countries/institutes, and the inclusion of younger scientists as Conveners. A minimum of three conveners is generally desirable.
Co-organization between PGs: Co-organization means there is significant and active interest in the topics of a session by two or more PGs. You initiate co-organization through a proposal which will be accepted or rejected by the other PG. In case of acceptance, this session can now be organized by all cooperation partners with regard to the programme tools (see below), but the 'lead' PG will take primary responsibility for room bookings and time of the session. In terms of abstract statistics, this session stays connected to your programme group. Furthermore, all co-organized sessions are also advertised in a list of interdisciplinary events.
Co-listing a session from another PG: If you believe that your session is of some interest to another PG(s), you can initiate a proposal for that PG(s) for co-listing. The recipient will then be informed by email and can accept or reject your cooperation. You will see a notice in your session listing (pending, accepted, rejected).
Ordering of Sessions: All entries in your Skeleton Programme, i.e. own, co-listed as well as co-organized sessions, can be moved to any position in your programme, including the positioning into sub-programme groups.
Session Programme Finalization
After the open Call-for-Session Proposals, PG Chairs & their Scientific Officers are asked to finalize their Session Programme by using a tool similar to the Call-for-Skeleton Programme (see above). In addition to the modification of Skeleton Sessions or implementation of new sessions, the suggested entries from the public can be used, if applicable. After the finalization of this tool, further changes can only be implemented by Copernicus Meetings.
Implementation of Cooperation
Suggested co-operation between Programme Groups can be implemented during the Call-for-Skeleton Programme or the Session Programme Finalization. The Implementation of Cooperation tool will also allow accepting/rejecting late proposals.
PCI – Abstract Implementation & Session Tagging
Finalize SOI and SOII where not finished by Session Conveners: After the Conveners' deadlines for "Abstract Implementation" (SOI) and "Session Tagging" (SOII) have expired, you are asked to finalize the SOI and SOII tools for those of your PG sessions which are still open (i.e., conveners did not finish). Detailed instructions are provided within the PCI tool.
Author Acceptance: As a part of PCI, authors will be informed about the acceptance of their contribution by the Letter of Acceptance.
Rejected Abstracts: In the tool PCI, you are also asked to review the abstracts rejected by a Convener for possible acceptance in one of your sessions. Furthermore, you are able to check those contributions where an analysis found major similarity to other submissions. These potential double-submissions should be withdrawn in order to avoid no-shows.
PCII – Scheduling
Within the PCII tool, you are asked to schedule the sessions of your PG by assigning your allocated rooms and time blocks, and determining the maximum number of oral units per session (1.5 hours = 6 units). Conveners in SOIII will use the PCII results to implement their selection of oral and/or poster presentations, the sequence of the presentations, and the length of different presentations.
PCIII – Presentation Selection
Finalize SOIII where not finished by Session Conveners: After the Conveners' deadlines for oral or poster choice (SOIII) has expired, you are asked to finalize the SOIII tool for those of your PG sessions which are still open. After all PGs are finally scheduled, the authors will be informed about the details of their presentation by the Letter of Schedule.