Call for Abstracts

Present your work at the 45th FEBS Congress 

The Congress Organizing Committee is pleased to invite you to submit an abstract for consideration for the 45th FEBS Congress. Abstracts must be submitted via the online participant portal, before March 11, 2021. Abstract topics can be seen here.

We are looking forward to receiving new abstracts from new registrants to the event, as well as resubmission of abstracts prepared ahead of the original dates of the 45th FEBS Congress, before its postponement. Such previously submitted abstracts were released for editing/updates in spring 2020 to enable you to make any changes you would like to ahead of resubmission by March 11, 2021.

Submitted research abstracts can be considered for oral presentations (as ‘Short Talks’ in the Symposia or as ‘Speed Talks’ in Speed Talk Sessions) and for poster presentations. Posters will be organized by topic, and opportunities for presenters to discuss their work with interested participants will be provided by designated poster sessions in the Congress schedule. FEBS Press Poster Prizes, and FEBS Open Bio Speed Talk prizes, will be awarded during the event.

Accepted abstracts will be displayed on the Congress website and the virtual Congress platform, and collated in an online supplement of FEBS Open Bio. Abstracts appearing in the FEBS Open Bio supplement will be included individually in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index published by Web of Science.

Important points

Research abstracts

• Abstracts must be submitted in English.
• Abstracts must report new or recent substantive scientific results in the molecular life sciences from the lab(s) of the author(s).
• Where previously published findings are presented, this should be work published no more than two years before the start of the Congress* and the prior publication should be cited in the abstract (see Step by Step Guide below). 
  
• The presenting author of the abstract must complete registration by March 11, 2021 for abstracts to be assessed and included in the Congress Programme and the FEBS Open Bio Congress supplement.
• Each registrant can submit only one research abstract for evaluation.
• The same abstract cannot be submitted by different delegates.

Education abstracts

• Abstracts are also invited on 'Molecular Bioscience Education'. These should preferably contain educational research design. but innovation reports and original contributions to current topics in education are also welcome. 
• Each registrant can submit only one education abstract for evaluation, but (new for FEBS 2021) may submit both a research and an education abstract from the same registration.
• Other general points stated for research abstracts also apply to education abstracts.

Assessment and screening

• All abstracts submitted to the Congress will be screened by the International Scientific Committee for relevance to the Congress’ scientific content and presentation. Abstracts not meeting the quality standards will not be accepted.
• Abstracts submitted for consideration for oral presentation will be assessed by the International Scientific Committee for scientific quality, novelty and the fit with the Congress subtopics.
• Abstracts submitted with eligible FEBS bursary applications will be assessed by the International Scientific Committee; in addition, CVs and Letters of Motivation with bursary applications will be considered by the Local Organizing Committee.
• Notification of outcomes of assessment for oral presentation and FEBS bursaries, and confirmation of acceptance of abstracts to the Congress, are expected to be available on April 7, 2021.

Deadlines

• Abstract Submission deadline: March 11, 2021
• FEBS Bursary Applications deadline: March 11, 2021
• Registration deadline for abstract submitters: March 11, 2021

Abstract submission AND paid registration of the presenting author must be complete by March 11, 2021 to ensure assessment of abstracts and inclusion in the FEBS Open Bio supplement.

FEBS 2021 Abstract Submission System Step-by-Step Guide:

1. After logging in, select the 'Abstract' tab on the top menu of your participant account on the Congress website
   
   
2. Abstract Track:  Only invited speakers should select the Plenary Lecture, Symposia, Special Sessions or Early Bird Session tracks. All other submissions must be into the Posters tracks (‘Posters – Research’ and ‘Posters – Education’; please take care you select the right one). If you would like your abstract submitted into the Poster track to be considered for presentation as a Short Talk or Speed Talk, please answer 'Yes' to the question about oral presentation. Presenters whose abstracts are accepted for Short Talks will be integrated into the Symposia schedules; those accepted as Speed Talks will be integrated into the Speed Talk Sessions, and will also be presented as Posters; and all remaining eligible oral presentation submissions will be accepted as Posters.
   
   
3. Abstract Topic: Please choose carefully the most relevant abstract topic from the drop-down menu.
   
   
4. Title: Your abstract title should be short and informative, and must not exceed 200 characters. It must be written in ‘sentence case’ – do not write your title in all capital letters.
   
   
5. Authors and Institutions: Please add authors by using the 'Add/Edit Author' button. The presenting author can be changed by clicking the ‘Edit Author’ button of the preferred author and by choosing ‘Yes’ for ‘Presenter’ field. The order of authors can also be changed by editing the ‘Numerical Order’ of an author. There is also an option to indicate an equal author contribution from particular authors, which will be shown by an asterisk on the author names. Author names will be automatically formatted in the following style:  A. Smith, B. Jones, etc. The author's workplace address must be added for every author listed – this can be done via the Add/Edit Author's Workplace(s) button.
   
   
6. Abstract Body:
   
   a. Your abstract body can have a maximum of 2000 characters (with formatting and spaces). The first sentences should provide the background of the work. This should be followed by the experimental details, with a conclusion of one or two sentences. The abstract body should be presented as one single paragraph – do not use paragraph returns.
   b. Please use the text field to type the abstract body only. The text can also be copied and pasted into this field, but if this method is used we recommend that the text is pasted as plain text. Editing tools are provided for formatting; see note 6c. Please use the ‘Preview’ button to check the final format of your abstract body carefully.
   c. Special characters can be added using the ‘Special Character’ choice under ‘Insert’ tab. Superscript (x²) and subscript (x₂) characters can be formatted using the relevant selection under the ‘Format’ tab. Take care not to use I (cap i) or l (ell) for 1 (one), O (capital o) for 0 (zero) or ß (German esszett) for β (beta). 
   d. Use standard abbreviations for units of measure; other abbreviations should be spelled out in full at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis (exceptions: RNA, DNA, etc.).
   e. Tables, charts or other figures are not permitted.
   f. Reference citations should be given where previously published results are presented. Up to three citations are permitted. Please use the style: Previously published in: Madak JT et al. (2018) J Med Chem 61, 5162–5186.
   g. Do not include any keywords or commercial advertising.
   
   
7. Editing and submission: You can edit your abstract through the online system as you wish before your submission deadline, clicking 'Save' to keep your abstract as a draft. You can view your latest draft version by clicking the ‘Preview’ button, which becomes available after the first Save. Please proofread your work very carefully and ensure all details are correct ahead of submission: editing or other changes to your abstract are not possible after you have clicked Submit. To submit your abstract to the Congress, simply click 'Submit' ahead of your deadline.
   
   
8. Abstract display: The accepted abstracts will be displayed on the Congress website and Congress virtual platform, and collated in an online supplement of FEBS Open Bio. The presenting author will be required to check a box in the online system indicating consent from all abstract authors to submission of the abstract to the event, and posting through these channels (note, following the conversion of the Congress to a virtual format, the function of the Congress app referred to on the submission form will be taken over by the Congress virtual platform). Abstracts will be published in FEBS Open Bio under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that FEBS Open Bio is cited as the original source. The Authors retain copyright. If the abstract was prepared by a United States Government employee(s) as part of their official duties, it cannot be copyrighted and may be copied without restriction.