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Meeting Proposals

The Geological Society welcomes proposals for scientific meetings in all areas of the Earth sciences. Meeting proposals are reviewed by the Science Committee.

Meetings may be organised in a range of ways, depending on what is appropriate for the particular scientific community. Meetings of all types may be co-sponsored by other learned societies, as appropriate.

The Conference Office can provide a number of services, and is also happy to offer advice.

Find out more

  • To find out more about proposing a Flagship Meeting, or organising any other kind of meeting, read the article below by Science Secretary Prof. Tony Watts.  This article is an extended version of that which appeared in the May 2008 issue of Geoscientist (Society News).
  • You can also find out more by accessing sections via the hotlinks to the left.

Steer the Flagships!

Prof. Tony Watts, Science Secretary

The Society is keen to encourage its Fellows and Specialist Groups to submit proposals for Flagship meetings, says Science Secretary Tony Watts.


The Society runs four so-called “Flagship meetings”, each of which is named appropriately for one of the greats of our science. They are: the William Smith meeting (annual), the Fermor meeting (triennial); the Lyell meeting (annual, jointly organised with the Palaeontological Association); and the Arthur Holmes field-based meetings, which have no regular schedule. 

Flagship meetings may be organised in a variety of ways, depending on what is appropriate for the particular scientific community and may be co-sponsored by other learned societies. All are administered by the Society’s Conference Office in collaboration with the scientific conveners.

All Flagship meeting proposals are assessed by the Society’s Science Committee, which meets three times a year, and selects and discusses topics approximately 1-2 years in advance.

Flagship meetings are organised by the Society’s Conference Office in collaboration with the scientific conveners . If the meeting is held in Burlington House and is sponsored by the Society or a Specialist Group, then there will normally be no room hire charges, but the meeting budget must meet the Conference Office’s costs

Flagships – reviewing the fleet

  • William Smith meeting: The William Smith meeting heldannually on any branch of geological science. The event runs over two days and incorporates the William Smith Lecture, which is open to all Fellows of the Society, free.
  • Lyell meeting: This is an annual one-day event run in association with the Palaeontological Association - each society having responsibility for organising the meeting in alternate years.
  • Fermor meeting: This event is held every two or three years and usually runs over three days. The meeting can cover any aspect of geology relating to the Precambrian.
  • Arthur Holmes field meeting: The Arthur Holmes meeting is primarily a field event with or without a conference attached. They are held on an ad hoc basis.

Other meetings


Specialist Groups organise a wide range of meetings. When these are held outside Burlington House, the Society’s involvement is usually limited to providing publicity through Geoscientist and the website. However, each Specialist Group is entitled use Burlington House up to eight times per year, (subject to availability) without room charge. Often, scientific conveners handle administration themselves to keep registration to a minimum, and the Conference Office is pleased to offer advice on this. The Society also often sponsors meetings organised by other organisations, when they are deemed to be of interest to Fellows, and will provide free publicity.

Different types of meeting, aimed at different sections of the community, may operate on different financial bases. Council’s policy is for scientific meetings to (at least) break even. Any outgoings (speakers’ expenses, room hire, abstract book, catering etc.) must be met from registration fees, from any grant allocated by the Science Committee, or from external sources.

For some meetings, a grant towards speaker costs may be available; but Council believes it is appropriate for attendees to pay for registration, provided that it is affordable. Fellows (and members of co-sponsor Societies) pay a significantly lower registration fee than non-Fellows. Reduced registration for students may also be budgeted in, where appropriate. The Conference Office can provide flexible levels of administrative assistance to meeting organisers, as required.


Submitting a meeting proposal


All intending conveners will be asked to produce a Business Plan, showing the income they expect to generate (including any grant requested), and their expected expenditure on speakers and expenses. The registration fee will be set to ensure that costs are covered, allowing for differential charges for Fellows, non-Fellows and students. The Conference Office will offer advice on this.

Where the Society Specialist Group or external societies jointly support a meeting, any surplus or loss will be shared between the sponsors, according to their relative investment. For this calculation, in cases where it has been waived the Society’s room charges will be included in the Society’s contribution.

Timing a proposal

Although meetings can be quickly convened where there is a pressing reason, it is normally desirable to advertise well in advance, and to give keynote speakers enough notice to ensure their attendance. Nevertheless we recognise that there will be large variations between different types of meeting and communities. The sequence of steps is as follows: 
  1. Submit proposal to Science Committee
  2. Approval/feedback from Science Committee. If you have indicated that you intend to produce a publication, the Publishing House will be notified
  3. Meeting Planning, leading to Announcement and Call for Papers
  4. Deadline for abstracts, normally three months before the meeting – titles submitted should be used for a formal publication proposal at this time, if appropriate
  5. Registration deadline
  6. Meeting
  7. Deadline for submission of papers (the remaining schedule will be dealt with by the Publishing House).
All meeting proposals must be submitted to the Science Committee. Normally, proposals should be received at least 12 months before the proposed meeting date. However, where there is good reason to arrange a meeting at short notice, Science Committee will do what it can to expedite the process. 


Publications

Successful scientific meetings provide an excellent opportunity for you to publish a timely overview of your field, and we encourage conveners to submit a proposal for a Geological Society Special Publication . The Science Committee will often be able to allocate extra funds to meetings that also plan a publication. Any meeting held at Burlington House, or supported financially by the Society, is required to offer first refusal to the Geological Society Publishing House, or a co-sponsoring learned society.