IBC 2012 - XXVIth International Biometric Conference (IBC)

The Education Committee of the XXVIth International Biometric Conference (IBC), to be held 26-31 August 2012, in Kobe, Japan, is calling for short course proposals.
http://www.secretariat.ne.jp/ibc2012
Our goal is to provide courses that will attract registrants from a number of different application areas. We also want to reach out to potential participants from economically developing countries. Course selection will be by committee consensus and will take into account how the courses enhance the scientific program of the IBC and complement our satellite conferences ? all of which are still in development.

To submit a proposal please complete the attached form and e-mail it to Andreas Ziegler at ziegler-AT-imbs.uni-luebeck.de.

All proposals must be submitted electronically by 31 August 2011.

The template for short course proposals is listed below.

The proposal must include the following information:

Title: Exact title of course
Date and duration: Preferred date of course and length of course
Instructor(s) affiliation: Instructor(s) complete name and contact information, including email, office phone and fax numbers. Present affiliations consistently for all instructors. List instructors in presentation order.
Instructors: Include a brief paragraph about the instructor(s) background and subject matter experience. (Do not include resumes or curriculum vitae.) Previous courses taught and date/location must be included.
Instructor(s) availability: All tutorials will most likely be held on Aug 26, 2012. However, your availability during the conference week might open flexibilities.
Motivation: Why it is important to deal with the topic regarding progress in theory, applications and software availability?
Abstract: one paragraph abstract around 200 words, describing the course. Prerequisite knowledge and assumptions regarding the background of the attendees must be included. The IBC Short Course Committee reserves the right to edit any abstract.
Outline: Describe what will occur during each course segment and provide a description of the target audience and difficulty level of the course (advanced/technical, intermediate, basic/training).
Learning outcomes: a clear and concise statement of the learning outcomes must be in?cluded. What knowledge, skills and/or attitudes attendees are expected to accomplish/demonstrate as a result of the course? You must also include a description of course content and instructional strategies based on the learning outcomes.
Audio Visual Equipment: Specify required audio-visual equipment for the course on the attached form.
Textbook: If a textbook is recommended, include author(s) name(s); publisher and contact information; and retail or special discounted cost. The textbook must be available on or by October 2011 in order to be included with the course. Where a textbook is recommended, participants will have the opportunity to purchase the textbook for an additional cost when registering for the course.
It is important that the Short Course Committee receive immediate notice of any changes to the details of the proposed course once the proposal has been submitted. Short Course selection will be finalized by early December, 2011. Submitters will be notified whether or not their course submission has been accepted. We understand that this deadline is fast approaching and we certainly appreciate your workload. If you are interested in submitting a proposal and need a short deadline extension, please contact the chair of the Education Committee at ziegler-AT-imbs.uni-luebeck.de.

Handouts

Each course participant will receive a set of handouts to accompany the course. The handouts must be submitted electronically to the IBS in advance of the short course. The deadline for submission and email address will be provided at a later date, once the full set of courses has been selected. All copying of handouts will be managed by the IBS. All pages must be numbered sequentially with no breaks. One-day course handouts are limited to 200 pages and those for half-day courses are limited to 100 pages. Providing a CD of the overheads or a web site reference is not a substitute for a paper copy made available during the course. Instructors must include in their overheads and a list of the learning outcomes at both the beginning and the end of the course. Handouts should be in the same order as the course presentation. Handouts must be readable, using large fonts and replacing complicated tables with plots where appropriate.

Presentation Expectations

Instructors are expected to arrive and start the course on time. There will be mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks. Specific times for the breaks will be announced. Instructors are expected to honor the break times as closely as possible.

The International Biometric Society conferences, short courses and satellite conferences are not to be used as a marketing venue. However, you may use a software product for illustration purposes. If instructors wish to provide access to supplementary materials via the web after the course, it is the instructor’s responsibility to inform the class about the website and to maintain the website. The IBS is not responsible for the content on the sites and does not have the resources to provide assistance for website construction or maintenance or to provide any other specialized services.

Course Cancellation

The IBS must consider cancelling a course that is under enrolled to avoid incurring excessive costs. Attendance is monitored carefully. As soon as it is feasible after the close of pre-registration, decisions regarding course cancellations will be made based on the information available and registration trends. To the extent possible, the IBS will notify any registrants that they have the option of a refund or transferring their registration to another short course being presented. The website will be changed to reflect the course cancellation.

Expense Allotments for Presenters

As a token of our appreciation, we are offering to contribute up to $1,500.00 US Dollars for each course instructor (up to a maximum of two instructors per course). Of course, if you are able to fund your own travel and accommodation that will be much appreciated by the conference organizer and IBS. Profits from the short courses are rolled back into the educational initiatives of the IBS. Through these initiatives, the society has been able to help support conferences in St. Petersburg, South Africa and Malawi.

Reasons for non-acceptance could include

Multiple course proposals with similar content were received.
Not all proposals could be accepted because of time or logistical reasons (e.g., availability of rooms or technical needs).
Proposal did not include complete information.
A similar course has been given recently.
The course does not fully meet the goals of the program or the mission of the IBS.
It should be clear that, by inviting you to submit a proposal, we fully acknowledge your standing as a scholar and an instructor.

Instructors are expected to present their travel related costs to the IBS by 1 September 2012. Payment will be made in US Dollars. If a wire transfer is preferred, then detailed banking information must be included.

If you have any questions, please, contact the chair of the Education Committee at ziegler-AT-imbs.uni-luebeck.de.