Call for Symposia for KSBNS 2026

The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS) invites you to submit proposals for a symposium for the 29^th KSBNS Annual Meeting, which will be held from September 6 to 8, 2026, in Daejeon Convention Center, Daejeon, South Korea’s hub of science, technology, and innovation.

We are looking for high-quality symposia from all over the world. If you would like to organize a symposium, please complete Symposium Proposal Form and submit it to neuro@ksbns.org by November 14, 2025. The KSBNS Academic Program Committee will review the symposium proposals after the submission deadline and applicants will be notified of the outcome via email around January 2026. For further inquiries, please contact neuro@ksbns.org.

Please refer to the following guidelines for preparing a proposal as outlined below:

1. Symposium organization

• Each symposium should last 90-100 minutes, with 4 speakers presenting and discussing a coherent topic in modern neuroscience that should be of general interest to a broad audience.
• Each symposium should have one chairperson to moderate the session and lead discussion. Although one of the speakers can be designated as the chairperson, we recommend a separate chairperson to maximize discussion.
• All speakers, chairpersons and co-organizers should be included only with their prior consent, and confirmation of their intent to participate (e.g., a copy of the corresponding email) must be attached to the symposium proposal.
• Each individual may participate in only one symposium session in any role (speaker, chairperson, or organizer); participation in multiple symposia is not allowed.
• All speakers, chairpersons, and organizers must attend in-person at the venue (Daejeon Convention Center, Daejeon); online participation will not be allowed.
• Organizers may not serve as speakers in the symposium they organize.
• The Academic Program Committee may request the addition of a short talk by an early-career researcher in appropriate sessions. This assignment will not affect the time allocated for the invited speakers’ presentations.
• English is the official language of the meeting and must be used in all symposia.
• Each principal organizer can organize no more than one symposium.
• Each principal organizer must be a member of the KSBNS for his/her proposal to be accepted.

2. Selection criteria

• The highest priority will be given to symposium proposals that include a diverse group of participants (e.g., gender, race, country of origin and seniority). Thus, a diversity statement should be included in the proposal. In addition, proposing a symposium composed of researchers from the same institute is discouraged and may lead to rejection by the KSBNS Academic Program Committee.
• The KSBNS Academic Program Committee will give priority to proposals that do not conceptually overlap with symposium themes from prior annual meetings of the KSBNS.
• The KSBNS Academic Program Committee will review three representative papers of potential speakers published in the previous 3 years.
• Proposals for symposia composed of researchers with a wide range of methodologies and approaches on a common theme are preferred. Proposing a symposium that includes thematically unrelated speakers is highly discouraged and may lead to rejection by the KSBNS Academic Program Committee.
• The KSBNS Academic Program Committee will review the proposal and may request revisions.
• Should significant changes be made after approval, such as a change in the list of speakers, the proposal may be reconsidered or the symposium’s selection may be canceled.

3. Financial support 

• A supporting grant of up to 3,000,000 KRW will be provided to each selected symposium. The final amount of this grant will be determined based on several factors, including participant attendance and the travel distance of invited international speakers. 
• There is a chance that financial support may not be available if all the symposium speakers are Korean, due to unavoidable circumstances.
• If the proposed symposium can be supported by external sponsor(s), this information should be included in the application and will be considered advantageous.
• The participating speakers and chairs of selected symposia will have their registration fees waived.
• Additional expenses (e.g., travel, accommodation, and other expenses) should be covered by the symposium participants and organizers.