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Typically a separate room or area of a tradeshow floor is reserved for the poster session where researchers accompany a paper poster, illustrating their research methods and outcomes. Each research project is usually presented on a conference schedule for a period ranging from 10 minutes to several hours. Very large events may feature a few thousand poster presentations over a matter of a few days.

Information about the upcoming conference is usually provided in official documents called “Announcements” or “Calls for papers”.

2. Read the text of Announcement and discuss the information presented in it. Pay attention to the underlined words.

THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “RIVERS OF SIBERIA”

The First Announcement

The Krasnoyarsk-based environmental NGO “Plotina”(”Dam”) and other interested parties will hold the Sixth International Rivers of Siberia Conference in Krasnoyarsk, on March 22-24, 2011. The Conference is dedicated to uniting civil society and strengthening public involvement in solving river-related problems in Siberia and the Russian Far East, sharing domestic and international experience in river conservation.

We invite you and your colleagues to participate in this conference. Please notify us of your participation via email before February 10, 2011 (please complete and send the attached application form to main address aleksej-ka@narod.ru (Russian and English), secondary address simonov@riverswithoutboundaries.org).

Organizers: Russian and international environmental NGOs and movements, including:

Krasnoyarsk Regional environmental NGO “Plotina”(”Dam”)

ISAR-Siberia, Novosibirsk, Russia

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia

Pacific Environment

Rivers without Boundaries Coalition

Siberian Rivers Network

Siberian Environmental Agency, Tomsk, Russia

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Participants

Civil society representatives from throughout Russia, Asia, Europe, and Americas

Government and municipality representatives

Scientific community and research institution representatives Water managers and users

Mass-media

The suggested discussion topics are as follows:

The public involvement in solving river-related problems in Siberia and Far East.

Large dams and our rivers (the status of large hydropower dams and plans for building new dams).

Cooperation in Asia: common issues and links between Russia and neighbors in Asia

Value of rivers in the culture of common people Issues in water resource management legislation Solving water pollution problems

Forests and rivers

Conference participants will work in plenary sessions and focused discussions in small groups.

Letters and resolutions regarding the condition of Siberian rivers will be prepared during the conference, as will a plan of action for environmental NGOs working to preserve unique river ecosystems. Conference participants may send suggestions for letters and resolutions prior to the start of the conference.

Organizational Information

Official language: Russian (with translation into English)

Deadline for submitting applications and abstracts -February 10, 2011 and materials for publication in the conference compendium should be submitted before February

20, 2011.

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Personal invitations and Bulletin No. 2 will be sent out before February 28, 2011

Conference dates: March 22 - 24, 2011 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Contact information: mainAleksey Kolpakov aleksej-ka@narod.ru (Russian and English), secondary - Evgeny Simonov simonov@riverswithoutboundaries.org (Russian, Chinese and English)

Travel and Accommodation Cost Reimbursement

Participants are expected to share 2 and 3-person rooms at conference venue -”Buzim ” Retreat in the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk City. We estimate that the cost of lodging and meals for three days during the conference venue will not exceed 4500 rubles. (Currently equals 150USD, 1000 RMB).

Single person (”luxury”) rooms also are available at “Buzim ” Retreat but will cost much more, if you want to rent such room - notify organizers far in advance.

Organizers will meet participants in Krasnoyarsk City and bring by bus to and from

“Buzim ” Retreat.

The organizing committee can reimburse travel and accommodation costs only for a limited number of conference participants representing civil society organizations. Because the organizing committee has limited funds, priority for travel and accommodation cost reimbursement will be given to participants planning to speak during the conference that submit their publication materials on time and send suggestions for final letters and resolutions (this will be confirmed in a personal invitation).

Conference Compendium

The organizers will publish a compendium prior to the beginning of the conference. Articles should be no more than four А4-sized pages long, including graphics, tables, and bibliography, (should follow Form No. 2 formatting as outlined below). Articles must be received before February 20, 2011.

Correspondence with the author will be primarily via email. The organizers request that you please provide a primary and secondary email address to avoid missing messages.

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Formatting rules

Report title (Times New Roman, bold, Center, 12pt font) A.B. Ivanov1, R.I. Sibirev (Times New Roman, normal, Center, 12)1Siberian Environmental Agency, Russia, greentomsk@gmail.com

2Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia , xyzl_2011@tpu.ru

Materials should not exceed four A-4 sized pages, including images, graphs, and bibliography. Electronic files will be accepted via email as an attached Word file

(versions up to and including 2003), with the first author’s last name as the title. The text should be in MSWord for Windows format, 12pt. Times New Roman font, singlespaced, justified, wrapped text, indent 1 cm, 2.5 cm margins. Extra spaces are not permitted. Tables and graphs should be on separate pages, with titles. Images should be in black and white and in standard formats .cdr, .jpg, .eps, .tiff, .bmp and attached as separate files with by-lines. References to images and tables should be in parentheses (Picture 1), (Table 1); literary references should be in square brackets [1]. Image by-lines should be in 12pt. Times New Roman font, underneath the image. The bibliography should be in alphabetical order in italicized 10pt. Times New Roman font, and separated from the main by of the text by skipping a line. The following MUST be provided in

English: report title, authors’ last names, organization, and brief annotation.

Bibliography

1.Ivanov, A.I., Koptyugov, P.A. Sustainable Water Use …….etc.

2.Lisitsyn, I.S., Petryak, V.V. Spill Response … etc.

APPLICATION FORM:

Name (last, first): _______________________________________________

Country: _________________________________________________________

Organization:____________________________________________________

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Title: ____________________________________________________________

Address:

_______________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________

Email Participation: presenting not presenting

Presentation Title in Russian/English: _______________________________

Presentation summary (abstract) in 4-6 sentences.

Here you can read other examples of the application form.

Abstract Submission Form

The 2nd BSRU International Conference 2011

“The Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Development”

Presentation Format (Only one selection)

 Poster Presentation or  Oral Presentation

The Theme of Abstract: (Only one selection)

 Educational and Social Development

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3.Answer the questions and discuss the following.

1)How often are the seminars (conferences, symposia, workshops) held in your field of study?

2)Have you participated in any interesting scientific gathering? Discuss this in the dialog. Mention the following points: place and time; type (regional, national, international conference (congress); subject; the most interesting papers presented; papers presented by you or your colleague and if they were success; how detailed the discussion was; procedure; your general impression of the conference.

3)Are you planning to take part in any conference (seminar) in the near future? When is it to be held? What will be the subject?

4)If you decide to participate in the conference how will you be preparing? Discuss this with your partner in the dialog.

For your discussion use the information and vocabulary from the texts and the following phrases.

4. Share with the class the information you got from your partner.

4.5. Chairing a conference

When preparing for a conference you may be invited to chair a plenary session or a section (working group) meeting. Whatever the kind of session, the chairman (chair, chairperson) at a conference (congress, symposium, workshop) has several functions, including:

1)opening a session and giving an introductory speech;

2)chairing a session during:

a)paper presentation,

b)discussion;

3)summing up the discussion and closing the session.

A conference or a congress begins with an opening plenary session. At this session the president of the congress or conference who is also chair of the organizing committee gives an opening (inaugural) address.

A typical opening address has the following parts:

1.The opening salutation.

2.Statements of welcome.

3.Statements of special welcome.

4.Reference to the previous congress or conference and to the progress made in a particular science since then; statement of the gaps in the present knowledge of the respective subject.

5.Presentation of the main theme and aim of the congress or conference.

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6.Information about the present meeting:

a)participation,

b)structure and organization.

7.Expected results and good wishes to the participants.

1.Presented below is an example of an opening address to the meeting of the Science and Technology in Society Forum. Note that the style of the speech is formal and solemn. What are the compositional parts of this speech?

OPENING CEREMONY SPEECH AT THE 6TH ANNUAL

MEETING OF THE STS FORUM

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As founder and chairman of the Science and Technology in Society Forum, I am greatly honored to hereby declare our sixth annual meeting open.

First, I would like to convey my deepest appreciation for the participation of over 800 persons in different fields from 86 countries, regions and international organizations. It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to this meeting.

I would also like to add my special words of welcome and appreciation to the sponsors and other organizations that have made it possible to hold this forum.

From the beginning of this forum five years ago, we have been stressing the need for more support for developing countries through science and technology from the developed countries, in addition to their financial power, to contribute to the growth and progress of developing countries. We welcome that Japan and other countries have adopted science and technology diplomacy toward developing countries.

At the STS forum, we have discussed science and technology problems based on the awareness that science and technology is not an issue for scientists and engineers alone. Given that science and technology has such a strong impact on the future of humanity, everyone should think of it as their own problem rather than leaving the subject to professional scientists.

At the same time, we also recognized that the problems related to science and technology cannot be solved by one or two countries alone; international cooperation and system harmonization are essential. We should discuss the common issues

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together at the global level. As an alternative to fossil fuels, we should promote the use of nuclear energy under strict conditions of nuclear safeguards, safety and security. The increased risk of nuclear proliferation has become a crucial issue for the future of humankind. It is vital for us to address this issue with human wisdom and take decisive steps to prevent proliferation in order to enjoy the benefits of science and technology. The world is facing the HlNl influenza pandemic, and we must make every effort to fight against this and other infectious diseases through measures such as more effective development and distribution of vaccines. A new international system might be needed to consider and enforce these measures.

From the viewpoints of energy and the environment, the development of alternative energy for transportation, such as electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles, is a very important issue from the long-term perspective. This issue has been added to the forum's program this year.

Other new themes on the program are space and marine science and technology, in recognition that promoting research in these frontier areas is important. We have also included the topics of cloud computing and research on IPS.

This year we held a Regional Climate Change Conference as an adjunct session of the STS forum. This is the first conference to discuss climate change issues on a regional basis, and the output of the conference will be reported at tomorrow’s session.

I believe the STS forum is a platform for people of different background from all over the world to gather and discuss, on equal footing, how to deal with science and technology from the viewpoint of the future of the humankind.

Therefore a forum is an opportunity for participants to frankly discuss science and technology issues in relation to the future of humankind. In our discussion we should keep in mind that the science and technology is one of the keys to resolving the problems. This forum is an opportunity to deepen our human network and is also a venue for us to share our aspirations.

Let us be ambitious about finding ways to create a prosperous, secure, and sustainable future for humankind. I have high expectations that our frank and active exchange of views over the next few days will contribute to the prosperity of humankind.

Thank you.

2. Study the sentences given below. What phrases does the speaker use to welcome the audience?

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a)Mr. Vice-President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen! It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to...

b)Mr. President, distinguished guests, dear colleagues! It is my honor and my great pleasure to welcome you here for...

c)Mr. Secretary-General, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues! On behalf of the Organizing Committee 1 have the pleasure of welcoming you to this conference.

d)Mr. President, honored guests, gracious hosts, dear colleagues! It is an honor and privilege for me to have this opportunity to welcome you to...

3.How does the speaker express his statement of special welcome? Here are some other ways of expressing a special welcome.

a)Let me also offer our most sincere welcome to our colleagues from major American research institutions.

b)I would like to express our very warm welcome to Dr. A., Vice-President of the American Association of Scientists.

c)We are happy to have with us Dr. B. who has undertaken the task of giving a lecture at this conference.

d)We are delighted that Dr. C., President of Philadelphia Historical Society, was able to come to this conference.

e)I wish to add my special words of welcome to our foreign participants.

4.How does the chairman make reference to the previous meetings and to the progress in science made since then? Here are the phrases that can be used for such purpose.

a)Five years have passed since our last meeting in ... .

b)Four years have passed since the last conference was held in ... .

c)It is six years since we met in ... .

d)Much progress has been made in the field of... during the past few years.

e)The past few years have witnessed great progress in ... .

f)Four years have passed since our previous congress, which was very successful.

g)In recent years scientists have succeeded in finding out/establishing/discovering ... .

h)In the past few years there has been great progress in the field of....

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4.How does the speaker refer to the gaps in the present knowledge of the issues needed to consider? Here are other phrases to be used for such purpose.

a)But although we know certain features of the process of..., much further research has to be done to understand its nature.

b)There are still gaps in our knowledge of the phenomenon.

c)However, complete understanding of the process is still lacking.

d)These and other problems in the area call for much further research effort.

e)However thoroughly the question may have been studied, we still have to go a long way to understand the phenomena in full.

5.What are the main themes and aims of the meeting? Here are the phrases that can be used for such purpose.

a)The range of the subjects to be discussed is very wide indeed. The conference program includes ... .

b)It is our intention to discuss here various aspects of... .

c)This conference will focus on some theoretical and practical aspects of....

d)The conference will cover a very wide range of subjects:... .

e)Our main goal in holding this meeting is to discuss the current state of knowledge as well as the latest findings in ... .

f)The primary purpose of our meeting is to discuss ... .

6.Study some other ways of giving information about participation in and organization of a conference.

a)participation

a)The total number of participants in our conference is .... We are pleased that so many people from all over the world have found their way to....

b)There are300 participants from more than 25 countries. We are grateful to all who are contributing their scientific work to the conference.

c)The number of active participants in this conference is.... Leading specialists from several countries have accepted our invitation to present their research findings.

b)organization.

a)Along with plenary sessions there will be section meetings.

b)The program includes four parallel workshops in ... .

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c)Each participant will be allowed 15 minutes for the formal presentation of the paper.

d)The time allowed (allotted, allocated) for each presentation is ... .

e)There will be ample time for discussion.

7.How does the speaker express his expectations from the meeting? Study the phrases below.

a)It is our hope that this conference will provide a stimulating environment for the exchange of information about the latest scientific results and the generation of new ideas for future research.

b)We hope that this conference will promote new contacts and strengthen cooperation among scientists from different parts of the world.

c)We also hope that the congress will provide opportunities for personal exchanges of scientific results and the strengthening of personal friendships among scientists from different parts of the world. 1 w ish you success.

d)I am confident that this conference will strengthen international cooperation.

e)We are confident that you will have a scientifically rewarding experience.

8.Put together all you have studied about giving an opening address to a conference. Imagine that you are to chair a future conference in your area of science and give an opening address. Write down the complete text of your speech according to the following outline.

1)welcome the participants;

2)give a special welcome to high ranking personalities and distinguished guests;

3)make reference to the previous conference and to the progress made in your field of science since then;

4)point out the gaps in the present knowledge of the subject;

5)introduce the main theme and goal of the conference;

6)give information about its participation, structure and organization;

7)express your expectations from the conference and extend best wishes to the participants.

8. Practice the delivery of your opening address in class.

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4.6. Chairing a scientific session

At a congress or a conference, along with plenary sessions there are various section and working group sessions, or workshops, which have their respective chairpersons. Given below is an example of opening remarks of the chair for a workshop. Note that the opening speech in this case is much shorter and less formal.

Read the text of the opening speech for a session. Compare it with the opening address for a conference. How different are they?

OPENING SPEECH FOR A WORKING GROUP SESSION

Dear Colleagues,

As chair of this session, I welcome all of you to this workshop. It is our intention to discuss here various aspects of the problem of gene-protein interaction. There are five papers on the agenda. The session will be arranged as follows: first I will introduce all the speakers, then they will make their presentations. Each speaker is allowed twenty minutes to develop his or her subject; after the presentation there will be ample opportunity for questions and comments from the workshop participants. I hope the papers to be presented will provide the ground for interesting and stimulating discussion.

1.Answer the following questions.

1.Have you ever chaired a conference (section meeting, workshop, meeting of your Department or Laboratory)? What were your feelings? Did you feel nervous or calm?

2.How large was the audience?

3.What was most difficult for you as chairperson?

4.Did you have any support from the audience?

5.What did you say in your opening remarks?

6.How much time did it take you to present your opening speech?

7.In what language did you make it?

8.What was the reaction of the listeners?

9.Did you have any language difficulties?

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4.7. Conducting a scientific session

Chairing a working group session (a workshop) during paper presentation includes the following functions:

1.Introducing the speakers.

2.Thanking the speaker and assessing the presentation.

3.Conducting a discussion of the papers given.

4.Summing up the discussion and closing the session.

2.Study some ways of introducing a speaker at a workshop.

a)I am very happy to introduce our first speaker this morning. Professor Soller has been at the University of... since 1985. He did his undergraduate work at the University of... and received his M.A. and his Ph.D. from ... University. He has published many books and articles in his field. He is a member of several professional organizations. Professor Soller will speak to us today on ... .

b)It is a great pleasure for me to introduce Professor Payne of the University of....

He is well known for his numerous articles in the field of... and for his active participation in an international project on .... Professor Payne's subject today is ... .

c)Now I'd like to call on Dr. Olson of... University who will concentrate mostly on ... . Dr. Olson is well-known in the scientific community for his discovery of... .

Dr. Olson, please take the floor.

d)We will hear today several speakers on various aspects of the problem of.... I will call on them in turn. The first person to speak today is Dr. Hill of the University of.... Dr. Hill is an expert on the problem of.... He has made a great contribution to the understanding of this problem, especially its theoretical aspects. Dr. Hill will give a brief account of... .

e)The next speaker is Dr. Sanders of the Institute of... who will recount his finding on .... Dr. Sanders is well-known among ... (physicists, etc.) for his numerous articles on ... . Welcome, Dr. Sanders.

d)The last one to speak is Dr. Stutz of the University of... whose special interest today is the problem of.... Dr. Stutz is the author of many papers on this problem. Today he is going to report his latest data.

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2.Study some phrases you may use to thank a speaker and assess the presentation.

a)I am sure I am speaking for everyone when I say how grateful we are to Dr. Bennet for his informative report covering various aspects of the problem discussed.

b)Thank you, Professor Soller. I'm sure my colleagues join me in thanking you for an extremely clear and concise presentation of the main problem confronting us.

c)Thank you, Professor Payne, for your highly interesting talk. Your paper raises an important problem of... .

d)Dr. Hill, 1 was very impressed by your talk, ft was a comprehensive account of the present state of things in ... . Thank you very much.

e)Dr. Sanders has given a very complete analysis of.... On behalf of the audience, I thank him.

g) What you have reported here, Dr. Olson, is really very interesting. I'm sure the problems you have raised will promote comprehensive discussions.

3. Study the phrases that may be used to conduct a discussion of the papers given.

Opening a discussion

a)Now I would like to open the discussion. Please feel free to ask questions and make comments. I hope that by the end of the discussion we will achieve an understanding of several important questions.

b)Now we are going to discuss the papers presented. I wish you a useful exchange of ideas and opinions. The first thing we have to discuss is ... .

c)Now let us proceed to the discussion. I would like everyone to be brief and keep to the point. Please identify yourselves before asking your questions.

Inviting the audience to contribute; provoking arguments; stimulating the discussion.

a)Is there any discussion?

b)Are there any questions to Dr. A?

c)Any questions to Professor S.?

d)Would anyone else like to speak?

e)Are there any more comments on Dr. Smith’s presentation?

f)Dr. C., perhaps you’d like to start the discussion by telling us your views on the problem of…?

g)Dr. F., what do you think about…?

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h)Dr. M., perhaps you could answer this question?

i)I wonder if you’d like to comment, Professor R.?

j)That’s interesting, but I think Dr. C. may have a different point of view.

Keeping things moving

a)Perhaps we could move on to the next point under discussion.

b)Perhaps we could now turn our attention to the question of…

c)I really think we ought to move on to the next point.

d)And now we proceed to the next/last question.

e)I think we should now consider…

Insisting on relevance (bringing the discussion back to the point)

a)That’s very interesting, but I don’t think it’s really to the point.

b)It seems to me this isn’t really relevant.

c)This point is not under discussion today.

d)I’m afraid we are moving away from the main problem.

e)Perhaps we could go back to the main point.

Recognizing when agreement is impossible; stopping the argument

a)I'm afraid you'll just have to agree to differ on that point.

b)I don't think there is an immediate answer to Dr. N.'s question.

c)There seems to be some conflict (contradiction) between your points of view. Let us just stop the discussion.

Summing up the discussion and closing the session.

a)And now it is time to sum up the discussion and suggest conclusions.

b)I'd like to summarize what has been said so far.

c)I would like to make a few remarks at the end of this discussion.

d)In conclusion, I would like to say that we seem to have covered a very complex area in a remarkably short space of time. If I may sum up then, it seems that most of us think that.... Others argue that... .

e)Well, I think I must thank the speakers for their most interesting and most informative presentations.