Workshop Proposals
If you would like to submit a Workshop proposal, please download and complete this application form and email secretary.ssm@gmail.com.
Title:
It should be concise and give a good indication of the content of the workshop.
Workshop Leader & other facilitators/convenors:
Priority will be given to multi-departmental & multidisciplinary teams to facilitate joint working.
Background:
Subject – does it fit into the aims and scope of SSM?
Topicality – is the topic of particular relevance now?
Likelihood of provoking discussion – will there be points for a particular discussion?
What is the rationale for the workshop?
Aims:
What is expected to be achieved overall by the end of the workshop?
Educational objectives:
What will the participants gain/learn from this? How will it alter their research design/conduct/interpretation/dissemination? It is important that this is more than a presentation of findings, and participants should ideally learn from the experience in some way.
Structure:
Please give details of the structure. Workshops are intended to be interactive, and presentations should be limited only to those required to set the scene (guideline not more than a third of the time). If possible, give details of what will be presented. The discussions should be structured & time should be provided for feedback – information should be given for the likely content of discussions. Remember that workshops can advance knowledge simply through in-depth discussion. Small group exercises/discussions are strongly supported to encourage the participation of all those attending.
Example schedule: (1) Opening remarks & aims – 10 mins; (2) Short pre-planned presentations on relevant areas – 20 mins; (3) Small group discussions – 30 mins; (4) Reports from groups – 20 mins; (5) Closing remarks – 10 mins.
Target Group:
Who is likely to want to participate in the workshop? Background / prior knowledge/level of expertise.
No. of Participants:
State the minimum no of people needed to run the workshop successfully and the maximum who could feasibly participate.
Requirements:
Room size and layout/visual aids (OHP/PowerPoint/flipchart)
Workshop length:
1 ½ hours?
Suggestions for useful types of workshops:
- Part of a consensus process, e.g. to standardise/agree definitions of exposure/disease.
- Discussion of merits/uses of a new methodological technique/data source etc.
- Discussion on addressing/dealing with a new/topical issue.
- Discussions on what research in a particular area has led to and where it should go from now.
Workshops should not:
- Be used to promote or further research from one department.
- Simply group together a disparate selection of presentations.
- Present a large amount of information not yet in the public domain – most of the ‘scene-setting’ presentations would usually be based on published work.
Note: Some workshops may lead directly or indirectly to publications, but this would be the responsibility of the authors and/or participants. It may be possible to disseminate some of the findings of workshops in the SSM newsletter or on the SSM website. No funding will be available to support attendance at workshops – presenters and participants are expected to register for the conference at their own expense.