Terms and conditions

Regulations of the 11th Intercollegiate Biotechnology Symposium “Symbioza”

1. The full name of the conference is as follows: the XIth Intercollegiate Biotechnology Symposium “Symbioza,” referred to in these regulations as the Conference.
2. The Conference is organized by the Warsaw Society for Biotechnology “Symbioza” (abbreviated as WSB “Symbioza”), referred to in these regulations as the Organizer.
3. The Conference will take place between the 10th and 12th of May 2024 in a hybrid form, at the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, with the possibility of online passive participation.
4. During the Conference, there will be oral presentations, poster sessions, and keynote speakers’ lectures.
5. Possible forms of participation include:
a) Active participation – authors and co-authors of oral and poster presentations;
b) Passive participation – in-person or online;
c) Participation of guests, especially keynote speakers, honorary guests, conference sponsors, organizers of workshops, and other people approved by the Organizer;
d) Media – persons accredited by the Organizer;
e) Active and passive participants are collectively referred to in this document as The Participants.
6. The conference will be held in English. Active participants are expected to prepare their presentations or posters in English. The keynote lectures will also be held in English.
7. Translation to Polish will not be provided during any lectures.
8. The conference fee is 35 euros (150 PLN) for in-person participants and 12 euros (50 PLN) for online participants. This fee may be reduced if additional funding is provided. The Conference is a non-profit event, and all funds provided by the Participants will be spent to cover the costs of organizing the Conference. Organizers, keynote speakers, and media representatives are exempt from the conference fee.
8a. In-person participants who register themselves until 3rd March 2024 23:59 GMT+1 are provided with a 10% discount. Thus, the fee for them is 135 PLN (31,50 EUR).
9. No refunds are available, particularly if the participant resigns after the conference materials are printed
10. The organizers will provide an invoice upon demand. If the participant wishes to receive an invoice, they are obliged to fill in the appropriate fields in the registration form. The Organizer does not take any responsibility for the consequence of providing incorrect data in the registration form.
11. In-Person Participants are entitled to:
a) Attend all oral presentations;
b) Attend all poster sessions;
c) Attend all keynote lectures;
d) Attend the integrational event;
e) Receive the conference materials;
f) Receive the certificate of attendance;
g) Take part in coffee breaks;
h) Receive two hot meals, one on Saturday, and the other on Sunday.
12. Online Participants are entitled to:
a) Attend live transmission of oral presentations;
b) Attend live transmission of all keynote lectures;
c) Receive a certificate of online attendance.
13. All participants will be provided with a certificate of attendance:
a) The certificate will be provided in English;
b) The certificate will include the conference name, date, and place, the Participant’s name and surname, the type of participation (active or passive), and, in the case of active participants, the title of the presentation;
c) The certificate will be provided in accordance with the data provided in the registration form;
d) If the active participant is a co-author of multiple presentations, they will be asked to select one of them that will appear on the certificate;
e) The Organizer does not take any responsibility for the consequence of providing incorrect data in the registration form;
f) In the case of online passive participation, the certificate will include this information.
14. The main ways the Organizer communicates with the Participants are the conference webpage, conference mailing list, or, in case of an emergency, the phone number provided by the Participants during registration.
15. Only posters and oral presentations presenting original research will be accepted for the Conference.
16. The selection of active Participants will take place based on the abstracts provided by the authors in the registration form:
a) Each Participant is allowed to be the main author of only one submitted abstract.
b) Each participant is allowed to be a co-author of any number of submitted abstracts.
c) The main author of the submitted abstract must be a student or a Ph.D. student or hold an equivalent degree (completed European Qualifications Framework level below 8). In case of doubt, the Organizer makes the final decision.
d) The main author is not allowed to hold a Ph.D., an equivalent, or a higher degree (European Qualifications Framework level 8).
e) The co-authors of the submitted abstracts may hold a Ph.D. or higher degree, but the majority of the work must be done by students or Ph.D. students. In case of doubt, the co-authors will be required to provide a written declaration regarding their contribution.
f) There is no limit on the number of co-authors, but the organizers ask the participants to use common sense.
g) Acceptance of the main author for the Conference does not automatically provide acceptance of all co-authors.
h) Members of the WSB Symbioza may take part in the conference as participants.
17. Abstracts are evaluated by the Evaluation Committee appointed by the Chair of the Scientific Division of the WSB Symbioza:
a) Personal details about the Evaluation Committee are not provided to the Participants.
b) The Chair of the Scientific Division of the WSB Symbioza appoints the Chairman of the Evaluation Committee, who is tasked to supervise the committee’s work. The Chairman of the Evaluation Committee is allowed to be a reviewer. The Chairman of the Evaluation Committee is not subject to paragraph 17, point a, and paragraph 17, point e of these Regulations.
c) Members of the Evaluation Committee are selected according to their scientific knowledge and expertise regarding each submitted abstract.
d) Each submitted abstract is evaluated by 2 reviewers. If their assessment is divergent, a third reviewer is appointed.
e) Information about the Participant’s name, surname, affiliation, and level of education is not provided to the reviewers. They receive only the title and content of the abstract.
f) In case of any conflict of interest, a new reviewer is appointed to evaluate the provided abstract.
g) Any attempts to put pressure on or otherwise influence the Evaluation Committee will cause automatic disqualification of the provided abstract.
h) The Chairman of the Evaluation Committee, after consulting the Chair of the Scientific Division, may decide to disqualify an abstract without review when its scientific level is abnormally low, or the formal requirements are not met.
i) The Organizer is not obliged to inform the Participant about the basis on which his abstract was not accepted or provide him with reviews. If there is no risk concerning revealing the personality of reviewers, the organizer may grant the participant access to the reviews of his abstract, after a written request.
j) Research submitted to the Conference must not be presented before at other conferences. If such a situation occurs, the author is automatically disqualified.
k) The final decision about accepting an abstract is made by the Chairman of the Evaluation Committee, after consulting it with the Chair of the Scientific Division.
18. During the oral sessions the authors are expected to present a 10-minute speech. There are 5 minutes provided for discussion after each presentation:
a) All presentations should be uploaded to the computer from which they will be presented before the beginning of the oral session,
b) The Participants are not allowed to present using their computers,
c) Only one of the co-authors may present the results during the presentation, preferably the main author,
d) All co-authors are encouraged to participate in the discussion after the presentation.
19. During the poster session, the Organizer provides space for a poster up to the size A0 (84×119 cm) in vertical alignment. The Organizer does not guarantee space for posters exceeding this size. The poster may not be allowed if its dimensions may cause discomfort for other participants.
20. During the Conference, a Contest for the Best Lecture and Poster is held:
a) The evaluation is conducted by the Contest Evaluation Committee and the Participants (audience award),
b) The Contest Evaluation Committee assesses separately
students and master students (or equivalent)
Ph.D. students (or equivalent).

21. Teams including members, supporting members, and former members of the WSB “Symbioza” may not be awarded prizes for the best presentation or posters except the Audience Award. Their posters and oral presentations are not assessed by the Contest Evaluation Committee. Their posters and oral presentations should be clearly marked.
22. Detailed rules for the assessment of the presentations and posters are included in the Regulations for Conducting the Contest for the Best Lecture and Poster.
23. Authors of the awarded works are required to sign the acceptance protocol of the prizes. The prizes are not exchangeable for their cash equivalent.
24. In the event of detection of plagiarism at any stage of the conference (from submitting an abstract to the presentation of results), the work is disqualified, the Participant’s delegating unit is informed, and relevant authorities provided by Polish law are notified.
25. By sending the registration form, the Participant agrees to:
a) Processing of the Participant’s data by the Organizer to the extent necessary to conduct the Conference. The Participant’s personal data is administered by WSB Symbioza in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. The data collected are as follows: the Participant’s name and surname, e-mail, telephone number, and billing address. The Participant may withdraw his consent at any moment by contacting WSB Symbioza by mail at kontakt@symbioza.edu.pl,
b) Publication of name, surname, affiliation, and e-mail address in the book of abstracts, and possibly other conference materials,
c) Submitting information about other WSB “Symbioza” projects by the Organizer, in particular subsequent editions of the Conference, to the e-mail address provided during registration,
d) To use the Participant’s image on photos, videos and other promotional materials of the conference, including placing them on the Organizer’s websites and social media platforms. The organizers undertake not to transfer personal data of the Participant to third parties without the consent of the Participant.
26. These regulations have been prepared in two language versions (English and Polish). In the event of discrepancies between translations, the Polish language version applies.
27. In all disputable issues not included in these Regulations, the final decision belongs to the Organizer.

General terms and conditions of the competition for best lecture and best poster at XI Intercollegiate Biotechnology Symposium ‘Symbioza’

I. General

1. There are 3 competitions held simultaneously during the conference:

a) Competition for best lecture

b) Competition for best best poster

c) Competition for the audience prize.

2. The entrance into the Competition is based on the degree of a student’s studies, which a student declares in the registration sheet (concerning point

a. and b. of the General terms and conditions).

3. The General terms and conditions of the competition described in chapters II and III are the same for students and doctoral students.

4. In the competitions for the best poster and lecture, the conference participants compete in two categories:

Students – student of 1st or 2nd degree studies

PhD students – student of 3rd degree studies

5. The following awards will be given in each of the categories:

a) the first prize winner and the honourable mention prize winner in each of the categories will receive an in-kind award based on the Committee’s evaluation (concerning point 1. a. and b.),

b) the first prize winner in each of the categories will receive an in-kind prize based on the audience evaluation (concerning point 1. c.).

6. The winners are obliged to sign an award acceptance document. The awards are not exchangeable for cash.

7. The President (Coordinator) of the Committee is chosen by the President of Science Section of WSB ‘Symbioza’ and they are responsible for supervising the entire process of the Competition.

8. Present members, previous members, members supporting WSB ‘Symbioza’ and anyone engaged in the organisation of the Symposium:

a) are not subject to the Committee’s evaluation for the best lecture, nor best poster

b) cannot take part in the audience evaluation

c) can receive the audience award.

II. Lecture – Committee’s evaluation

1. Each lecture will be evaluated by a Committee consisting of two members, present at the lecture.

2. The evaluation is performed on the evaluation sheet, as well as in the electronic system.

3. There is 10 minutes given for the lecture and 5 minutes for questions.

4. The Committee will judge three aspects of a lecture:

a) it’s content (C)

b) the answers to the questions (A)

c) technical features (T).

5. In each category, a member of the Committee can give from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum) points.

6. Points are drawn out to get a combined mark (MC) according to the following formula:

Mc = 0,5*C+0,3*A+0,2*T

7. The average of combined marks of the Committee members will be drawn out and this mark will be the final mark of the Committee (MF).

8. There will be a ranking list made, based on the final marks of the Committee.

9. If a score draw occurs, the average mark for content (C) will be taken into account.

10. If the verdict still cannot be announced, the President of the Committee, by agreement with the President of Science Section of WSB ‘Symbioza’, will decide on the winner.

III. Poster – Committee’s evaluation

1. Each poster will be evaluated during the poster session by one of two‑member teams.

2. The evaluation is performed on the evaluation sheet, as well as in the electronic system.

3. There is 3 minutes given for the presentation of a poster and 2 minutes for questions.

4. Three aspects will be evaluated:

a) it’s content (C)

b) the way in which a poster was presented (P)

c) technical features (T).

5. In each category, a member of the Committee can give from 0 (minimum) to 100 (maximum) points.

6. Points are drawn out to get a combined mark (MC) according to the following formula:

MC=0,5*C+0,3*P+0,2*T

7. The average of combined marks of the Committee members will be drawn out and this mark will be the final mark (MF).

9. There will be a ranking list made, based on the final marks.

10. If a score draw occurs, the average mark for content (C) will be taken into account.

11. If the verdict still cannot be announced, the President of the Committee, by agreement with the President of Science Section of WSB ‘Symbioza’, will decide on the winner.

IV. Audience award

1. The audience votes are conducted online using survey prepared by the Committee and distributed before start or during the Symposium in a way defined by the Organizer.

2. Each member of the audience will vote for one poster and oral presentation.

3.There will be a ranking list made, based on the points.

4. If the verdict cannot be announced, the President of the Committee, by agreement with the President of Science Section of WSB ‘Symbioza’, will decide on the winner.

V. Final provisions

1. Any personal information of the members of the Committees can be found after the conference.

2. The Committee’s decisions are final and irrevocable. No correspondence relating to the competition will be entered into.

3. The counting committee is chosen by the President of Science Section

a) The counting committee can consist of members of Warsaw Society of Biotechnology ‘Symbioza’ and people engaged in organisation of the symposium only,

b) An electronic system can be used to count votes. The President of WSB ‘Symbioza’ will decide on its type and use.

4. Any attempt of persuading the Committee will result in disqualification from the competition for best lecture and best poster.

5. Anyone guilty of plagiarism will be disqualified from the competition for best lecture and best poster and relevant authorities will be informed about this according to the Polish law system.
6. In the event of any situation which was not described in this document and in the event of any questionable situation, the board of Warsaw Society of Biotechnology ‘Symbioza’ shall have the final say.

You can find the current version of the following terms here.

Regulation of online payment of conference fees can be found here.