The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics encourages the presentation of colloquia on timely topics, in conjunction with its annual or regional meetings, or as separate events.  The Program Committee is responsible for approving proposals for ASPET-sponsored colloquia.

Colloquia are one-two day comprehensive overviews of a particular area of research. They may be held immediately before or after the annual meeting, in conjunction with a regional meeting, or independently.  Organizers of colloquia held in conjunction with the annual meeting are strongly encouraged to include a poster session to enable students and young scientists to participate in both the colloquium and the meeting.

A. Deadline for Submission

Colloquium proposals may be submitted at any time, but must allow at least eight (8) months lead time for organizing and promoting the colloquium. For colloquia being proposed in conjunction with the annual meeting, organizers must submit their proposals no later than March of the year preceding the proposed meeting date. This will allow the Program Committee to evaluate all proposals for colloquia together with the symposia to insure a well-integrated program for the annual meeting.

B. Content of Proposal for Colloquia

Colloquia may be initiated by any member of ASPET at any time by communicating with a member of the Program Committee or by submitting a proposal to the ASPET office. The communication should present reasons as to why the symposium is desirable and give some details on the proposal. The following points should be addressed:

1. Proposed Title
2. Justification of need for an ASPET colloquium in the particular field. The number of colloquia approved will be limited, and the justification will be important in the Committee's evaluation. Thus justification should include the timeliness of the topic and whether a similar course has been recently presented at which ASPET members are likely to have been in attendance.
3. Names of proposed speakers, their professional affiliations, titles of their presentations, and a one-two sentence synopsis of each topic. A maximum of two speakers from a single institution may be proposed. Alternate speakers should be proposed. It is not necessary, and sometimes not desirable, to contact prospective speakers prior to submitting a symposium proposal as the Program Committee may suggest changes.
4. The intended year and meeting for the symposium.
5. Mailing addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses for the proposed speakers and for the organizer.
6. ASPET Staff will work with the organizer to prepare a budget for the colloquium. Indicate if there are any plans to secure funding from an alternate source.

After receipt of a proposal, the Program Committee will review the proposal. The chair of the Program Committee will contact each symposium organizer promptly with feedback from the committee. If the symposium is approved, or approved with modification, the chair of the Program Committee will provide further instructions concerning modification of the proposal, follow-up correspondence with speakers, finalization of the program and date of the colloquium.

D. Financial Assistance from ASPET

Colloquia are budgeted to be revenue neutral, i.e. the registration fees are set to cover the costs of the colloquium. ASPET staff will assist in preparing the budget. No honoraria are provided. Speakers are given complimentary registration and support for travel, per diem, and hotel to cover the length of the meeting.  In all cases, the preliminary budget will include an amount of outside support to be raised by the organizers of the colloquium.  At least half of the budgeted amount of outside support MUST be guaranteed by the December prior to the scheduled meeting, or the colloquium will be cancelled subject to review by the Program Committee.

E. Other Assistance

The ASPET office can assist in publicizing the colloquium, handling pre-registration, duplicating course material, and locating a site if necessary. For colloquia held in conjunction with the annual meeting, support in terms of arranging space, audiovisual support, meals and overnight accommodations will be provided. For all other venues, the organizer is responsible for on-site logistics support.