EURO 2024 Copenhagen
Abstract Submission

Roles of an onsite session chair

Structure1 4 (very rarely 3) papers
Duration of the session 90 minutes
Duration of a presentation2 20 minutes + 2-3 minutes of discussion
Presence of the chair in the room3 15 minutes before the session start – having own laptop may be useful
Presence of speakers in the room 15 minutes before the session start

Actions to be taken by the session chair

 Before the session4

  • Read the abstracts to make familiar with the main idea of each presentation
Before the first presentation5

  • Welcome the arriving speakers and audience

  • Make sure all presentations (slides) are copied to the computer connected to the beamer before the session starts

  • Welcome all participants

  • Tell the session name

  • Tell his/her name

  • Inform about the number of presentations
Before each presentation

  • Introduce the speaker’s name and affiliation

  • Read the title of the presentation
During each presentation

  • Inform the speaker when the time is close to be over (e.g., 2 minutes left)
After each presentation6

  • Thank the speaker (start applauding) after the talk is finished

  • Invite comments and/or questions

  • In case of no question from the audience the chair is definitely welcome to pose his or her own comment, question or suggestion
After the last presentation7

  • Thank all speakers and participants

  • Close the session informing about the next event (coffee break, lunch break, plenary talk, social event, etc.)
No-shows8 The session chair and the session community will wait until the reserved 22,5 minutes will have passed, and not shift in, or anticipate, the next talk

  1. In a nutshell, we may say: A session consists of ideally 4 and sometimes 3 talks or presentations, and it lasts for 90 minutes, or less.↩︎

  2. Every presentation will take up to 20 minutes with 2,5 (or more) minutes left for discussions related to the talk, also called as “questions & answers” (in short: “Q&A”). This numerical figure, summing up to 22,5 minutes per talk, may sound quite strict but in the past it always worked out very well in the frame of our sessions. To remain on time, each speaker can be given a sign 2 minutes before that the 20 minutes time will be reached - by a paper sheet with “2 min remaining” (or similarly) written on it, and by quietly telling it or per hand pointing towards the text.↩︎

  3. Session chairs should be at the place – the lecture room (or hall) of the session - ca. 15 minutes before the session begins, ideally bringing a laptop along with him or her. Our EURO conference organizers are eager to provide each lecture room with its own laptop. But with session organizers’ laptops given, or given in addition, we will always be on the safe side (and sometimes get a few more functions which however usually are not needed - our EURO conferences are very “user-friendly”).↩︎

  4. The session chair does not need to become an “expert” about all talks of the session in beforehand, but he or she may familiarize with them a bit through the abstracts and, in case of further interest or just curiosity, through a look into the related literature. Basic related literature can be encountered in internet.↩︎

  5. Then the speakers arriving before the session can be welcomed by the session chair and kindly asked to upload their presentations onto the laptop, ideally before the session starts. There will be students both in and around the lecture room to help out in any case of a technical or logistical problem. At the beginning of the session, the session chair welcomes all people who gathered in the lecture room, tells the session name, and his or her own name, and the number of the presenters.↩︎

  6. In the small discussion or “Q&A” windows, the session chair invites for comments, questions, suggestions, etc., related to the talk which just ended. Especially whenever by the audience there will be no comments, questions, suggestions, etc., the session chair is definitely welcome of course to pose his or her own comment, question or suggestion.↩︎

  7. At the end, the session chairs thanks all speakers, discussants and participants of the session and wishes them a pleasant conference day ahead. With this important service and kind words, the role of a session chair need not end. Actually, the community of the session chair with the participants at the session continues, at the conference itself, by possible correspondence and scientific collaboration after returning home and, why not, at a next EURO conference!↩︎

  8. If case of a “no show” (i.e., a speaker did not come yet), the session chair and the session community will wait until the reserved 22,5 minutes will have passed, and not shift in, or anticipate, the next talk. A main reason of this handling is to let other conference participants have a chance of a session change and listen to his or her chosen talks. Such a participant could join the session for that next talk and will not be too late.