Organisation of EURO-k Conference (Guidelines)

If you are interested in organising a EURO-k Conference read these guidelines carefully and contact the EURO Vice President 1 ([email protected]) who will advise and monitor the process.

    1. Conference Structure

      1. EURO-k conferences are hosted by EURO member societies.
      2. Proposals for organising EURO-k conferences are approved by the EURO Council typically 3 years before the proposed date.
      3. Most of the affairs related to EURO-k conferences are handled by the Organising Committee (OC) and the Programme Committee (PC). The OC is responsible for running all organising issues while all scientific matters are handled by the PC. The Chairs of the OC and the PC shall maintain close cooperation with the EURO Vice President 1 and between them.
      4. The main scientific activities in EURO-k conferences focus around scientific presentations, which are of the following types:
        1. Plenary, semi-plenary, tutorial and panel sessions given by prestigious invited speakers;
        2. Regular streams, defined as blocks of sessions within a thematic OR area. Sessions can be invited or contributed. Contributed paper presentations are welcomed and processed by the PC;
        3. Panel sessions, tutorials and other participative activities defined by EURO Forums (EFO).
      5. EURO-k conferences feature some special events, including the opening and closing sessions which should be structured as plenary sessions by mutual consent of the OC, PC, and the EC.
        1. The opening session should give EURO and the host member society the opportunity to present themselves to the public. Thus the PC and OC Chairs of the conference, the President of the national OR society and the EURO President may use the opportunity to address the audience in the opening and closing sessions.
        2. The presentation of the Distinguished Service Award (EDSA), the Gold Medal (EGM) and the accompanying lecture of the Gold Medal laureate are scheduled as a plenary session within the opening session. In the closing session, organisers of future EURO-k and IFORS events are also given the opportunity to announce their meetings.
        3. For the presentation of other prizes, the following plan is typically implemented: the presentation of the EURO Excellence in Practice Award (EEPA) finalists and the presentation of EURO Doctoral Dissertation Award (EDDA) finalists and the presentation of EURO Prize for OR for the Common Good (EPOCG) finalists are scheduled as parallel sessions. These prizes are awarded to the winner(s) during the closing session along with the winners of the EURO Award for the Best EJOR Papers (EABEP).
      6. Additional activities to be expected in a EURO-k Conference include:
        1. A large Exhibitors Area, where editorials and companies can give visibility to their products, and participants are updated in the newest offers;
        2. Presentations done by software companies to better explain the characteristics, technical aspects, and potential of their products;
        3. The OC may decide to schedule visits to companies where OR is used in daily activities;
        4. Student-focused activities e.g., job placement opportunities.
        5. EURO welcome requests to host satellite events which would be held just before or after the main EURO-k conference. More details can be found on the EURO website.

    2. Organising a EURO-k Conference

      1. Agreement Preparation

        EURO Vice president 1 prepares a formal agreement based on the above guidelines which is signed by the EURO President and Secretary, a representative of the organising Member Society and the Chairs of the Organising and Programme Committees at least one year before the conference. When signing this agreement the chairs of OC and PC should consider these guidelines as the basis of their commitment.

      2. Electronic Conference System

        The EURO conference system is used for abstract submission and producing the scientific programme. The integrated EURO database should be used for communication with all participants. It is requested that all the abstracts be delivered electronically through the conference system which helps the PC schedule streams and sessions easily. The registration platform must be linked to the EURO Electronic Conference Abstract Submission System for the synchronization of registrations using the web API provided by EURO. The conference website is preferably hosted on the EURO server. If it is not hosted on the EURO server, the organizers must use a website creation software that allow them to remain owner of the website data and that allows mirroring on the EURO server after the conference.

      3. The Organising Committee (OC)

        1. The Organising Committee (OC) is chaired by a local person and member of the organising Member Society. This society decides on the structure and membership of the OC.
        2. Use of Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) may be advisable, if the size of the conference is expected to be very large. The choice of the PCO and the relevant contract are the responsibility of the OC.
        3. The OC includes among its members the Chair of the Programme Committee (PC), EURO Manager, and EURO Vice President 1 called ex officio members. In order to minimise cost, the ex officio members do not, in general, attend meetings of the OC but receive papers and provide advice.
        4. The Chair of the OC shall maintain close cooperation with the EURO Vice President 1 and the Chair of the Programme Committee (PC). At least every three months the Chair of the OC will present to the EURO Vice President 1 a brief report on the status and the current activities concerning the preparation of the conference.
        5. Not later than six months after the conference the Chair of the OC shall present to the EURO Council a report to be put on the EURO website regarding the organisation of the conference.
        6. They shall also provide a financial report and updated budget to the EURO Vice President 1 in advance of each relevant EURO Executive Committee meeting (Jan/Jul) before the Conference, with a further report prepared by the start of the Conference.
        7. The final financial report shall be submitted not later than six months after the Conference.
        8. The OC is responsible for running all organising affairs, including:
          1. attracting potential sponsors;
          2. providing rooms and equipment for the conference, including rooms for meetings of the EURO Council, EURO Executive Committee, Journal Editors, Working Groups, future Programme Committees, and IFORS groups. All requirements will be advised by the EURO Manager;
          3. developing the conference website including contact information, information about social events and a registration platform which must be linked to the EURO Electronic Conference Abstract Submission System for the synchronization of registrations using the web API provided by EURO. The conference website is expected to be hosted on the EURO server. If it is not hosted on the EURO server, the organisers must use a website creation software that allow them to remain the owner of the website data and that allows mirroring on the EURO server after the conference. Since conference websites provide visibility and are an important means of communication with potential participants, it is recommended that the website containing basic information be made operational one year before the conference by the local organisers. Over time, the website is gradually improved by adding new information about the conference and later the possibility to submit abstracts and register;
          4. sustain a close contact with potential participants and to inform them about conference activities and dates by sending e-mails whenever it is appropriate;
          5. printing of the conference programme and digital access to the abstracts booklet; inserting certain EURO and IFORS material free of charge into conference bags;
          6. providing Internet access for free during the conference days;
          7. provision of food at lunch time and coffee beverages during the day;
          8. organisation of the opening and closing sessions in consultation with the EURO Manager;
          9. organisation of a social programme including the main social event (banquet), visits to tourist attractions, local entertainment events, etc. for the participants and accompanying persons;
          10. organisation of book and software exhibitions;
          11. providing a stand and space for EURO and IFORS exhibits free of charge;
          12. providing a stand and space for the host country OR Society exhibits free of charge;
          13. facilitating accommodation in different price categories for the participants.
          14. it is desirable to record the opening, closing and plenary sessions as well as the sessions with presentations of the EURO Excellence in Practice Award (EEPA) finalists, EURO Doctoral Dissertation Award (EDDA) finalists and EURO Prize for OR for the Common Good (EPOCG) finalists.
        9. Penalties. The omission of providing the registration information within three months, the omission of providing access to the Conference accounts and the final reports within six months allows EURO to apply large legal penalties to the due funds. Any controversy will be regulated where EURO is officially registered.

    3. The budget and other financial issues

      1. EURO provides a list of conference participants for which it will pay the registration fees (at the early registration rates). The speakers at the plenary and semi-plenary sessions, members of the Programme Committee (PC) and Organising Committee (OC) are excluded from paying the registration fees (covered by the conference budget). Students pay a reduced fee. EURO provides a loan of 10,000 € to the OC to cover the costs incurred before registration fees come in. The loan of 10,000 € is converted into a support of 10,000 € to meet the registration fees of participants from Eastern and Central Europe (weak currency countries) at the early registration rates. The decision on how to allocate this money is exclusive to the OC.
      2. The organising Member Society will remunerate EURO by paying a fee of 20 € per regular participant and 10 € per student participant to cover the required contribution to overheads as well as the use of the EURO Electronic Conference Abstract Submission System.
      3. In general, all other profits and losses would be shared equally (50% / 50%) between EURO and the host society. The host society may request different percentages in negotiation with EURO.
      4. The conference accounts have to be audited by an auditor appointed by EURO; typically the EURO Treasurer. The costs of the audit will be covered by EURO.
      5. The initial budget should present the development of the relevant positions of the main items for a low, medium and high level of attendance. These must include:
        1. Proposed conference fees for regular and student early and late fees (including VAT);
        2. Relevant costs, including:
          1. Rental and equipment of the conference site;
          2. Editing and printing of the abstract booklet and final programme;
          3. Organisation of meetings of the conference committees;
          4. Visit by EURO Vice-President 1, and possibly EURO Manager, in the Autumn preceding the Conference;
          5. Other organisational costs (mailing, secretariat, etc.).
        3. The following issues must be taken into account when preparing the initial budget:
          1. Reduced registration fees must be established for students and retired participants;
          2. EURO provides a list of conference participants for which it will pay the registration fees (at the early registration rates). The speakers at the plenary and semi-plenary sessions, members of the Programme Committee (PC) and Organising Committee (OC) are excluded from paying the registration fees (covered by the conference budget);
          3. EURO provides a loan of 10,000 € to the OC to cover the costs incurred before registration fees come in. The loan of 10,000 € is converted into a support of 10,000 € to meet the registration fees of participants from Eastern and Central Europe (weak currency countries) at the early registration rates. The decision on how to allocate this money is exclusive to the OC;
          4. The organising Member Society will remunerate EURO by paying a fee of 20 € per regular participant and 10 € per student participant to cover the required contribution to overheads as well as the use of the EURO Electronic Conference Abstract System;
          5. In general, all other profits and losses would be shared equally (50% / 50%) between EURO and the host society. The host society may request different percentages in negotiation with EURO;
          6. The system of payment of abstract deposits and registration fees and the location of the bank accounts receiving these fees are chosen by the OC after consultation with the EURO Treasurer. Payment via all major credit cards must be accepted and clearly announced;
          7. A final budget must be submitted to and approved by the EURO Executive Committee at least 12 months before the conference;
          8. Initial and final budgets should present the development of the relevant positions for a low, medium and high level of attendance. Significant changes between the initial and the final budget - in particular with respect to the conference fees - should be convincingly motivated and agreed to by the EURO Executive Committee.

    4. The Programme Committee (PC)

      1. All scientific matters related to a EURO-k Conference are regulated by the PC.
      2. The Programme Committee (PC) is chaired by a person appointed by the EURO Council, on the nomination of the EURO Executive Committee, coming from a different country to that in which the conference is organised. All other members of the PC are nominated by the PC Chair and must be approved by the EURO Executive Committee (EC).
      3. The Chair of the PC shall maintain close cooperation with the EURO Vice President 1 and the Chair of the OC.
      4. The PC includes among its members the Chair of the Organising Committee (OC), the Chair of the Programme Committee (PC) of the previous EURO-k Conference, the Chair of the Programme Committee (PC) of the next EURO-k Conference once appointed, the EURO Information Technologies Manager, the Advisor to EURO-k Conferences and EURO Vice President 1. Other members of the Committee are nominated by the Chair from different EURO Member Societies. The nominations should reflect the geographic and thematic diversity of Operational Research in Europe. They are to be approved by the EURO Executive Committee.
      5. The Programme Committee (PC) is responsible for all scientific matters including:
        1. running the Conference according to the theme, as confirmed by the EURO Council;
        2. preparation of the Scientific Programme of the Conference, including plenary, semi-plenary, parallel sessions and poster sessions;
        3. invitation of speakers for plenary and semi-plenary sessions;
        4. the assignment of papers to sessions and the scheduling of all sessions;
        5. provision in the programme of the opening and closing sessions, including the EURO Gold Medal award and EURO Distinguished Service Award;
        6. provision in the programme for parallel sessions accommodating the finalists of the EURO Excellence in Practice Award, the EURO Doctoral Dissertation Award, and the EURO Prize for OR for the Common Good. The one-presentation-per-registration regime will be overruled to the participants invited to these sessions;
        7. provision in the programme for activities proposed by the EURO forums. The one- presentation-per-registration regime does not apply to the participants invited to participate at those activities, with the understanding that each participant can give at most one presentation in each of these special activities;
        8. provision in the Programme for meetings of the EURO Council, EURO Executive Committee, Journal Editors, Working Groups, future Programme Committees, and IFORS groups. All requirements will be advised by the EURO Manager;
        9. preparation of the Call for Papers, the Invitation Programme and the Abstracts booklet;
        10. preparation of at least a special issue of a scientific journal;
        11. issuing daily any changes to the programme, etc.
      6. The PC should provide a minimum time slot of a semi-plenary lecture for the IFORS-EURO distinguished lecture (IEDL). It is the responsibility of the PC to eventually enlarge this slot in order to allow for a (full) plenary lecture. The IEDL should be selected in cooperation with the IFORS President;
      7. All possible modifications are permitted with the consent of the EURO Executive Committee.
      8. The Chair of the Programme Committee (PC) will be supported in pursuing their responsibilities by the members of the Programme Committee (PC)
      9. Each member of the PC is assigned a set of keywords and asked to invite scientists to organise streams and sessions in those keywords. A stream is usually defined to contain at least a given number of sessions within a thematic area. In its turn, each session usually will include four presentations (at least three). The degree of flexibility and the coordination among the stream organisers, session organisers, and PC members is at the authority of the PC and to be executed according to the joint decision of the PC members.
      10. The organisers of the EFO activities will be suggested by the EURO Executive Committee.
      11. The Coordinators of the EURO Working Groups are invited by the PC Chair to organize streams a month before the first open call for papers is issued.
      12. The PC members may empower the stream organisers to invite and accept presentations and to organise their invited sessions subject to their approval.
      13. Contributed paper presentations are welcomed and processed by the PC. Once they are accepted, either they are assigned to the right invited session in coordination with the related stream organiser or they are assigned to contributed sessions.
      14. The willingness and dedication of stream organisers play an important role in increasing participation and decreasing no-shows.
      15. Most of the work of the Committee shall be undertaken by correspondence.
      16. The visits of the EURO Vice President 1 and committee meetings will be financed from the conference budget. The Committees will hold at least two meetings:
        1. A meeting during the previous EURO-k conference or IFORS conference in order to agree on job splitting, the Programme outline and the draft Call for Papers;
        2. A second meeting to finalise the Programme.

    5. Publicity Relations

      In order to increase the number and quality of presentations, it is important to announce the conference early enough in an effective manner so as to create wide awareness in the global scientific community. The major task in an dissemination plan is to determine the proper timing and content of announcements. Usually preliminary announcements are prepared two years before the conference and calls for papers are prepared one year before the conference. They are distributed at different related conferences, mailed to EURO member societies, EURO Working groups, and universities. Posters are usually printed and mailed to different conference sites and universities as well. Electronic copies of these are made available on the EURO, and conference web-sites. The impact of personal efforts and personal contacs with key researchers should be considered as an important factor in increasing participation.

    6. Important Dates

      Although there are no general rules and the organisers have the full freedom and the authority to set these dates, based on the experiences of the last EURO-k conferences, main milestones in the conference organisation and recommended deadlines are given in the following table:

      1. Timetable of EURO-k Milestones

        Years before conference Activity Concerned Party
        4.0 Asking for bids VP1, member societies
        3.5 Site inspection. Selection of bids EC, VP1
        3.0 Presentation of bids member societies
          Acceptance of one of the bids EURO Council
        2.5 Selection of the PC chair member society, EC, VP1
        2.0 Appointment of the PC chair EURO Council
        1.5 Approval of PC members nominated by the PC chair EC, VP1, PC Chair
          Conference agreement PC and OC Chairs, member society, VP1, EURO Secretary, EURO President
          Preliminary PC meeting PC, VP1
        1.0 The operationalisation of the website OC, VP1
          2nd PC meeting PC, VP1
        0.5 3rd PC meeting PC, OC, VP1

      2. Conference due-dates

        (a) First call for papers A year before the conference (latest)
        (b) Abstract submission Sometime in March of the same year of the conference
        (c) Notification of acceptance (b) + 2 weeks
        (d) Early registration (c) + 2-3 weeks
        (e) Author registration (d) + 2-3 weeks (late April, early May)
        (f) Announcement of tentative conference programme Early June

        The organisers are advised to monitor the process closely and extend these dates whenever necessary depending on the response from the scientific community and global economic and socio-political factors.

    7. Preparing a bid for organising a EURO-k Conference

      1. A bid is submitted by a EURO Member Society to EURO VP1 at least 4 years before the conference and is presented by the OC Chair during the Council meeting 3 years before the Conference date. The bid is accepted by the Council.
      2. Site and time
        1. The site of a EURO-k Conference may be a suitable place in the country of a EURO Member Society. Costs should be kept as low as possible. For this, the conference is usually held in a university or an institution providing meeting rooms at minimum or no charge.
        2. The conference usually takes place in summer during the first half of July. Both the site and time of a EURO-k Conference are proposed by the organising Member Society.
        3. If another organisation, e.g., INFORMS, is to be involved as well, special protocols (to be endorsed by the EURO Council) have to be used.
      3. The bid should include the following information:
        1. Proposal of Organising Committee (OC) - see 2.3 for details
        2. The initial budget and other financial issues - see 3.5
        3. Information about the hosting society and their activities within EURO,
        4. Information about the hosting city: connectivity, accommodation, special advantages,
        5. Information about the venue: conference rooms and facilities,
        6. Proposition of the social program,

Letters of endorsement of the local authorities, university authorities or tourist organizations may be attached.

Please contact the EURO Vice President 1 ([email protected]) for further details.
Application form for a EURO-k Conference (.doc file)

[Latest guidelines approved April 2022]



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