1. Contact the ABS Senior Program Officer informally (via email) to make sure that there are no potential conflicts.
2. Contact possible participants and get their tentative agreement to participate.
3. Prepare a proposal, using the guidelines suggested below.
4. Finally, submit the proposal to the current ABS Senior Program Officer.

Definitions:
A symposium should be a profound and stimulating review of an important subject area that currently is a major focus of research. It should be a thorough treatment of past work and current research advances. Organization is important; there should be a synthesis of ideas and a clear interconnection between the presentations. Participants must be informed that individual papers should NOT emphasize original data, experimental protocol or particular research results; the goal is to achieve an overview and synthesis. The symposium should be of general interest to the majority of ABS members.

An invited paper session is a special grouping of papers that focus upon empirical results relating to a particular topic. Usually there is no all-encompassing historical-theoretical perspective, although the organizer(s) may wish to summarize the individual papers or arrange them according to some theme.

Proposal format:

1. Begin with a statement of the importance of the topic, the scope to be covered and the goals of the session; note how the individual papers interconnect.
   
2. List the participants, with departmental and institutional affiliations and phone numbers.
   
3. List titles for the individual talks and give a brief summary (one-fourth to one half page) of each contribution, as written by the authors.
   
4. Provide a brief bibliography of relevant work in the area and by the participants.
   
5. Describe the structure of the session. Consult a past program to see how symposia are usually scheduled. Typically, 25 min is allowed for each speaker’s presentation, followed by 5 min of discussion. Extra time is usually allowed for a short (15 min) general introduction, and for a more lengthy (30 min) final discussion period. One constraint on the total time allotted for each presentation should be in units of 15 min (e.g., 30 or 45 min, but not 20 min), so that meeting participants can move freely between invited and regular paper sessions.
6. Describe and justify any intended audio- or video-taping of the special session. Such recording must be cleared in advance by the ABS Executive Committee.
   
7. Include information on any possible plans for publication in the proposal. Such publicatoin is optional.
   

You may also wish to consider presenting a symposium at the annual meeting of the SICB. The SICB holds its meetings at the end of December in various regions of the country. The SICB Division of Animal Behavior is responsible for providing on symposium each year. Advantages of this route are possible publication in the American Zoologist, possible financial support from SICB, and a relatively diverse audience. If you are interested in this option, contact the ABS Program Officer.

Organizers of special sessions may also wish to contact other possible funding sources, including the National Science Foundation, NIH and the ADAMHA Small Grant Program (Room 10104 Parklawn Bldg, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857). Grant funds for symposia will not be easy to obtain. Such applications are in competition with other categories of applications to these agencies for funds available in any given year. There is no agency whose specific charge is to fund such special sessions. Establishing direct contact with personnel at the agency to obtain current information and to seek advice is essential in such endeavors.