WINTER CONFERENCE ON BRAIN RESEARCH

Scientific Submissions

Diversity in Science

The Winter Conference on Brain Research supports diversity in science – we strive to make biomedical science careers accessible to people of all backgrounds, enhance participation of diverse populations in clinical studies, and bring various research questions into the scientific community. We recognize that diversity takes many forms: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability status, professional seniority, type of home institution, scientific background, scientific approach (methods), financial background (e.g. qualified for federal grants in college), educational background (e.g. first generation college students or high school experiences absent of Advanced Placement, Honors, or International Baccalaureate programs), and others. Winter Brain also encourages submissions that report work with multiple levels of investigation from basic to clinical.

Photography and Videography Policy

Winter Brain does not allow photography of oral presentations, slides, and/or posters without permission from the presenter. At the beginning of the presentation, the presenter must either grant permission to the audience and/or include an icon on the first slide or poster signifying photos are allowed. No videography by attendees is allowed at oral presentations, slides, and/or posters.

Scientific Session Descriptions

Panels, Short Courses & Workshops – Opening July 1, 2025

Everyone is welcome to submit panel, short course, workshop and/or poster proposals, including first-time attendees at any academic level! We especially encourage submissions from junior investigators and trainees. To facilitate the process of creating panel proposals we have a Panel Interest Form, where you can provide your contact information, topic of interest for a panel presentation, and your desired role (Chair, Co-Chair, Presenter). Note that potential Chairs and Co-Chairs can also be a Presenter in a panel. Please use the Panel Interest Form to advertise your intent in going to Winter Brain and to look for others to join your panel proposal. Please click here to view submission guidelines and instructions.

Panels should have a cohesive theme and cover a cutting-edge aspect of Neuroscience. Presentations that span multiple levels of analysis and/or have translational themes are highly encouraged. Durations are 1.5 or 2 hours. Each panel must have a chair and a minimum of 3 speakers. 1.5 hour panels typically consist of 3-4 speakers. 2 hour panels typically consist of 4 speakers, but can include up to 6. A co-chair is optional.

Short Courses should introduce a topic or technique to non-experts, addressing its foundations, strengths, and limitations. There should be ample time for questions, and opportunities for hands on participation are encouraged. They are 1.5 hours with 3-4 speakers.

Workshops are intended to bring people in a field together to discuss, more informally, controversial ideas and findings. To encourage discussion in this format, slide presentations should be limited (1-5 per panelist) and more audience participation should be expected. They are typically 1.5 hours with at least 4 panelists.

Panel, Short Course, Workshop Chairs* – You will create an overall session proposal. *If you are also speaking in the panel, you must also add yourself as a PRESENTER.

This proposal includes:

Overall panel title
Theme(s)
Presenter names and emails
Overall panel abstract (2000-character limit)
3-5 keywords that are highly relevant to the panel topic (to help facilitate review and avoid scheduling overlap)
Diversity statement (Diversity takes many forms: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability status, professional seniority, type of home institution, scientific background, financial background, educational background, etc. Diversity can also refer to multiple levels of analysis and including basic, clinical, and translational research approaches in a panel proposal)
Your participants will receive a notification to provide their presentation title and complete their financial disclosure once they have been added to the proposal. Your session proposal is not complete until all participants have submitted their title and disclosure. It is your responsibility as Chair to confirm these tasks are completed before the deadline.

Once a Panel, Short Course or Workshop is accepted, speaker changes must be approved by the Program Chair. It is not preferred to include multiple presenters from the same institution in a panel unless there are special circumstances justified by the science. This must be explained in the submission.

Your participants will receive a notification to provide their presentation title and complete their financial disclosure once they have been added to the proposal. Your session proposal is not complete until all participants have submitted their title and disclosure.

Panel, Short Course & Workshop Participants – Please login and submit your presentation title and full disclosure when notified. Please do not start a new panel submission.

Poster Submissions – Opening July 1, 2025

Poster abstracts must be submitted by the presenting author. Poster submission website instructions are below.

This proposal includes:

Title
Theme(s)
Abstract (2000 character limit)
Co-authors full names, affiliations, emails
Diversity statement (Diversity takes many forms: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, disability status, professional seniority, type of home institution, scientific background, financial background, educational background, etc. Diversity can also refer to multiple levels of analysis and including basic, clinical, and translational research approaches)
Financial disclosure

There will be a special poster session on Wednesday for the highest ranked poster abstracts by junior investigators. These posters may be eligible for awards given at the Thursday banquet, therefore, please plan to attend the banquet. Please note: Poster Awards are different from the Poster Travel Fellows. Poster Awards are made based on judging during the Wednesday evening poster session, whereas Poster Travel Fellowships are made based on applications submitted on this site by the Travel Fellows deadline (September 11).

Winter Brain panels and posters are for educational purposes only. The use of any advertising, trade names, or product-group message association is prohibited; this rule will be strictly enforced.

Poster Awards – Eligibility

Eligible scientists must be within 10 years since receipt of Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent advanced degree, or be in a program leading to such a degree.

Extensions of this time limit will be considered for candidates with special circumstances (e.g. a documented leave-of-absence to care for family members, etc).
Previous winners of Poster Awards are eligible for an award in subsequent years, but will not receive more than one free registration.

What the Poster Award provides:

Poster Award Winners will receive a Certificate of Recognition from the Winter Brain
Winners receive one free registration to a future Winter Brain meeting (valid for 3 years)
Note that there is a cap on one free registration for a poster award, and two free registrations for any combination of Travel Fellowships and Poster Awards

SPECIAL NOTE
A person will be able to submit up to two panels and/or two posters (maximum four abstracts). A person submitting a poster must be the presenter of that poster, but there is no limit on the number of posters for which he or she is a contributing author.

Abstracts should include the full title and full author/presenter names and affiliations. Please be sure all special characters display correctly in the file, and refrain from using ALL CAPS or all lowercase letters. Abstract bodies should not exceed 2,000 characters (including spaces).

Questions? Please contact Winter Brain (info@winterbrain.org).