Call for Proposals

DEADLINE: February 15, 2023, 12:00 PM (noon) ET

The AOAC INTERNATIONAL Technical Programming Council (TPC) invites AOAC members and other interested individuals to submit proposals for the scientific sessions that will be offered at the 137th Annual Meeting & Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, August 25 – 30, 2023. Individual papers and requests to chair sessions will also be considered.

AOAC is planning for a limited hybrid Annual Meeting in New Orleans. However, all scientific sessions will be in-person and will NOT be recorded. AOAC will send out acceptance/rejection letters in early March 2023. Once a proposal is accepted, all participants must pre-register for the Annual Meeting. Because there is only a limited budget for travel funding, most participants are responsible for their travel and lodging expenses.

Developing Your Proposal

The TPC is seeking sessions that cover a variety of timely analytical science and food safety topics, particularly emerging issues that pose a significant challenge for our stakeholder communities. AOAC’s Analytical Solutions Forum, New Initiatives, and Integrated Science Programs all provide a great starting point when considering topics of interest. The TPC’s goal is to provide a meeting program that balances technical topics with broad scientific ideas and opportunities while also maintaining continuity with AOAC’s current integrated programs.

To develop well-rounded proposals, consider the following questions:

• Why is this topic relevant to AOAC members and stakeholder communities?
• What is the challenge being faced and what is the impact presented by this challenge?
• Who is affected and what is the risk i.e., public health risk, regulatory components?
• What analytical solutions are on the horizon for this topic?

Though the TPC will consider proposals in a wide range of topic areas, the following areas are of particular interest as related to analytical science and food safety:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Remote sensing and the Internet of Things (IoT)
• Reference materials: Parameters for development and availability and their importance in method development
• Validation, laboratory operation, and proficiency testing
• Quality testing programs: Filling the gap between official method adoption and proficiency testing
• Risk management, risk assessment, and risk analysis
• Pet food and animal feed: Impact on microbial and chemical contaminants and the analytical challenges they present
• Agricultural practices and their connection to naturally occurring contaminants
• Metagenomic applications for environmental surveillance and risk assessment
• Traditional microbiological challenges: integrating traditional bacteriological techniques with emerging technologies,
• Complementary chemical and microbiological applications
• International food safety updates: Emerging challenges from policy, risk, and regulatory drivers e.g., CODEX, EFSA, AFDO, AAFCO, AAPFCO, and other internationally recognized regulatory bodies
• Analytical developments in the analysis of botanical ingredients, dietary supplements and related commodities
• Advances in methodology for the detection/enumeration of viruses and parasites in foods
• Environmental, Industrial and Processing Contaminants in Food:  PFAS, Heavy Metals, Acrylamide, and Bioassays for testing endocrine activity
• Food additive safety: Color additives from natural sources and Trans Fatty Acids, Cannabis and Hemp
• Food Safety and Food Security: Approaches to methods that analyze for Novel Foods, Alternative Protein Sources, and Probiotics, Food Authenticity; Food allergens, gluten, and formula

Logging In to the CATALYST Website

Once you click one of the submission links below, you will be taken to a CATALYST login page. This login information is NOT linked to your AOAC Membership login.

If you were a submitter last year, log in with your username and password from last year. Your username is your email address. If your email address has changed since last year (new employer, for example), do not use your previous email; you will need to set up a new account.

Creating a New Account

To set up a new account or create an account for the first time, select ‘Create New Account’. Check your email inbox for a confirmation of your new account. From this email message, click “Confirm Account” to finish creating your account.

Submit a Scientific Session Proposal

All scientific sessions at the 2023 Annual Meeting will be 90 minutes in length. Typically, a session is composed of three to five speakers. All proposals will be reviewed by the TPC members.

How to Submit

Within the submission site, provide the following information:

• Session title
• Brief abstract of the session
• Up to three session categories
• The Chair(s)’s contact information

If the session is a symposium, provide the name, affiliation, and presentation title for each presenter.

If the session is a roundtable or workshop, provide the name and affiliation for each presenter.

If you do not complete all the fields, the proposal will not be reviewed by the TPC.

Submit a scientific session proposal >

Submit an Individual Paper Proposal

Individual paper proposals will be reviewed by the TPC members and, if accepted, your proposal will be grouped with other accepted proposals to form a 90-minute scientific session. Typically, a session is composed of three to five speakers. If the individual proposal is not accepted as part of a 90-minute scientific session, the TPC encourages submitters to submit the proposal to the 2023 Call for Posters that opens in April 2023.

How to Submit

Within the submission site, provide the following information:

• Presentation title
• Brief abstract of the presentation
• Up to three paper categories
• Contact information

If you do not complete all the fields, the proposal will not be reviewed by the TPC.

Submit an individual paper proposal >

Submit a Request to Chair a Scientific Session

Chair request proposals will be reviewed by the TPC members and, if accepted, you will chair a scientific session created by the TPC from the accepted individual paper proposals that were grouped together.

How to Submit

Within the submission site, provide the following information:

• Contact information
• Up to three areas of expertise

If you do not complete all the fields, the proposal will not be reviewed by the TPC.

As chair of a session, you will be responsible for collaborating with the session presenters to create a session abstract. You will also be responsible for updating the CATALYST submission site with this information, as well as all administrative updates to the session, including co-author information.

Submit a request to chair a scientific session >

Once proposals and individual papers are approved, all session conveners will work in concert with the TPC and AOAC science program leadership to coordinate with all speakers identified.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL scientific sessions are designed to focus on new, updated, and emerging topics of analytical science. Presentations should not be of a commercial nature. (Exhibitors have opportunities to present sponsored sessions that can focus on proprietary topics.) Excessive use of brand, company, product, logo, or trade names is not permitted, and occurrences of such use may affect participation in future meetings.

No scientific sessions offered by AOAC INTERNATIONAL are to be used for commercial sales or presentations by authors or presenters without authorization from AOAC INTERNATIONAL. The TPC will give preference to submissions that provide educational benefits to a wide array of stakeholders.

Submissions will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to current AOAC topic areas
• Originality of topic and speakers
• Appropriate breadth and depth for a 90-minute session or 15-minute presentation
• Educational content
• Scientific novelty