Call for Special Sessions

The BioCAS 2010 technical program will include special sessions. Their objective is to complement the regular program with new or emerging topics of particular interest to the biomedical circuits and systems community that may also cut across and beyond disciplines traditionally represented at BioCAS. Special sessions in line with the conference theme “Smart Hybrid Biosystems” are especially welcome.

Prospective organizers of special sessions should submit proposals indicating:

• Title of the session

• Rationale for the special session at BioCAS. The rationale should stress the novelty of the topic and /or its multidisciplinary flavor, and must explain how it is different from the subjects covered by the regular papers

• Short biography of the organizer(s)

• List of five (5) contributed papers (including titles, authors, contact information of the corresponding author). It is recommended that the first paper be a tutorial in the field, of overview character, in order to introduce a non-specialist audience to the subject.

Proposals are due on or before 18 June 2010 and should be sent via e-mail (in either pdf or plain ascii text form) to the Special Sessions chairs, Sandro Carrara, EPFL, Switzerland (sandro.carrara@epfl.ch) or Andrew Mason, Michigan State University, USA (mason@msu.edu). Proposals will be evaluated based on the timeliness of the topic, the qualifications of the organizers and the authors of the papers proposed in the session. Sessions dealing with emerging technologies or sessions whose subjects cut across fields represented at BioCAS will be preferred.

Notification of acceptance will be sent to the organizers by 25 June 2010. Authors of papers included in successful proposals should submit a manuscript on or before 2 July 2010. Manuscripts should conform to the formatting and electronic submission guidelines of regular papers. They will undergo peer review. It is the responsibility of the organizers to ensure that their Special Session meets the BioCAS quality standards. If, at the end of the review process, less than four (4) papers are accepted, the session will be cancelled and the accepted papers will be moved to regular sessions.

Special sessions - important deadlines:
Special session proposals due: 18 June 2010
Notification of acceptance (special session proposals): 25 June 2010
Submission of full four-page papers for Special sessions: 2 July 2010
Notification of paper acceptance: 27 August 2010
Deadline for submission of final papers: 17 September 2010