Scientific Information

THE 9^th CONGRESS - HIGHLIGHTS

The 9^th Congress of the EGS will highlight a large range of clinical and scientific topics of highest interest which will be presented by international experts.
Lectures, scientific papers, session summaries, and discussions will be led by experienced moderators, basic courses for residents and advanced update courses will summarize newest aspects of clinical ophthalmology, and special scientific poster sessions and awards for the best presentations will be included.
As customary, a large proportion of the platform time will be reserved for discussion.
There will be ample opportunity to visit the Technical Exhibition and to liase with the representatives of the sponsoring companies. All participants will be able to enjoy coffee at any time provided at the different 'coffee-stations' all around the exhibition area.
The exhibition area is located in the Hall A and Hall B (mezzanine and ground floor) of Palacio De Congresos De Madrid, next to the registration area.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS - ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION UNTIL MAY 15^th, 2010 AT 5.00 PM LOCAL TIME (GMT +1)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The General Assembly will be held on Tuesday, September 14 in the Room Unesco at 8.00. Admission is only for members of the EGS Association.

COURSES

Similar to previous congresses, the 9^th Congress of the European Glaucoma Society will also incorporate daily teaching courses, which will be held in the afternoon in parallel meeting rooms. This will allow all delegates to 'pick and choose' between subjects of several courses, some with duplications to allow varied course programs for individual participants. Special courses for residents will cover the following topics:

how to examine record and recognise abnormality
how to perform laser operations
glaucoma surgery principles and procedures, techniques, complications, safer surgery

ATTENDANCE AT THE COURSES IS INCLUDED IN THE CONGRESS REGISTRATION.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

The official language of the European Glaucoma Society Conferences is English. All scientific communications will be presented in English. As usual fellow participants will help those who are not fluent in English and wish to join the discussion. The exchange of ideas and critical evaluation of all presentations is the main purpose of this meeting.
The Spanish Day on Friday will be conducted in the Spanish language. Delegates registered at the main meeting will not pay an additional registration fee.

PAPERS

At the meeting emphasis will be put on concise oral papers. Oral paper presentations are restricted to 7 minutes. Papers should concentrate on aims, results and conclusions rather than methodology (i.e. present the essence of a study). Each paper will be followed by a 7 min discussion. Session moderators will be given instructions on timekeeping for all oral paper presentations. The 5 abstracts selected each day for oral presentations will be awarded with a diploma.

POSTERS

Posters are at least as important as oral papers. They may be more suitable for special topics and for authors having difficulties in expressing themselves in the English. Posters are particularly helpful for communications which need to present methodological or morphological details, using fine drawings or photographs. Time will be scheduled both for discussions at the poster-site and for poster sessions (plenary-discussions of selected posters).

Further enquires about abstract submission should be addressed to the Scientific Secretariat c/o OIC at the following e.mail address: abstractegs2010@oic.it.

Deadline for submission of abstracts is: May 15^th, 2010, 5 p.m. local time (GMT +1).
Applicants will be informed by end of June of the acceptance of their submission.

Registration is mandatory for participation in the scientific sessions and for all oral and poster presenters.

INDUSTRY SYMPOSIA

Industry Symposia will be organized at lunchtime and in the late afternoons, from September 13nd to September 15th. They will allow Educational Partners to present their latest innovations and to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues during the offered lunches or cocktails.
For each symposium acknowledged leaders in the field of glaucoma will discuss their specialist subject. The chairmen, in conjunction with the Educational Partners, will develop themes giving a different emphasis to each one. However the programmes of the symposia have been compiled in close co-operation with the Committee.

CONGRESS PUBLICATIONS

Original unpublished articles may be published according to the preferences of the individual authors.

YOUNG INVESTIGATORS

The Scientific Committee especially wishes to stimulate young investigators from all European countries to present their work. In a limited number of cases where bona-fide financial problems prevent presentation of major research, the European Glaucoma Society may provide travel grants on application (see EGS Travel Fund below).

EGS TRAVEL FUND

The Organising Committee of the 9^th Congress of the European Glaucoma Society is pleased to announce availability of travel funds for young investigators, resident in Europe, who otherwise would be unable to attend the 9^th Congress. The objective of the EGS Travel Fund is to provide partial support for travel costs to Madrid for those young investigators (<40 years of age) who demonstrate potential for future significant research accomplishment and whose abstract has been accepted for presentation at the 9^th Congress. A limited number of grants will be available. Allocation will be based on quality of research and date of application.
Applicants for the Travel Fund should send a request by e.mail to the Organising Secretariat, attaching the CV and reasons of request, not later than April 30th, 2010. The request will be forwarded to EGS. Applicants will be notified before June 30th, 2010 of acceptance or non-acceptance of their travel grant application.

AUDIOVISUAL SUPPORT

Audiovisual support for oral sessions will be available in the plenary session Auditorium as follows:

Data projection facilities for computer generated presentations (Powerpoint). Powerpoint files must be submitted by e-mail or CD prior to the meeting and provided on a USB stick , a CD Rom, or other memory stick. Guidelines for the production of computer generated presentations will be supplied with confirmation of acceptance of your abstract
A laser pointer
An operator
No overhead projection will be available
No film-slide projection, VHS, Pal standard, or Betacam player will be available. However, videos can be included in your Powerpoint presentation.

For any presentation using MacIntosh files, please notify the Organizing Secretariat OIC before the congress.

GUIDELINES FOR POSTER PRESENTATION

The available space for each poster material will be 150 cm high x 90 cm wide including the space for title, author's name and institution. The posters will be displayed on panels. Mounting materials will be supplied by the Organizing Secretariat. The use of audiovisual equipment for posters is not accepted. Please note: When designing your poster please provide clear and concise data in large print that is legible from a distance of at least 1 meter.
Posters can be discussed at the poster site with the author during breaks. If accepted, your poster will be set up for one designated day, which will be confirmed by the Organizing Secretariat. It must be in place from the beginning of the sessions of the respective day in the morning and must be removed in the evening before the conference centre closure at 18.00 hours. The organisers will remove any poster left in place after this time.
The scientific committee will select a number of posters for presentation and discussion in a plenary session. If your poster is selected for this purpose, two powerpoint slides will be needed: 1) with title, authors, institutions, and 2) purpose/question and conclusions of the study.

EXHIBITION

From September 12^th to September 17th, the opening hours of the exhibition will correspond to the congress sessions. Further details will be provided in the website.

For further information please contact:

OIC s.r.l. Organizzazione Internazionale Congressi
Viale G. Matteotti, 7 - 50121 Firenze, Italy
Phone +39-055-50351
Fax +39-055-5001912
E-mail: industryegs2010@oic.it

CME DESIGNATIONS

The European Glaucoma Congress is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists. The EACCME is an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS), www.uems.net.

The number of credits assigned to the congress, CME questionnaire and possibility to print the certificate are available clicking here (e qui dovresti inserire di nuovo il link di cui sopra).
Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

EACCME credits are recognized by the American Medical Association towards the Physician's Recognition Award (PRA). To convert EACCME credit to AMA PRA category 1 credit, contact the AMA. Please note that the registration code, printed on your badge and on the CME instruction in your congress envelope, is necessary to access the CME questionnaire and printing of the certificate.

SMOKING POLICY

Please be informed that the 9^th EGS Congress is a non-smoking congress: No smoking will be allowed in the congress venue.

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS - Friday September 17th, 2010

Spanish Day

The Spanish-Iberoamerican-Portuguese (SIAP) Symposium will be held on September 17^th and will offer the possibility to attend both to basic or advanced level presentations, according to specific audience targets, and is addressed to ophthalmologists who want an exhaustive update in glaucoma in a half day session.

Lectures held by outstanding presenters coming from Latin America, Portugal and Spain will contribute different experience to enrich the symposium.

Debates will offer the possibility to actively participate in discussions.

Official language of the session is Spanish. No simultaneous translation is foreseen.

The symposium will have a separate CME application.

Applications will be accepted according to maximum capacity of the room.

Attendees at the main meeting do not need to pay additional registration fees for the Spanish Day, but need to notify intention to attend upon registration.

Special registration fees for only Spanish Day will be available soon on line.

For information on registration please see the registration page.

SIG's Special Interest Groups meetings

Friday, September 17th, 2010 will be dedicated to special activities :

Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings
User Groups
Specialized Workshops
National Glaucoma Groups

If you wish to organize any kind of parallel or user’s group meeting or workshop, the event will be accommodated on Friday September 17^th, depending on availability of meeting rooms and subject to EGS Scientific Committee approval. For each such proposal the Scientific Committee must be contacted through OIC providing the following minimum details - not later than April 30^th, 2010:

title
topics
names of speakers and moderators
expected audience size
details of the sponsor of the event
specific requirements

SOCIAL AND NETWORKING FUNCTIONS: These will be finalized shortly and included on the congress website.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACT PREPARATION

Experiments and data must be completed at the time of the abstract submission. Abstracts for papers already published or accepted before the 9^th EGS congress deadline will not be accepted. Scientific material submitted to the 2010 ARVO meeting are exempted from this rule; however this fact must be clearly indicated in the abstract. Only abstracts structured with PURPOSE, METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS each addressed separately will be reviewed. Abstracts lacking a description of study methodology and a quantitative description of data will not be accepted. Abstracts without a topic category indicated will not be reviewed. The Scientific Programme Committee aims for 'to the point' informative abstracts. Extensive presentations overloaded with details should be avoided.

Multiple submissions of the same topic on different abstracts will be rejected. The Abstract must be written in English.

RULES FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Abstracts should be previously unpublished work at the time of presentation.
Abstracts are accepted online through the website only. Abstracts may not be submitted by e-mail. The abstract submission form is available from December 15^th, 2009 5:00 p.m. local time (Italy) through May 15^th, 2010 on the website.
Abstract length is limited to 3000 characters, including the title, authors (maximum of 1 First Author, 10 Co-authors or a Study Group), institutions, and the abstract body. The submission program will tell you how many characters you have used or whether you are over the limit. Tables and graphics can be sent as attached file to the web page upon submission.
At no time may the Organizing Secretariat Staff make any changes to abstracts: you may submit a revised version of your abstract only from December 15^th, 2009 through May 15^th, 2010, 5:00 p.m. local time (Italy). You will need the login and password to re-access your abstract. Your login and password are e-mailed to you at the time you start your abstract.
An individual may be First Author (i.e., Presenting Author) of only one abstract. The Presenting Author's name must be the first author, and is allowed to present only one abstract. There is no limit to the number of times an individual may appear as co-author on abstracts. First Authors are expected to be the individuals who will attend the Meeting and make the paper or poster presentation. Authors who are unable to attend and make their presentation as scheduled must notify the Organizing Secretariat OIC and withdraw their abstract at abstractegs2010@oic.it.
All accepted abstracts are assigned to either a paper or poster presentation at the discretion of the EGS Scientific Committee. Taking into consideration your presentation preference, the Scientific Committee reviews all abstracts and determines whether an abstract is suitable for a oral paper or a poster session. It is the policy of EGS that abstracts must be submitted with the intention that, if selected, they will be presented in either form. Do not submit an abstract if you do not intend to present it at the Congress yourself. Once programmed, abstract presentation times and locations cannot be changed.
The Scientific Committee reserves the right to reject abstracts.
All abstracts are reviewed by the Scientific Committee. The reviewing process is strictly confidential and all reviewers have agreed to the following: "I understand the confidential nature of the abstracts, and I will not discuss their contents with any individual, nor will I make copies of abstracts for my own or others' use. In addition, I will not review any abstracts where conflict of interest may be perceived, i.e., work on which I have authored or co-authored or work completed in laboratories where I work."
Note: When selecting a Reviewing Code, please choose carefully. The Reviewing code you select will determine which Scientific Section your abstract will be destined to. A two-letter Section identifier is attached to each Reviewing Code.
If the first author is unable to present, he or she must send a written withdrawal to the Organizing Secretariat at abstractegs2010@oic.it. There is no charge for withdrawal of an abstract.
Note: For abstracts withdrawn after 5:00 pm EST, May 15^th, 2010 the entire abstract will appear in the Congress publications.
Full text of all abstracts selected for presentation and publication will be available on the EGS Website from July 15^th, 2010
In order to publish the text of the abstract on the website and on the final programme, the First Author is asked to fill in the online ‘Commercial Relationships Policy Form’, upon abstract submission.

Final Programme

Claim your CME points
DEADLINE OCTOBER 27, 2010