The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) partners with regional organisers and other associations each year to host events on a range of topics and in a variety of locations.
We welcome proposals for focused meetings, webinars and training workshops on any subject relevant to the discipline of Pharmacology. You can find the event proposal form at the end of this page, but please read our guidance below before submitting.
Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis and you will receive feedback within four weeks of submission.
Event topics
Event topics should be at the cutting-edge of research and present a broad overview across the drug discovery pathway (i.e., pre-clinical, clinical and industrial perspectives) and have wide appeal to both BPS members (pre-clinical, clinical and industrial scientists) and non-members. Some examples of topics that we would particularly welcome proposals on are:
- Artificial Intelligence in:
- Drug Discovery
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Drug re-purposing
- Drug interactions
- New drug modalities e.g.:
- Gene therapy
- RNA
- Antibody
- PROTACs
- New Approaches to Mental Health Disorders
- Sustainable Medicines and Climate emergency
Event delivery
Events can be a focused meeting, webinar or training workshop. They can be held in-person, fully online or hybrid (both in-person and online). Any final decision on how an event will be delivered will be made by the Meetings Committee.
Meeting Chair(s)
It is expected that the proposer(s) of an event will commit to assume the role of Chair of the Meeting and work closely with the BPS Meetings and Events Team to deliver the event. View our guidance for what is involved in this role. Meeting Chairs are also expected to adhere to the Society’s Code of Conduct for Members and Code of Conduct for Events.
Location and venue
For in-person events, the BPS Meetings and Events Team will work with you to identify a suitable venue in terms of cost of hire, transport connections, and the strength of the local scientific community (i.e. within or proximal to an academic institution and/or industrial laboratories) to maximise attendance.
Other things to consider
When preparing a proposal, you should consider the following questions:
- Is the topic novel, cutting edge, of broad appeal and likely to attract a good-sized audience?
- Is there potential for incorporating open oral sessions for ECRs to broaden scope and facilitate wider engagement?
- Is there potential for incorporating a training event as part of the meeting (before, during or after)? If so, can you suggest the topic?
- Is there potential to submit a perspective and breaking research articles for rapid publication in one of the Society Journals?
- Can you identify a Scientific Committee to oversee the programme?
- Can you suggest organisations who would sponsor or pay to exhibit at the meeting?
- Can you time your meeting to fall within breaks between academic calendar (i.e., between semesters) to ensure all staff and ECRs are free to attend?
- Does the proposed timing of the meeting clash with any other meetings in this or a related discipline?
- Will you be able to promote attendance from outside the BPS using your academic, clinical and/or industrial networks?
Note: The BPS Meeting and Events team can help with identifying potential sponsors.
This document has been developed by the British Pharmacological Society, in order to:
- Fairly and transparently make decisions on wide-ranging proposals from different proposers
- Reduce the administrative burden on Society staff by capturing all requirements from the start
- Enable the British Pharmacological Society's Committees to review and respond to proposals promptly
- Enable the Society and the Meeting and Events team to review proposals based on relevance to the educational and developmental needs of members as well as relation to other Society activities
If successful, details of any budget that has been allocated to the event and a timeline of planning meetings and activities will be shared with the proposer.
If you have any questions, please contact meetings@bps.ac.uk