Workshop Organizer Information

Workshop Organizer Timeline

The Simons Center follows a strict timeline to have efficient and successful workshops.  Please see the chart below for a general timeline for organizing a workshop.

 

SCGP Workshop Organizer Timeline

Activity

Deadline

Submit workshop proposal to the Simons Center Scientific Advisory Committee. For complete instructions on how to apply to organize a workshop at SCGP, please see our Call for Proposals webpage. Workshop proposals are considered by the Scientific Advisory Committee twice a year, in October and February.  The final deadline for workshop proposals for 2024-25 is January 31, 2024, but we also welcome workshop proposals for 2024-2025 submitted by September 30, 2023. There may be a possibility to approve an additional workshop for late Spring 2024, if an application is submitted by September 30, 2023.
Use organizer budget excel spreadsheet (provided to you by SCGP) to create a list of invitees and their support offer. 9 months prior to workshop start date, or as soon as possible after your workshop proposal is approved. First round of invitations sent out.
Online web applications to participate in the workshop are open. Deadline for the first round of invited participants. 6 months prior to workshop start date.
Second round of invitations are sent out. 5 months prior to workshop start date.
Deadline for all invited participants to respond, and for organizers to review online web applications. Workshop application removed from the SCGP website.  The program poster is created, posted online, and sent to all confirmed participants. 3 months prior to workshop start date.
Submit a schedule of talks, titles and abstracts using the provided spreadsheet. 1 month prior to workshop start date.
The final workshop program is posted online, including any missing information. 1 week prior to workshop start date.

Workshop Quick Facts

SCGP expects all proposed workshop organizers to be physically present at SCGP for the entire week.

As an organizer, you will receive a workshop budget excel spreadsheet, which will be used to create the invitation list. Here is some important information regarding the budget excel:

  • There are invitee information columns to fill out: first name, last name, email, institution, and region. Please include yourselves, as organizers, in this excel.
  • There are 2 financial columns for you to fill out, travel and housing. Please put a “1” in the respective column if you wish to support travel or housing. If you do not, please put a “0”. For example, some people may be offered both travel and housing while some will only be offered housing (we require housing for participants- unless local). It is recommended to offer only housing to most invitees so that you can have more participants in your workshop. FYI: Housing coverage is 1 hotel room at single occupancy for up to 6 nights; Travel offer is reimbursement for travel between the participant’s  home institution and Stony Brook up to a maximum of $700 from the U.S./Canada, $1100 from Europe, and $1600 from Africa/Asia/Australia/New Zealand/South America.
  • The cost of meals (breakfast, coffee break, lunch, and tea time) is included for all participants (“1”). This has been filled out for you already, as well as the number of days (6). The banquet cost has already been set aside.
  • The estimated total cost will be at the bottom of the sheet. Next to this number will be “budget acceptable” or “over budget.”
  • Detailed information on travel costs by region, housing, and meals can be seen on the second (locked, uneditable) tab.
  • If an invitee is only offered housing (no travel) but cannot attend without travel support, they will have the option to apply for financial assistance for travel. The deadline to apply for financial assistance and respond to the invitation will be the same as the deadline for the application to the workshop (for those who were not invited originally by the organizers). After this deadline, the list of all applicants will be forwarded to the organizers for discussion. Based on the workshop budget, you can potentially invite more people.

Online Web Applications/Travel Financial Aid

  • The Simons Center accepts applications for workshops via our webpage here. There is a section in this application for requesting financial aid.
  • The deadline to apply is three months before the workshop. At this time, the online application will be closed, and the list of applicants will be given to the organizers. The organizers can invite any of the applicants with or without funding, within the workshop budget.

Schedule of the Workshop

One month before the workshop, the organizers should provide a list of speakers among the confirmed workshop participants, by filling out one of the two workshop schedule templates sent to you; you may choose to have a free afternoon on Friday or Wednesday, in which case please leave the corresponding talk slots open; you can also use a talk slot to schedule a discussion session, if appropriate.

Please note that there are 4-5 hour long talks per day for the workshop schedule. See sample HERE.

If for scientific reasons you prefer a completely different schedule, please discuss this in advance with the SCGP Deputy Director, so that the talk schedule is still ready one month before your workshop.

Workshop Invitation

Coordinator will go over the invitation language with you prior to inviting participants.  Please see sample HERE.

Final Steps: 

  • One month prior to the workshop, the schedule must be finalized, including talk titles and abstracts. The schedule will be available online and sent to all participants, together with other practical information the week before the workshop starts. Any talk titles and abstracts not provided by this point will have to remain listed as “not provided”. This will give sufficient time for any last- minute adjustments.
  • SCGP will set up a registration table for the arriving workshop participants. This table will have the name badges for participants (which they use to receive meals); Workshop schedules, campus and area maps, and bus schedules, if relevant, will be available. Reimbursement instructions will be sent via email. Reimbursements are processed at the conclusion of the workshop.  Photos of participants will be taken for the website and security purposes only.

Upon Conclusion of Your Workshop:

One week after the conclusion of your academic activity at the Center, we kindly ask that you submit a final report detailing your workshop academic achievements, including, but not limited to, a formal summary of your workshops participants, key lectures and/or topics, and the research results or continuing collaborations. To submit your formal report, please visit: https://scgp.stonybrook.edu/programworkshop-final-report