The call for Expressions of Interest to host the OSM and YSM in 2029 is open
Held every four years, PAGES’ Open Science Meeting (OSM) and Young Scientist Meeting (YSM) are the premier events in PAGES’ calendar and provide an invaluable opportunity to bring the past global change community together from around the world to share, discuss, learn, and plan for the future. The deadline to send in an Expressions of Interest (EoI) is 18 September.
OSM/ YSM 2029
The meetings should be held in 2029, preferably in the first half of the year. The exact dates are open, but should ideally be scheduled to promote sufficient participation.
PAGES is committed to ensuring geographical diversity of its paleoscientific community. In 2025, the OSM/YSM will be held in China (Asia), in 2021 Morocco (Africa) and in 2017 in Spain (Europe). For this reason, while the SSC welcomes any EoI, they are particularly interested in receiving EoI’s in the American time zones for 2029.
Meeting format:
The YSM usually runs for two days and is followed by the Open Science Meeting (OSM), which usually runs for four days.
The YSM has a size of ~100 participants.
The OSM should be able to cater for up to 1000 participants onsite, as well offering an online option (hybrid).
As an Earth system science organization, PAGES is committed to reducing its carbon footprint in any way possible. For this reason, bids that propose alternative formats aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of participants, without impacting networking opportunities too much, are welcome.
General requirements for both events are as follows:
YSM: A secluded venue/location (retreat-like) would be ideal, to encourage interactions and networking between the participants.
OSM: A venue large enough to accommodate the entire group for plenary sessions is required. We would also like to organize parallel sessions, requiring that the venue can offer several meeting rooms for ~200 people. It is also expected that several smaller meetings and workshops, including the PAGES Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) meeting, will take place before and after the OSM. Furthermore, we need dedicated space for poster sessions and a field for the PAGES Soccer Cup, a sporting event which takes place at each OSM.
Submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI)
The bidding process will take place in two stages. Expressions of interest (EoI) are due on 18 September 2024. The SSC will then invite a shortlist of selected potential hosts to submit a full bid by the end of 2024. The winning bid will be announced at the OSM 2025 in Shanghai, China.
To submit an EoI, please briefly outline how your venue(s) could meet the requirements and why the local organizing team is well suited to organize the event (not more than four pages). At this point it is important to give the SSC enough detail to decide if a full bid should be invited.
Email your expression of interest as a single PDF to pages@pages.unibe.ch by 18 September 2024.
For more information, please contact Chené van Rensburg (chene.vanrensburg@unibe.ch) at the PAGES IPO.
Suggested items for Expression of Interest applications:
At this point it is not necessary to provide full details, but rather to give the SSC enough detail to decide if a full bid should be invited. The EoI should not exceed four pages but should not simply be a bullet-point list.
Venue
• Meeting venue details such as city, location, size, cost, details of auditorium, poster hall, meeting rooms for parallel sessions, AV facilities (including streaming, recording, etc.), alternative meetings formats, for both meetings
• Travel access (proximity to airport, trains etc.)
• Accommodation options, such as capacities, prices, distance to venue, details of transport options to the venue, hostels or student accommodation
• Possible dates in 2029 when the YSM/OSM could be held
• Options for participants with disabilities
• Options for childcare, if available
People
• Scientists and organizations who will serve as hosts
• Potential for getting administrative staff support and onsite helpers (e.g. students)
• Coordinator’s contact details (name, affiliation, email, phone)
• Potential benefit to the national and local paleoscience community
Organizational support
• Would you be able and willing to organize the registration process? Would you use a meeting organizing company?
Other Information
• Any other information relevant to your application (sustainability, letters of support)