The plenary sessions are the most prestigious sessions of the conference. These are exhaustive reviews of major subjects and state of the art techniques within the specialty, addressed to all participants. Speakers in plenary sessions are invited and are among the most renowned in their field of expertise.

Plenary sessions are scheduled at “prime time” in the programme, unopposed to other activities in order to achieve maximal attendance.

The symposia are sessions in which invited speakers share new results on a given topic with other researchers. The aim is to reflect and compare data with other perhaps contradictory results and to discuss new hypotheses and concepts for further research with well established colleagues.

In every concurrent symposium four to six 25-minute lectures (including discussion time) will be presented, that provide an update and understanding of new developments and innovations in a certain area.

Workshops are sessions in which the speakers are expected to share with the audience their personal experience in a field, either clinical or basic. These sessions are addressed to participants who wish to acquire practical knowledge on a specific subject, and therefore an interactive discussion during or at the end of the workshop is expected.

Posters are numerically the major scientific presentations of the meeting. Posters will be presented live at the conference venue and offer an excellent opportunity for people interested in a particular topic to meet and exchange ideas and network with other researchers. Posters should NOT be used to advertise a product or service. Like a paper, a poster abstract should detail the focus of the presentation and the way(s) in which it contributes to the body of knowledge in its field. The four 1-hour slots marked “Poster Viewing with Authors” in the programme should be used for communication and interaction with the poster authors, who are requested to be at their posters at these times. Posters will generally be on display during the whole conference for free poster viewing. Posters bearing a rosette have received a high score during the peer review process and are considered the best posters submitted by early career scientists. These posters are candidates for the ISHG poster awards.

Participation at these sessions is only possible for in-person participants.