Research Abstracts

The International Neuroethics Society (INS) and Società Italiana di Neuroetica (SINe) invite students, researchers, and professionals from around the world to submit research abstracts to be considered for Neuroethics 2025. The conference includes opportunities to participate virtually or in-person in Munich, Germany, on April 23-25, 2025.

Research may align with the meeting’s theme — Neuroethics at the Intersection of the Brain and Artificial Intelligence — but this is not required. We welcome research that addresses any topic or issue related to neuroethics and the ethical, legal, clinical, social, and policy considerations raised by brain sciences and technology.

Authors with an accepted research presentation abstract will be invited to either present a poster or give a talk — given in-person or virtually, depending on availability and type of presentation. See the research presentation formats for complete details and expectations.

Submit

The submission deadline has passed. All authors should have received a confirmation email now. If you did not receive one, contact INS staff by email <staff@neuroethicssociety.org>.

Deadlines

The final deadline has passed.

This year, for the first time, we will have a main priority deadline and a later final deadline. If possible, we strongly encourage you to submit your research abstract by the priority deadline. We will not be extending either deadline past the dates mentioned below.

The priority deadline to submit a research abstract is October 31, 2024 at 11:30pm EDT. Submitting your abstract by the priority deadline ensures you will receive a decision about your abstract by December 15, 2024. Authors who will be traveling internationally to the meeting are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract by the priority deadline. Abstracts received by the priority deadline also have the best chance of being selected for an in-person research talk.

A late submission period with a final deadline of January 15, 2025 at 11:30pm EST will also be available to all authors from all geographic regions. Authors submitting abstracts after the main deadline — thus between the dates November 1, 2024 and January 15, 2024 — can expect to receive a decision about your abstract by February 28, 2025. No research abstracts received after the final deadline will be considered for presentation.

Review

Submitted abstracts for research presentation will be anonymized and peer reviewed. Abstracts are reviewed by members of the Program Committee and their appointees from the organizing societies. If you are interested in reviewing research abstracts, you can volunteer by completing the Abstract Reviewer Signup or contact INS staff <staff@neuroethicssociety.org>.

Abstracts will be reviewed based on scoring criteria with some differences between empirical research and for research that is conceptual, theoretical or normative. Research abstracts submitted for consideration are not guaranteed to be accepted and become part of the program. Acceptance will be based on the content and quality of the submission and overall program fit, and top-ranked abstracts may be selected for special recognition. The committee does not provide feedback to abstract authors regarding reviews or final decisions.

Authors can expect to receive notices of acceptance and invitations at the dates listed above. Information about available travel stipends will be sent on a rolling basis after this date.

Components

Abstracts

Research abstracts should be 250-350 words in length and must be in English. The research may address any topic related to neuroethics — a field that studies the implications of neuroscience for human self-understanding, ethics, and policy. Topics may, but are not required to, align with the theme: ‘Neuroethics at the Intersection of the Brain and Artificial Intelligence’.

Abstracts should clearly demonstrate that the research in some way relates to the brain and/or brain functions, and that it engages in some way with ethics and ethical/legal considerations. Abstracts that do not make these connections clear are at risk for not being accepted. 

Abstracts will be evaluated on the following criteria categories. Reviewers will assess whether an abstract has included, and how well it has articulated, the:

• Problem
• Background
• Methods or Argumentation
• Results and/or Conclusions
• Importance (of the scholarship)

Categories and criteria vary slightly between empirical research and research that is conceptual, theoretical or normative. For general guidance on how to construct your abstract, see our writing tips.

Details

In addition to the abstract, research presentation submissions must include a:

• Title
• Authors list
• Authors’ affiliations
• Identification of the presenting author(s)
• List of references or citations (up to five) consistently formatted using any citation style
• Disclosure of any conflicts of interest (see below for desired format and approach)

Demographics

A few personal and demographic details of the presenting author(s) are also requested with submissions, including their:

• Region(s) and Country(ies) of residence/affiliation
• Professional level
• Gender (optional)
• Personal / Professional experience (optional)

Personal demographic information for presenting authors is captured for internal demographics reporting. Authors may elect not to provide information for questions marked optional. Collected demographic data are anonymized and will not be directly attributable to specific authors during the review process. These anonymized data enable the Program Committee to assess whether it has adequately been able to: 1) empower underrepresented people and cultures; 2) promote a diversity of perspectives, identities, and research disciplines; and 3) reach a representative balance among the group of authors invited to give research talks.

Compliance / Disclosures

Work presented in abstracts must be in compliance with: local policies, ethical review related to the use of humans and animals in research, and disclosure of any conflicts of interest. Authors are responsible for reporting any real or perceived financial conflict of interest.

A brief disclosure and conflict of interest statement should be submitted with the abstract and viewable on the presentation. Disclosures should appear on the bottom left corner of the poster, or on a presentation slide, and may follow the recommended format:

• “Disclosures: None” (or)
• “Disclosures: The author(s) disclose a relationship with…”

Authors

Authors at all career stages are eligible and encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration. There are no restrictions or limitations regarding an author’s program, discipline, or area of study. We especially welcome abstracts from our colleagues from marginalized groups and/or with perspectives that are underrepresented in the field.

Presenting Authors

Presenting author(s) must be identified as part of your submission. Each abstract must have at least one (1) and no more than two (2) presenting authors. Authors may only be identified as a presenting author for up to two (2) abstracts. Authors can be listed as a co-author on multiple abstracts, with no limit. Any changes to the presenting author after submission must be communicated in a timely manner to INS staff by email staff@neuroethicssociety.org.

Membership Requirement

Authors who will present their research do not need to be members of either the INS or SINe.

Registration Requirement

All authors who have an accepted abstract and have been invited to present their research at the meeting must confirm their participation and register for the meeting by March 15.

If you are waiting to register because you are having trouble securing funding or a travel visa, please contact us to let us know that you plan to attend. It is helpful for us to know this and we will encourage you to complete the registration form without making the payment.

If you are having trouble with the registration form, contact INS staff staff@neuroethicssociety.org.

Presentations

Along with the abstract, details, and disclosures, as part of their submission authors must also indicate preferences with regard to:

• Presentation type: poster, talk, or both
• Participation format: in-person or virtual
• Recognitions: stipends, awards, and publishing opportunities

All presenting authors with accepted abstract for a research presentation will get a specific date and time to present their research. Invitations will be to present their research as a poster or featured talk.

Featured Talks

Several authors will be invited to give an oral presentation of their work. Presentations will be 10 minutes long and will have an additional 3 minutes after for questions from the audience. Invitations for featured talks will be made on the basis of abstract topic, quality of submission, and with consideration for giving a platform to junior scholars and underrepresented perspectives or lines of inquiry.

Both in-person attendees and virtual participants will be eligible to give featured talks — although there may be some limitations based on how the program is structured. Authors attending the meeting in-person are encouraged to give their talk live, however all featured talks can be given live or a video recording of a talk can be broadcast to attendees.

Printed Posters

Poster presentations include pinning up a large-format printed poster and presenting author(s) being present to discuss their research with attendees. Presenting authors will also expected to give a formal, 3 minute presentation of their research at an assigned time. Judges will clearly identify themselves prior to engaging with presenting authors, and are allowed to but not required to give direct feedback.

Poster dimensions are DIN A0 in portrait orientation (more tall than wide)

• Height: 118 cm (46 inches)
• Width: 84 cm (33 inches)

There are two presentation times for in-person poster presentations. All presenters will be assigned to one of these times. Assignments were sent by email on April 11 and are now listed on the schedule. If you need to change times, contact staff@neuroethicssociety.org.

• Wednesday, April 23, 4:00-5:30pm
• Thursday, April 24, 9:00-10:30am

If you would like to print your poster locally, you can do so at Copyshop Zentrale (Adalbertstr.43, München), but you will need to go into the office. To print an A0 poster on 140 gr matt paper is 26,90 €, which must be prepaid. They say this should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

Virtual Posters

All meeting attendees — whether attending in-person or participating virtually — may create a poster or slides set. These presentations will be made available to all meeting attendees and participants via the meeting website. Attendees will have access to virtual presentations before, during, and after the meeting dates.

Virtual presentations can be large-format images or a set of slides that tell the story of your research. Authors presenting a virtual poster are expected to submit at least the electronic files. Authors may also record a video which also includes their verbal presentation.

Virtual posters should be submitted by Monday, April 14 at 11:59pm EDT.

Virtual posters may be any aspect ratio and size dimensions (cm or inches). Files must be a PDF and the file size must be under 4 MB.

For slides, we recommended to use a 16:9 aspect ratio. These should be exported to PDF and the files size must be under 4 MB.

Video Recordings

Authors who have been invited to present a poster, as well as authors invited to give a featured talk, may choose to record their presentation so it can be available on demand to meeting attendees or broadcast at a scheduled time. Authors recording a poster presentation may create a video that is 2-4 minutes long. Authors invited to give a featured talk will be given specific instructions and guidance regarding the time and approach expected. For all recordings, we encourage you to keep the number of slides and visual images to a minimum.

Two possible options for recording your talk include using PowerPoint or Zoom. With PowerPoint: use the Record Slide Show feature, record your voice as you page through slides, and export the complete presentation as a video. To record a talk with Zoom: open a new meeting session, enable the ‘share screen’ feature, switch to presenter view (to also capture your webcam view), give your talk as you page through slides, and save the recording on your computer. Save videos as MP4 files.

Recorded tlaks should be submitted by Monday, April 14 at 11:59pm EDT.

Video recordings should be in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Files must be MP4 and the file size should be no larger than 4 MB.

Upload

Completed presentations files may be uploaded using the following google form. Please follow all instructions about file format and size that are listed above or that you receive via email.

Recognitions

Stipends

Registration discounts and travel stipends are awarded competitively based on the availability of funds and the quality of abstract submission, as determined by the Program Committee. A list of available funds and donors will be released in the coming months.

You must submit an abstract and have it accepted to be eligible to receive a stipend. Authors do not need to separately apply for stipends, simply indicate as part of your submission that you would like to be considered for available stipends and funding.

Awards

Abstract submissions of any form are eligible to receive awards. We have historically given awards for top abstracts, talks, and posters determined by a panel of judges.

Publishing

Authors who would like their abstract submissions to be considered for possible opportunities with academic publications may indicate their interest with their abstract submission.

Share

We encourage a broad dissemination of this call so that people interested in neuroethics but not yet members of the Society have an opportunity to submit an abstract and share their research.