Call for Course Proposals and Platform/Poster Abstracts

You are now able to submit proposals for ABSA International’s 68th Annual Biosafety and Biosecurity Conference. The conference will take place October 24-29, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina. We anticipate having 650 attendees and 70 commercial exhibits. The professional development courses will take place Friday, October 24 to Sunday, October 26. The conference presentations (platform/poster) will take place Monday, October 27 to Wednesday, October 29.

  • The Call for Professional Development Course Proposals submission deadline is April 2, 2025 11:59pm Central
  • The Call for Platform/Posters Abstract submission deadline is April 7, 2025 11:59pm Central

If you have any questions, please contact Kari DeServi and Colleen Thomas at education@absa.org.

If English is not your first language, ABSA International has volunteers from the International Engagement Committee who are willing to work with you to refine your abstract submission. Please contact education@absa.org with Abstract/Proposal Assistance in the subject line.

Course Proposals Submission Guidelines

Submission Deadline: April 2, 2025

ABSA Requirements

  • All sections to the submission site will need to be completed as requested
  • Carefully read the instructor and/or speaker/poster presenter guidelines prior to starting your submission
  • Please be sure to read through all the policy information within each of the submission sites

The course description is limited to 2000 characters including spaces.

Platform/Poster Abstract Submission Guidelines

Submission Deadline: April 7, 2025

ABSA Requirements

  • All sections to the submission site will need to be completed as requested
  • Carefully read the instructor and/or speaker/poster presenter guidelines prior to starting your submission
  • Please be sure to read through all the policy information within each of the submission sites

The abstract should be one paragraph succinctly describing your proposal, there is a 2600-character limit including spaces. Please keep the following items in mind during the submission.

  • Required: Include one (1) measurable learning objective for your abstract. There is an allotted 200-character limit including spaces total for this one (1) learning objective. Do not use words know, understand, or learn for the learning objectives.
  • The following are recommended to be included in your abstract but not required:
    1. Introduction to study and objectives
    2. Methods used
    3. Results
    4. Discussion
    5. Conclusions

Author names and institutions must be listed correctly in the system.

Review the abstract and make sure it is in FINAL presentation format before submitting it. It will be published as written.

How to Submit a Course Proposal or Platform/Poster Abstract

For previous users: you will use your login information from the previous year. For new users only: you will need to create an account on the OASIS system. To do so, select “Click here to create a new user account”. You will be prompted to enter your contact information, and to select a new login and password for use with the abstract submission system.

Please note: if you forget your password, you will need to click the link “Click here if you have forgotten your password” on the OASIS login page. The ABSA office will not be able to retrieve this information for you.

  • Follow the instructions as requested by the submission site and complete all submission steps
  • To complete each step, make sure that you have entered information into all the required fields and click the “Continue” button to save your work
  • When you have completed your work, click on the “review my work” link to verify that your submission is complete and appears the way you want to submit it
  • If requested, the Oasis Abstract System will send you a confirmation email once your submission is complete

Review Process

Each of the submissions will be reviewed by ABSA International’s Preconference Course Committee for Professional Development Course Proposals and the Scientific Program Committee for the Platform/Poster Abstract Submissions. Notifications of acceptance will be made during the months of May and June respectfully.

If you have any questions, please contact Kari DeServi and Colleen Thomas at education@absa.org.

Subject/Topic Areas

Agent Inactivation
Animal Biosafety
Applied/Empirical Biosafety
Arthropods and Plants Biosafety
Behavior/Enhancing Compliance
Biosafety Program Implementation, Management, and Assessment
BSL-1, BSL-2
BSL-3, BSL-4 (High Containment)
BSL3-Ag or Large Animals
Cell and Gene Therapy
Complying with Regulations and Guidelines
Disinfection/Biowaste Management
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Emerging Hazards/Issues and Risk Assessment Strategies
Emerging Techniques, Equipment, and Science
Facilities/Equipment (BSL-3)
Facilities/Equipment (General)
Facility Design and Infrastructure
Field Biosafety/Studies
Fundamentals
Growing and Supporting the Biosafety Profession
Human Source Materials Mammalian Cell Lines
Industrial Biosafety
Infectious Substance Transportation
Large-scale Biosafety and GMP Considerations
Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Occupational Health/Medical Surveillance/PE
Other
Practices/PPE (BSL-3)
Practices/PPE (General)
Public Health
Regulatory Issues
Risk Assessments
Selection, Operation, Validation of Biosafety Equipment
Shipping/Permits
Supporting Biosafety Beyond the Lab: Hospital Labs, Clinical Trails, etc.
Synthetic Biology
Training, Human Factors and Behavior
Unique Challenges and How to Overcome Them