Plenary Sessions (PL1 – PL6)

The plenary sessions are the most prestigious sessions of the congress. 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. Speaking time varies: 45 minutes for talks in PL4 & PL5, 30 minutes in PL2,  and 15 minutes in PL1, PL3 & PL6.

Concurrent Symposia (S01 – S29)

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 three 30-minute lectures (incl. discussion time) will be presented, that provide an update and understanding of new developments and innovations in a certain area.

Educational Sessions (E01 – E09)

The Scientific Programme Committee of the ESHG determines topics which will best serve the educational needs of the attendees. Particular care is taken to ensure that these sessions address basic issues and focus on the educational aspect. Those sessions are not intended for experts in the respective fields but are designed to give a general basic introduction to a particular topic. In every educational session two 45-minute lectures (incl. discussion time) will be presented.

Workshops (W01 – W17)

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.

Get2gether Sessions

Get2gether sessions are sessions which are expected to promote networking and professional connections in a specific area of research and/or health with direct impact in human genetics. These sessions should be promoted, but not be restricted, to large consortia in the area of human genetics that wish to raise awareness, disseminate knowledge or promote wide networking activities in human genetics related fields. Chairs and speakers are expected to share with the audience views, networking activities or implemented measures related to research or clinical practice in human genetics. These sessions are addressed to participants who wish to acquire knowledge and/or become engaged with the activities described above, and therefore an interactive discussion during or at the end of the Get2Gether sessions is expected. Applications for Get2gether sessions should be submitted to the ESHG Scientific Program Committee (SPC) immediately after the ESHG annual meeting for evaluation by the SPC.

Poster Viewing with Authors (Groups A-D)

Posters are numerically the major scientific presentations of the meeting. Hybrid posters will be presented live at the conference venue and uploaded to the virtual platform. E-posters will only be uploaded to the virtual platform. Posters 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 ESHG early career poster awards.

Participation at these sessions is only possible for in-person participants. Presenters will be asked to upload a digital version of their poster to the ESHG virtual conference platform.

E-posters will be accessible at the venue through e-poster stations (next to the Sequencing Square) found in the exhibition hall. Additionally, they will be available in the ESHG virtual conference platform.

Corporate Sessions (CS) & Corporate Presentations (CP)

There are a number of corporate sessions and presentations planned within the main conference programme. Sponsors are approved as reputable and relevant by the Scientific Programme Committee, but the detailed content of the presentation is proposed directly by the sponsors and under their responsibility. Neither the ESHG nor the organisers have endorsed the content in any way.