Guidelines for the organization of ESCoP Conferences

Last edited on January 13, 2026

The European Society for Cognitive Psychology (ESCoP) holds its biennial conference in September of odd-numbered years, rotating between different countries to promote cognitive psychology across Europe. These conferences are organized through a partnership between a Local Group and two members of the ESCoP Committee, who together form a Joint Committee. This brief overview presents the planning, scientific structure, logistical requirements, and financial management essential for hosting an ESCoP conference. If you decide to bid for an ESCoP conference, please contact the Secretary for a set of more comprehensive guidelines.

The Planning Cycle and Proposal Process

The process of organizing a meeting begins about three years in advance. Member offers to host a conference are vital for the society's international visibility.

Timeline for Bids: Initial inquiries should be sent to the ESCoP Secretary or a Committee member at least three years before the proposed conference.
Decision Window: The Committee aims to reach a final decision on the location and date by the preceding conference—two years prior to the event.
Proposal Requirements: Full proposals must detail the local organizing group, institutional affiliations, and the scientific/logistics subcommittees. They must include a description of the venue, catering costs, hotel availability within walking distance (~2 km), transit options, description of social activities (e.g., opening reception, conference dinner, ERC events, etc) and a provisional budget (that will be informed by a budget calculator, made available upon request from the Secretary).
Selection Criteria: The Committee evaluates proposals based on the scientific reputation of the host institution, city accessibility (including proximity to airports served by budget airlines), cost-effectiveness, and the goal of distributing conferences across different countries (typically, alternating between N-S & V-E of the continent).

Conference Structure and Scientific Program

ESCoP conferences are designed to accommodate approximately 750 to 800 attendees, about half of whom are typically early career researchers. .

Daily Schedule: The event traditionally begins at 4:00 PM on Day 1 with an invited keynote, a poster session, and a welcome reception, followed by three full days of sessions.
Keynote Lectures: There are three primary keynotes. Two are the responsibility of the ESCoP Committee: the Broadbent lecture and the Bertelson award lecture. The Local Group proposes a third keynote speaker who is a distinguished cognitive scientist that has not previously given an ESCoP keynote (following bid approval, the Local Group develops a committee-vetted shortlist of keynote candidates. This list must be extensive enough to accommodate potential refusals, allowing invitations to proceed in a set order).
Oral Presentations: The program features 350 to 400 talks organized into 20-minute slots (15 minutes for presentation, 5 for questions). These are arranged into parallel sessions or symposia.
Symposia: These are invited sessions of five speakers on focused topics. They should comprise 35% to 50% of the submissions. Symposia are scheduled in specific blocks so they do not compete with regular talks, preventing poor attendance at the latter.
Poster Sessions: Usually, four poster sessions are held, often in the 10:30 AM–12:00 PM time slot, which has proven successful in past years.
Ancillary Meetings: The schedule must include a Business Meeting (often before a plenary) and/or events such as Speed mentoring / career development for ECRs or Women in Cognitive Science. Pre-conference workshops on topics like grants, methods or statistics are also encouraged.

Venue and Technical Requirements

The host city must provide a conference center or university facilities capable of housing around 750-800 people in proximity.

Capacity: The venue requires one large hall for plenary lectures and six to seven smaller theaters with a minimum capacity of 100 for parallel sessions.
Poster Area: A dedicated space must accommodate approximately 120 posters per session with sufficient room for circulation and refreshments (i.e., lunch or coffee breaks).
Technology: Every theater must have high-quality projectors and microphones for both speakers and the audience. While a central media center for uploading presentations is ideal, it is not mandatory if clear arrangements exist for loading files between sessions.
Internet and Catering: Free Wi-Fi is essential (preferably with services such as Eduroam). Catering should ideally be on-site or very close to ensure participants return to sessions promptly. Buffet-style lunches included in the fee are recommended to encourage networking/poster viewing and discussions.

Financial Management and Registration Fees

ESCoP conferences are self-funded and aimed at minimizing costs.

Budgeting: Organizers are strongly encouraged to use the ESCoP Conference Budget Calculator to estimate income and set fees. Standard costs include room rentals, poster boards renting, digital services (e.g., program production, conference webpage with registration capacity / conference app, etc), and speaker expenses.
Fee Tiers: Fees are differentiated by career stage (PhD student, Postdoc, Faculty) and membership status. Early registration bonuses are recommended to secure early commitments.
Membership Inclusion: Non-members pay a higher fee that includes two years of ESCoP membership. This portion of the fee must be paid back to ESCoP after the conference to fund society activities.
Profit and Deficit: Any profit is split between the Local Group and ESCoP; conversely, ESCoP will cover half of a deficit.
Cost Control: Unnecessary expenses like free bags, pens, or T-shirts should be avoided. Funding of €2,500 is provided by ESCoP for the Broadbent and Bertelson lecturers, along with a €5,000 advance to cover initial expenses.

Organizational Timeline

The Joint Committee must adhere to a strict schedule to ensure a smooth event:

1 Year Prior: A site visit by Committee members to review facilities and first fee estimates.
12–9 Months Prior: The conference website goes live.
9–10 Months Prior: Call for symposia (deadline usually January 31).
7 Months Prior (February): Decision on symposia and call for regular abstracts.
5 Months Prior (March): Deadline for oral and poster submissions.
4 Months Prior (May): Acceptance notifications and start of the early bird registration deadline. At this stage, everyone must pay to be included in the program.
2 Months Prior: Construction of the final program, organizing talks into thematically coherent sessions.
End of June: Final program made public and late registration begins.
1–2 Weeks Prior: Printing of the summary program / uploading intro the conference app.

Post-Conference Responsibilities

Following the event, the Local Group must submit detailed accounts of income and expenditures to the ESCoP Treasurer. A brief report on submission numbers, acceptance rates, and attendance should be provided to help future organizers. Keynote speakers and symposium organizers should also be encouraged to submit texts based on their presentations to the Journal of Cognition (JoC). Depending on the ESCoP finances in that specific year, publication fee waivers might be possible for the keynote speakers and / or eventual special issues (these aspects should be discussed in advance, prior to making any invitations, with the JoC Editor-in-Chief and the ESCoP committee).