Information for organizers of a workshop

Any researcher or group of researchers can apply for organizing a workshop at the Lorentz Center. The scientific organization of the workshop is left to the scientific organizers, while the staff of the Lorentz Center takes care of the practical organization of the workshop: Each workshop is assigned a workshop coordinator, who is the main contact for organizers as well as participant and takes on as much as possible of the organization.

The workshop coordinator sends out invitations, on behalf of the organizers, to invite those interested to register, makes the hotel reservations, keeps the participants informed etc. For practical reasons, for scientific visibility in the Netherlands and for direct contact with the Lorentz Center it is recommended that one (co)organizer is based in the Netherlands.

The facilities available to a workshop are described here.

Application
If you are interested in organizing a workshop you should submit a short draft and you are encouraged to contact at an early stage to discuss your ideas. You may also want to contact one of your colleagues in the advisory boards.

Workshop proposals are submitted for evaluation by the scientific advisory boards with three deadlines per year: 30 January, 30 May and 30 September.

The Lorentz Center aims at a decision on the workshop proposals within 10 weeks after the deadline. At this point also a week is assigned to the workshop. In some cases the Lorentz Center may decide for an accelerated evaluation procedure, e.g. for rapid response to a proposal for a workshop starting within a few months.

Workshop proposals are evaluated primarily for their scientific merit. Our scientific advisory boards generally applaud initiatives to bring new groups together above tried and tested clubs. Also the workshop program, the composition of the participants, and the use of the special facilities at the Lorentz Center is important.

Proposals that pass this evaluation of quality will compete for the available weeks. Apart from the quality of the proposal, also the motivation for the week(s) is considered. Finally, the Lorentz Center will make choices to ensure topical variation and a balance among scientific diciplines in the program.
Tables showing the current planning and the available weeks can be found under the heading 'Available weeks' on our 'home page'.

Funding of workshops by the Lorentz Center depends on the scientific quality, the expected impact of the workshop as well as its duration and the expected number of participants. A breakdown of typical cost and funding is given in the 'proposal instructions'.

Practical organization
After approval of the proposal, the scientific organizer(s) will be invited for a so called intake meeting at the Lorentz Center. They will meet the executive manager and their workshop coordinator to draw up the outlines of the workshop: finalising the program, the invitees, the workshop poster, registration and the Lorentz Center workshop webpage. Shortly thereafter the workshop coordinator starts sending out formal invitations and the webpage is opened for registration.

Time lines

• When you have an idea for a workshop, please contact us at draft@lorentzcenter.nl.
• We provide feedback on your draft. Especially, we have experience in different program formats you may apply depending on the goals of your workshop.
• There are three evaluation rounds (deadlines on 30 January, 30 May and 30 September). In general a workshop takes place within 16 months after approval.
• Within 10 weeks after the submission deadline, a go-nogo decision will be made and the date of the workshop will be assigned.
• Between 6 and 9 months before the start of the workshop, an intake meeting at Lorentz Center initiates the practical organization.
• The workshop program should be on the website at the least one month before the start of the workshop.
• The organizers must submit a short scientific report shortly after the workshop.

Guidelines for writing a proposal

Guidelines for writing the scientific report

For additional information about organizing a workshop, contact us at  

Other institutes that organize workshops
For information about other centers and institutes organizing workshops in the sciences, please have a look at the list of "sister institutes".