The call for abstracts will go out on October 20, 2026, at which time you will be able to submit an abstract through the online abstract system.

All abstracts must be submitted via the online abstract system no later than Tuesday, January 5, 2027, by 11:59 p.m. ET. Proposals that are incomplete, late, or submitted in an inappropriate format will not be considered.

Abstracts are limited to 400 words, not including the title or author biography. Titles should not exceed 185 characters. The author's biography should not exceed 100 words.

By submitting an abstract, please make sure you or an alternate presenting author are committed to presenting in-person at the Annual Conference. All presenting authors are required to register and pay related registration fees for the conference.

Formal letters of invitations, regret, and waitlisted will be sent by e-mail from the CSTE National Office by Thursday, March 4, 2027. All authors receive formal communication that informs them of the Planning Committee’s decision. Presenting authors with an accepted abstract will receive a link to their online “Speaker Center” (within your existing OpenWater account) where you may view sessions details, respond to the invitation and upload your presentation. Co-authors will be cc’d on the determination email but will not be able to see or respond to the invitation in their account.

Yes, CSTE will consider an abstract submitted to another meeting.

Presentation formats are detailed in the Guidelines for Abstract Submission. While the Program Planning Committee will attempt to honor the submitted format for presentations, this will not always be possible.

No, they are 75 minutes in length to provide attendees with longer breaks for networking between sessions. This change was made at the CSTE 2023 Annual Conference.

Roundtable sessions are now called discussion sessions to better describe the core purpose of the sessions: informative presentation focusing on recent findings or innovative topics, with substantial opportunity for discussion among attendees.

A Breakout Session has between 5-6 presentations in the session with each presentation having 10 minutes to present. A Lightning Breakout Session has up to 11 presentations in the session with each presentation having 5 minutes to present. At the conclusion of both sessions there are approximately 10-20 minutes of Q&A.

There are no restrictions on the number of abstracts you may submit or on the number of submissions you may be selected to present.

Please limit co-authors who contributed substantially to the study design, statistical analysis, or interpretation to no more than fifteen (15) people. Restrictions may apply based on presentation type, which are detailed in the Guidelines for Abstract Submissions.

Biography information is only required for presenting author(s). The biography should not exceed 100 words on your background experience. If selected for oral experience, this information may be utilized by the session moderator to properly introduce you.

If selected for an oral presentation, this will assist session moderators in correct pronunciation of presenting author’s name, so correct pronunciation is required in the biography section. Use the sounds-like or phonetic spelling like the examples below:

• Jane Knowles – silent K, sounds like “noles”

• Allie Pyan – Pie-n, like Ryan but with a P

• Ngoc Nguyen – like knock WIN

• Raul Gonzalez – like rah-OOL gon-SAH-les

Yes, presenting authors will access their User Portal within OpenWater where you can view and modify all your abstract submissions in one place. You will be prompted to create a password linked to your email address. Please remember to use the same email address for all your submissions. If you already have an OpenWater account, please use the login you previously created.

After you “Save and Finalize” your submission, you will receive an email from [email protected] with the subject line “Confirmation of Abstract Submission – 2027 CSTE Annual Conference.” Please check your spam and clutter folders for emails.

If you forgot your User Portal password, use the lost password link on the portal. CSTE staff do not have access to your password, so you will be required to utilize that link if needed.

You may view and edit an abstract any time before the abstract submission deadline on Tuesday, January 5, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Abstracts may not be modified after the submission deadline during committee review. If your abstract is accepted for presentation, minor changes may be made through a form in your “Speaker Center” or by contacting the CSTE National Office at [email protected] no later than the minor-edit deadline (date pending confirmation).

You may edit the presenting author via the online abstract system before the abstract submission deadline or after acceptance, but no later than Friday, May 7, 2027. If your abstract is accepted for presentation, minor changes may be made through a form in your “Speaker Center” or by contacting the CSTE National Office at [email protected] no later than the minor-edit deadline (date pending confirmation).

Withdrawal of an abstract can be made at any time during submission and review. The deadline to decline presentation or withdraw after invitation acceptance is 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 1, 2027 and should be done utilizing the online abstract system. Withdrawal of a presentation after invitation acceptance or after the deadline should be communicated by email to CSTE National Office at [email protected]. Withdrawals made after the invitation deadline, failure to present an accepted abstract, or failure in finding a replacement author could result in disqualification from presenting an abstract at future conferences.

For system support, contact [email protected]