Event Proposals and Frequently Asked Questions

The Institute welcomes proposals for new conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposia. If you intend to propose an event please first look at the existing events schedule; note that we programme up to two years ahead, and a long lead-in time facilitates organisation, advertising and fund-raising. If you are a postgraduate student we will welcome your proposal, but we will want confirmation that you have the support of your department or school. The Institute welcomes collaboration with other academic and cultural institutions and is happy to run joint conferences. Please note, however, that the Institute must handle all financial arrangements associated with the conference.

If you would like to propose a conference, seminar, or other event, please contact the Academic Engagement and Impact Officer at iesevents@sas.ac.uk. For most events and seminars you will be required to complete an event proposal form.

The Institute handles the following arrangements:

• Event website, including programmes and abstracts
• Event promotion and publicity
• Event finances and budget
• Online registration
• On-the-day arrangements, such as catering, room booking, nametags, and conference packs
• For most online events we will provide a Zoom link and run the Zoom meeting/webinar

The Institute, through the University of London, is able to provide a variety of catering options, from tea/coffee to sit-down meals. Please contact the Academic Engagement and Impact Officer for the catering menu.

The Institute makes every effort to be transparent in its financial arrangements. For conferences, we budget to cover the costs of the conference and return a surplus of at least £500 per conference day (i.e. we will budget a two-day conference to return a surplus of at least £1000). This surplus is in lieu of a flat ‘administration fee’ and covers the cost of our staff and organisational time. Any surplus beyond this amount will be retained by the Institute and cannot be used for other events nor can it be put toward funding items not included in the agreed budget.    

Our policy of retaining any outstanding surplus beyond this is in place to accommodate the financial risk incurred in running a variety of events (e.g., unrecoverable administrative costs, catering costs, room costs), not just those that are likely to be the most popular, while enabling the Institute to fulfil its academic mission as a non-profit organisation.

Expense forms should be sent via email (with scanned receipts) directly to the Academic Engagement and Impact Officer. All expense claim forms must be submitted in Excel format only (PDFs, JPEGs or scans of forms will not be accepted). The IES will accept a computer signature or an email from a convenor in place of a hand written signature.

Should you or any speakers experience any issues in filling out the form, please notify the IES Academic Engagement and Impact Officer who will be able to assist, as well as pass your feedback to the Finance team.

Claims should be submitted as soon as possible after the relevant event.

You can download the form here.

Event filming/recording can be arranged, but written consent must be obtained via the SAS Event Recording License Consent Form. Recordings are edited into podcasts and uploaded to the SAS and IES websites.

The IES is committed to enhancing diversity and promoting equality of opportunity amongst staff, students, and event delegates. One of our key priorities is to reflect these principles in our events, and to promote greater inclusivity at all events in which the IES is involved. The IES expects event organisers/convenors to commit to these principles and to make every effort to uphold them when planning an event with the IES. 

For more detail about diversity and inclusion please see the

.