About Chapman Conferences

About Chapman Conferences

The Chapman Conference program is AGU’s premier opportunity for scientists to gather in small meetings with the explicit purpose of significantly advancing their field of research.  Chapmans are designed to be transformative such that, years later, participants exclaim that their Chapman was where everything changed.  The meetings should be bold and with great purpose resulting in lasting excitement for future discoveries.  Proposers should consider the grand challenges in their science and focus on identifying the key, yet solvable, problems within the framework of the Chapman.  Chapman Conferences should be goal oriented, i.e., agreeing on solutions or mapping the path toward them.  Proposers should consider how activities during the meeting, as well as pre- and post-meeting activities, could contribute to the success of the meeting.  Meeting outcomes must include publications in the form of conference reports, peer-reviewed journal articles and/or a book, as well as special sessions at the Fall Meeting that make concrete the solutions and pathways developed from the Chapman.

There is no pre-defined design for a Chapman Conference. Your Chapman Conference might focus on a scientific hypothesis.  Your field might be at a cusp where measurements have been collected and models have been developed to an extent that testing of a hypothesis can be completed at the Conference with results that transform your field.  Or, perhaps your Chapman will focus on a suite of measurements that if properly designed and collected would yield exciting results.  As another example, your Chapman might focus on modeling issues that have challenged your field but that in bringing together their developers a breakthrough could be found.  These are only examples intended to fuel your thinking as you design and write your Chapman proposal.

Chapman Conferences are small, with about one hundred attendees, and last about three days.  Ideally, funding agencies will both attend your Chapman and be involved in its planning.  It’s important that scientists work closely with their program managers to ensure that science and funding are appropriately aligned.

Organizing a Chapman Conference should be a rewarding and satisfying experience for the Conveners and Program Committee. AGU’s Meetings Department handles the administrative and logistical details so that the Conveners and Program Committee can focus on the science.

The following information is provided to assist in the organization and management of a successful Chapman Conference. Questions regarding Chapman Conference proposals should be sent to Judy Dalie. Director, Meetings at AGU.