Yes / No Debates

In the past, ISPGR was fortunate to feature several thought-provoking and fun YES-NO debates in our conference programme. In the last few ISPGR conferences, the YES-NO debates were -apart from being sporadically integrated in symposia- not an integral part of our scientific programme. This is unfortunate, as YES-NO debates have been highly valued in the past and their reintroduction is consistently requested in post-conference evaluations. We therefore hope to reintroduce the YES-NO debate, as a seriously fun and insightful form of competitive interaction on pertinent topics. We have made dedicated 30-minute time slots available in our ISPGR2025 programme. We kindly request ISPGR members to submit their YES-NO debate proposals. We aim for fierce and fun debates. Debates can be on specific methods, procedures, hypotheses, theories and frameworks related to gait and posture, but may also cover meta-science perspectives including, but certainly not limited to, notions like open science, preregistration, public-private partnerships, industry involvement. The precise format, the statement for debate and the number of debaters is totally up to you. The only constraint is to complete the debate within the available 30-minute time slot. We recommend including a non-debating moderator whose task is to present the statement for debate and to introduce and time keep the respective debaters from the YES and NO camps. The audience will vote for YES or NO to decide on a winner.

Guidelines for Yes/No Debate proposals

• Prepare a ‘Statement for Debate’ – a single brief sentence that serves as the statement for debate. The statement must be phrased such that clear YES-NO positions can be taken. For example: The YES-NO debate should be back in the scientific programme of ISPGR!
• Ensure the debate submission has been approved by all proposed participants
• Prepare a written statement on the Pertinence of your debate proposal (specify why your topic is a relevant statement for debate for ISPGR (max 300 words))
• Prepare a written statement on the Format of your debate proposal (a brief description of the debate format, including time schedule (max 300 words))
• Include the name(s) of the Moderator(s) proposed for the debate
• Include the name(s), affiliation(s), and email address(es) of all Debaters
• All  submitters MUST be an ISPGR member in good standing
• By submitting an debate proposal, you and your participants agree to present at the annual congress, should your proposal be selected for the program
• Please note the final deadline on December 20 is at 23:59 Central Time