Distinguished Lecturers Program

The IEEE EMBS Distinguished Lecturers Program provides high quality speakers to EMBS Chapters, Student Branch Chapters and Student Clubs. Speakers are chosen by the Distinguished Lecturer Program Committee, who recruits from the international community and industry to keep members on the cutting edge of trends and developments in biomedical engineering.

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Request a Distinguished Lecturer

**PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL REQUESTS ARE NOW BEING REVIEWED BY THE EMBS MEMBER AND STUDENTS COMMITTEE FOR APPROVAL, PLEASE ALLOW TIME TO PROCESS**

Hosting a Distinguished Lecturer is easy! Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Decide which lecturer you would like to invite and email them with a copy to the Executive Office. DO NOT BOOK until approval has been given from the Executive Office.
  2. Estimate the expenses involved. You will be able to apply for up to $500 (clubs) or $1000 (chapters) from EMBS, but you will have to find matching funds. Good sources are your Department, a local BME Company or IEEE Section (we do not provide matching funds to your own chapter/club funds).
  3. Contact the EMBS Executive Office for approval of funding.
  4. After receiving the approval confirmation code from the executive office, you may now officially invite the Distinguished Lecturer to your event.

After Approval:

  1. Invite the DL to your event
  2. Book a room for the talk
  3. Find out what kinds of A/V equipment the speaker will need and reserve it
  4. Publicize the talk. Emails, posters and announcements by professors in class are all effective.
  5. Confirm arrangements with the DL and provide them with maps of your campus, etc.
  6. Make sure you have somebody to introduce and thank the lecturer.
  7. Promote in the EMBS Newsletter and on EMBS Social Media

After Event:

  1. Complete the Distinguished Lecturer Claim Form and send it to the EMBS Executive Office with expense receipts and the report of the event for reimbursement.


Funding Requirements

EMBS funding is available only to EMBS Chapters, EMBS Student Branch Chapters and EMBS Student Clubs. Matching funds of up to $500 for clubs and up to $1000 for chapters are available to those Chapters/Clubs interested in hosting a Distinguished Lecturer event. The matching ratio is 2:1, with EMBS providing up to twice the amount raised from some other source. A limited amount of funding is available, so please get your requests in early.

If EMBS funding is sought to support a Distinguished Lecturer for a particular meeting, matching funds should be requested in advance. This way, the EMBS Executive Office is aware of the event, they can confirm the funds are available and can promote it accordingly. The following procedures should occur:

  1. The hosting club or chapter should first approach a Distinguished Lecturer informally to determine their general availability on the dates of interest, indicating that the booking is subject to funding. [optional]
  2. Write to the EMBS Executive Office with a request for funding, when submitting request, please provide information on sponsor funds.
  3. Contact and arrange a program date with the Distinguished Lecturer only after funding has been finalized.
  4. Following the lecture, a report suitable for publishing in the IEEE PULSE should be filed by the hosting club or chapter with the EMBS Executive Office.

Eligibility and Acknowledgement

EMBS funding is available only to EMBS Chapters, EMBS Student Branch Chapters and EMBS Student Clubs and must be acknowledged at the event in the following manner:

  1. The EMBS chapter that receives the DL funding must acknowledge/announce that the speaker is an EMBS DL.
  2. The EMBS chapter must also acknowledge/announce the DL funding received (e.g. “This seminar was sponsored by the EMBS Distinguished Lecturers Program”).
  3. The EMBS chapter that receives the DL funding is expected to provide membership application forms to the attendees at the DL funded activity.

For the most part, EMBS funding will not be available to support the attendance of Distinguished Lecturers as Keynote Speakers at EMBS or non-EMBS Conferences. The EMBS Conference Committee does, however, have a small amount of funding available for technical sponsorship (or co-sponsorship) of EMBS Keynote Speakers at Conferences where it is determined this will help promote the international profile of the EMBS.

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