The call for symposia had been closed after March 31,2016.

All prospective participants are invited to submit a proposal for a general symposium that falls into one of the six broad themes. Proposed symposia that bridge two or more themes are welcomed and encouraged. Each symposium consists of six presentations, with each being 20 minutes. If there is a need for more than six presentations for some very broad topics, please consider proposing the symposium with two sessions, such as Plant Tree of Life I, and Plant Tree of Life II, each with six speakers.

Once a proposed general symposium is accepted by the Organizing Committee, it will be announced on the congress website and will be open to participants who wish to propose an oral presentation in the congress.

The organizer(s) of each symposium may propose up to four speakers for each symposium and then choose the additional two from the abstracts submitted through the congress website. In addition to the Plenary Lectures and the Keynote Lectures, each participant may be involved in no more than two symposia either as an organizer or as a speaker.