Regulations

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.1. ISC 2025 will take place at Riga Stradiņš University on 24 to 25 March 2025.

1.2. Application for participation in the ISC is announced by the ISC organizing committee.

1.3. The decision on amendments to the ISC regulations is made by the RSU SU board.

1.4. ISC regulations are published on RSU SU (sp.rsu.lv) and ISC homepages (isc.rsu.lv).

1.5. Acceptance and supervision of ISC theses is provided by RSU SU and ISC organizing committee. The evaluation of the theses is ensured by an independent jury committee consisting of at least two members selected by the ISC organizing committee – two to three specialists in the field, where one of them may be a representative of the statistical laboratory.

1.6. The working language of the conference shall be English.

1.7. The conference will feature the following sections of Health Sciences: Internal Medicine I (Cardiology, Pulmonology); Internal Medicine II (Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology); Surgery I (Cardiac-, Thoracic-, Vascular Surgery); Surgery II (General-, Visceral-, Endocrine-, Paediatric Surgery, Urology); Oncology & Haematology; Basic & Preclinical Science (Morphology, Pathology, Genetics); Dentistry, Maxillofacial Surgery & Otorhinolaryngology, Otorhinolaryngologic Surgery, Ophthalmology; Gynaecology, Gynaecological Surgery, Obstetrics, Perinatology; Paediatrics; Public & Global Health, Occupational Medicine, Nutrition, Rehabilitation; Traumatology, Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine, Radiology, Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery; Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesiology, Reanimatology; Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Physiology; Infectious Diseases, Microbiology, Dermatology, Immunology, Allergology; Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy; Psychology;General Practice & Family Medicine, Primary and Palliative care; Digital Medicine, Medical Simulations;

1.8.Case Reports, Small Case Series: Internal Medicine I (cardiology, pulmonology); Internal Medicine II (gastroenterology, nephrology, endocrinology, rheumatology); Surgery (traumatology, urology, gynaecology, otorhinolaryngology etc.); Paediatrics; Oncology & Hematology; Neurology, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics.

1.9. The conference will feature the following sections of Social Sciences: Law; Economics; Political Science, International Relations; Communication.

1.10. In the event that less than seven abstracts are approved for the participation in the ISC within one section, the ISC Organising Committee shall have the right to merge the sections or to transfer the submitted abstracts to another section.

1.11. In the event that more than fifteen abstracts are approved for the participation in the ISC within one section, the ISC Organising Committee shall have the right to subdivide the sections or to transfer the abstracts submitted to another section.

1.12. In case less than five theses are presented in the ISC section on the ISC day, the ISC Organizing Committee has the right to determine the other number of prizes.

2. PARTICIPATION IN THE CONFERENCE

2.1. ISC has the following participation options:

2.1.1. Active participant – presents their research work in the following format:

2.1.1.1. Oral presentation – the participant presents his research work in Powerpoint (ppt, pptx) presentation format. The presentation is drawn up and submitted in accordance with the procedure established by the ISC organizing committee, which is published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) in the Presentation requirements section

2.1.1.2. Poster presentation – the participant presents a poster or spreadsheet. The stand report is prepared in the time and order set by the ISC organizing committee, which is published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) in the Presentation requirements section.

2.1.1.3. Case report/small case series – the participant presents their research work in Powerpoint (ppt, pptx) presentation format. The presentation is drawn up and submitted in accordance with the procedure established by the ISC organizing committee, which is published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) in the Presentation requirements section.

2.1.2. Passive participant or listener – can freely visit any section and ask questions of their interest in the discussion part.

2.2. All ISC participants have the opportunity to apply for workshops, excursions and other activities in the social program in accordance with the procedures established by the ISC organizing committee.

2.3. All ISC participants (active and passive) have the opportunity to apply for the ISC organized ISC’25 Medical wrestle and Dentistry clinical case competition. The general terms and terms of participation are mentioned in a separate set of regulations.

2.4. Students of any accredited higher education institution may participate in ISC with their research: first- and second-level professional programs, bachelor’s programs, master’s study programs, including students on academic leave.

2.5. Students in residency study programs, as well as students in doctoral study programs, may not participate in ISC with their research.

2.6. Students whose studies are financed both from the state budget and from their own funds can participate in the ISC.

2.7. To allow the active participant to present their research work in any of the before mentioned formats, the permission of the scientific ethics committee of the university and/or hospital has to be gained and needs to be submitted before ISC. Last possible submission date – month before ISC begins. If the permission is not granted or submitted, the ISC membership is revoked. Applies to the research works that involve patient data and other sensitive information.

3. PARTICIPATION FEES

3.1. Information on the amount of the participation fee is published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) in the Fees section.

3.2. Participation fee for RSU students:

3.2.1. There is no charge for active participation.

3.2.2. There is no charge for passive participation.

3.3. Participation fees for students of other higher education institutions:

3.3.1. For active and passive participation, an amount determined by the ISC organizing committee is applied.

3.3.2. Payment for active participation must be made within 5 working days after the announcement of the results of the thesis evaluation committee. If payment is not made within 5 working days, ISC membership is revoked. The participant’s participation fee covers the necessary costs of organizing the ISC. In case the ISC is held online, there is a charge for providing the necessary software for the ISC.

3.4. When registering a payment, the date of transfer of the membership fee is determined after the payment order.

3.5. The participation fee is refunded only if the ISC is canceled.

4. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION OF THESES

4.1. Theses must be submitted at the time and in the order set by the ISC organizing committee, which is published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv).

4.2. The organizing committee can decide to extend the deadline for thesis submission by posting information about it on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) and social networks.

4.3. One student may submit up to 3 theses of several research papers, regardless of the section.

4.3.1. In case report sections, one student may submit no more than one thesis in each of these sections.

4.4. Theses based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses are accepted in health science sections, whereas abstracts based on literature reviews are also accepted in social science sections.

4.5. When submitting theses for the research work, the student indicates only one section in which he wants to present the relevant research.

4.6. After the evaluation of the independent members of the jury commission, the ISC organizing committee has the right to move theses to participate in another section, by informing the first author indicated when submitting the theses.

4.7. After submitting the thesis, it is possible to make changes to the thesis and change the order of authors of the research until the deadline for submitting the thesis.

4.8. The ISC organizing committee is not responsible for grammatical or other errors in thesis.

4.8.1. The ISC organising committee encourages participants to use scientific text improvement tools (e.g., Writefull tool) and/or consulting the Language centre (only for RSU students).

4.9. The evaluation of the applicants and the decision on the approval of theses at the ISC is carried out by an independent jury commission.

4.10. The applicant submits theses electronically by the date set by the ISC organizing committee on the platform indicated on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) by:

4.10.1. Completing the ISC application.

4.10.2. Submitting theses in the format and procedure determined by the ISC organizing committee.

4.12. If the submitted theses do not meet the specified format and requirements, they will not be accepted, informing the first author about this within 2 weeks after the deadline for submitting theses.

4.13. By applying to ISC, the applicant agrees to the transfer of personal data to the relevant third party, as far as it is necessary for the administration of the process, in accordance with the privacy policy of RSU SU.

5. EVALUATION OF THESES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

5.1. The criterion for evaluating applications is the compliance of applicants, submitted documents and submitted theses with the requirements specified in the regulations.

5.2. Theses submitted at the previous year’s ISC, as well as presented at other conferences, are not accepted.

5.3. Thesis are evaluated by an independent jury commission.

5.4. The jury commission sends its decision on the evaluation of theses to the ISC organizing committee within two weeks after the deadline for submitting theses.

5.4.1. The jury committee expresses its opinion on the preferred presentation format of the study at the ISC.

5.5. The ISC organizing committee will announce the results of the evaluation within three weeks after the deadline for thesis submission by sending a confirmation or rejection email to the first named author.

5.6. Confirmation of passive participation in the ISC is received within 3 working days after the application registered at the time and according to the procedure determined by the ISC organizing committee.

6. RESEARCH PRESENTATION

6.1. The study is presented by its first named author.

6.2. The research may be presented by a co-author, by notifying the ISC organizing committee in writing at least 10 working days in advance.

6.3. The Powerpoint presentation of the oral presentation and the material of the poster presentation are submitted at the time specified by the ISC organizing committee. No presentation or corrections will be accepted after the deadline.

6.4. The oral presentation lasts no longer than seven minutes, followed by a three-minute discussion.

6.5. The presentation of the case report/small case series lasts no longer than four minutes, followed by a two-minute discussion.

6.6. The poster presentation lasts no longer than three minutes, followed by a two-minute discussion.

6.7. After the presentation of the work, a discussion part follows, in which the jury asks at least one question.

6.8. Present co-authors of the study may also participate in the discussion and answer questions.

7. EVALUATION OF RESEARCH

7.1. The oral and poster presentations are evaluated by a jury consisting of no less than two local and/or foreign experts in the field.

7.2. The criteria for evaluating the work presented in all sections, except for the Case report section, include (each section is evaluated from 1 to 5 points):

7.2.1. relevance of the chosen topic and relevance of the work content to the topic;

7.2.2. clearly defined objectives of the research work;

7.2.3. compliance of the described method with the purpose of the study;

7.2.4. compliance of the obtained results, conclusions and proposals with the purpose of the research;

7.2.5. cultivated and constructive speech style;

7.2.6. discussion, i.e. answers to jury or audience questions.

7.3. The evaluation criteria of the works presented in the case report section include (each section is evaluated from 1 to 5 points):

7.3.1. relevance of the chosen topic;

7.3.2. a clearly presented description of the clinical case;

7.3.3. relevance of the proposed conclusions and proposals to the clinical case;

7.3.4. cultivated and constructive speech style;

7.3.5. discussion, i.e. answers to jury or audience questions.

7.4. The ISC Organizing Committee may make changes to 7.2. and 7.3. in the described criteria until the announcement of the results of theses evaluation, informing the participants and the jury in advance.

8. CASE REPORT FINAL

8.1. Prize-winners’ works (at least three) from each Case report section are nominated for the Case report final, which is decided by the jury. The first author or one of the co-authors repeats the presentation.

8.2. The results for advancing to the finals are published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) and announced on social networks no later than on the first day of the ISC at 18.00 (GMT+2).

8.3. The presentation lasts no longer than four minutes, followed by a two-minute discussion.

8.4. In the discussion part, the jury asks at least one question.

8.5. In the Case report final, the presentations are evaluated by a jury composed of no less than three specialists from different fields.

8.6. The results of the Case report final are announced at the closing event of the ISC.

8.7. The ISC organizing committee may make changes to the venue, time and/or presentation format of the Case report final, with prior notification to the finalists and the jury.

9. GRAND PRIX FINAL

9.1. First-place winners of oral presentations in each health sciences section, except Case report, are nominated to participate in the Grand Prix final, in case the first-place winner refuses to present or cannot attend, the second-place winner of the respective section is nominated First author or one of the co-authors, in advance announcing, repeats the presentation.

9.2. The results for advancing to the finals are published on the website (isc.rsu.lv) and announced on social networks no later than on the second day of the ISC at 12.00 (GMT+2).

9.3. The presentation lasts no longer than seven minutes, followed by a three-minute discussion.

9.4. In the discussion part, the jury asks at least one question. The audience can also participate in the discussion part if they adhere to the specified time limits.

9.5. At the Grand Prix final, the presentations are evaluated by a jury composed of no less than three specialists from different fields, where one of them may be a representative of the statistical laboratory.

9.6. The results of the Grand Prix final are announced at the closing event of the ISC.

9.7. The ISC organising committee have the right to make changes to the Grand Prix final venue, time and/or presentation format, provided that finalists and the jury are informed in advance.

10. MASTERSHOP WORKSHOPS

10.1. During the ISC, participation in Mastershop workshops will be offered, during which it will be possible to improve practical and theoretical knowledge in various thematic areas.

10.2. Application for the participation in Mastershop workshops is announced by
the ISC organizing committee.

10.3. Participants receive certificates confirming their participation in the Mastershop workshop.

10.4. One participant can participate in each Mastershop workshop only once, and regardless of the status of the participant, the participation fee for participation in the Mastershop workshop must be paid in the amount determined by the ISC organizing committee, information about which will be announced at the same time as the Mastershop application.

10.5. The participation fee for participation in the Mastershop workshop must be paid within 3 working days after receiving a confirmation email about registering for a certain workshop.

10.6. In the event that the participation fee was not paid within the time specified by the ISC Committee, the participant receives information that their Mastershop application has been cancelled.

10.7. When registering a payment, the date of transfer of the membership fee is determined after the payment order.

10.8. The participation fee is returned only in cases where the Mastershop is
cancelled.

11. ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

11.1. The announcement of the award-winner results of the oral presentations, poster presentations, Case reports and the Grand Prix final of all sections takes place at the closing ceremony at the time and in the order set by the ISC organizing committee.

11.2. The winners receive certificates and prizes in the amount determined by the ISC organizing committee. The ISC organizing committee is not responsible for lost prizes.

11.3. At the closing ceremony, awards may be given by associations, companies and others.

11.4. Certificates and prizes not collected within 20 working days of the closing ceremony will not be retained. The receipt of certificates and prizes can be arranged by writing to the e-mail info.isc@rsu.lv. If it is not possible to withdraw the certificate and prize within 20 working days, it must be informed by writing to the above-mentioned e-mail.

11.5. After the closing ceremony, all winners are published on the ISC website (isc.rsu.lv) no later than 5 working days after the end of the ISC.

11.6. Certificates for participation in the conference and Mastershop workshops will be sent within 30 work days after ISC.