Online submissions for a collaborative research symposium to be held as part of Europe’s biggest eye health conference are now open.

The Netherlands Contact Lens Congress will be held on 10 and 11 March 2024 in Veldhoven and is designed to showcase world class clinically relevant research and aim to nurture new researchers, clinicians, and young academics to present at this level.

A call for papers and posters has now been issued for a scientific stream to be delivered by BCLA as part of NCC, with a pre-screening deadline of 1 October 2023 and a final submission deadline of 30 October 2023.

BCLA chief executive Luke Stevens-Burt said: “We look forward once again to overseeing an exciting and innovation-leading stream at the NCC’s event. The theme of the 2024 event is ‘future generation’ and we can expect the profession’s next wave of pioneers shining on stage. This is a congress with education, innovation, news, development and networking at its core and the BCLA is proud to support this event through the scientific stream.”

Submissions for the symposium should be in the form of abstracts and can be a paper or electronic poster (to be allocated by the Academic Committee) with case reports also encouraged. All abstracts will be published in Contact Lens and Anterior Eye (CLAE).

Everyone who submits their abstracts by 1 October using the online submission form will have the opportunity to have them pre-screened once by a member of the NCC and BCLA Academic Committee with any comments returned to the author. Addressing the comments will not guarantee acceptance and authors are responsible for submitting their final abstract by the deadline.

The NCC is a biennial two-day conference first established in 2006. It has grown exponentially over the last decade and is now regarded as the biggest contact lens conference in mainland Europe, attracting more than 1,500 contact lens practitioners and optometrists to the Netherlands.

Subject areas due to feature in the two-day programme are expected to include contact lens materials, solutions, design, entrepreneurship, and the use of AI.

Full criteria for online submission is available at www.bcla.org.uk.