22 April 2021 – The annual ASCB | EMBO Cell Bio meeting is a venerable festival of the life sciences, featuring keynotes, talks, posters, workshops, exhibitions, and networking activities across four intense December days. Early last year, preparations for the 2020 edition were well underway, with 6,000 people expected in Philadelphia, US. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “Societies had to pivot quickly and do everything they could to create new complete virtual events,” says Erika Shugart, outgoing CEO of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). “During past meetings one of the pleasures for me was walking down the hall, seeing people huddled around laptops, comparing data, and making new connections. After everything was done people went out with friends and colleagues, it was hard work and fun at the same time. When we made the choice to go virtual, I wondered how we could come close to that experience?”
Hundreds of science conferences were cancelled or postponed because of the pandemic. But many more were staged online, and after comparing notes with other societies to assess what was and wasn’t working, Shugart’s team decided on a game plan based on feedback from past attendees: shorten days to suit more time zones, leave weekends free to fit better with attendees’ remote schedules, and extend the conference over three weeks to fit everything in. Shugart says a number of aspects exceeded expectations: talks ran smoothly, discussion sessions enabled participation from a broader group of individuals, and audience numbers hit new records. “There are some things we would do differently, but on the whole speakers rehearsed better and stuck to time, while moderators were able to select the most relevant questions and involve those who might otherwise not have the confidence to stand up in person.” But despite these successes, something was still missing. “Those clusters in the hallway were not really happening,” Shugart says. “The virtual exhibition floor was much smaller, while poster sessions needed a lot more staffing than we anticipated. A lot of people want to get back to in-person networking.”
Attendance for many regular conferences has risen significantly.
Jürgen Deka, Head of External Scientific Training at EMBL
Shugart’s experiences at Cell Bio 2020 mirror those of many conference organisers during the pandemic: that while not perfect, online events are working far better than expected. EMBL’s events team in Heidelberg, Germany was called into immediate action when the pandemic hit, taking the gut-wrenching decision to cancel a major event at just two days’ notice. Yet just a fortnight later, they had delivered their first online conference, and by the end of 2020 had clocked up 17. “It was a tour de force in the beginning, but we have managed the situation very well and our online conferences have received great feedback,” says Jürgen Deka, Head of External Scientific Training at EMBL. “People tell us they are relieved and grateful we have kept up the scientific exchange in these difficult times. What’s more, attendance for many regular conferences has risen significantly and you see questions coming in from all over the world – Asia, Africa, the Americas. And while we have been learning on the foot, things are much more defined now, and we have a dedicated platform that aims to recreate some of the feel of physical conferences.”
While the uncertainty of the pandemic situation is still creating scheduling headaches, questions are now turning to the future. Deka points out that events can be delivered to larger and new audiences, speakers tend to be more available, and the format allows more inclusive conversations – aspects he would like to see remain even when in-person events return. And he says it is a similar story for EMBL’s external training courses. “People can download materials and watch step-by-step videos at their leisure,” he explains. “In fields such as structural biology and bioinformatics, much of the data processing is computer-based anyway, but we have even taken some wet lab-based courses virtual. We can do things that are impractical in-person, for example sending out surveys to test knowledge and stimulate discussion.”
Trainers on EMBO’s Lab Leadership courses, from EMBO Solutions and its partner Leadership Sculptor, also see benefits from bringing their training online. Samuel Krahl, Project Coordinator at EMBO Solutions, says they had to decide whether to completely rethink the course – which covers topics such as leadership and communication skills – or try to adapt what they do in person, online. “In person, the courses are really quite intimate and transformative, we create a very safe space, and at first I was sceptical we could recreate them,” Krahl says. But after exploring ideas, they were convinced they could use well-known digital technologies to recreate that safe learning and sharing space online. “We chose solutions partly based on their simplicity and familiarity: flipcharts have been replaced by Google Docs, teaching materials have been beautifully adapted by an illustrator and transformed into PowerPoint slides. Zoom-based breakout spaces allow people to connect and talk to each other in small groups. And we have been careful to complement the trainer-led input with lots of small group work with the support of worksheets that help structure the discussions,” adds CJ Fitzsimons, CEO of Leadership Sculptor.
I think some people might feel safer: that slight level of abstraction lets them open up more.
Sam Krahl, EMBO Lab Leadership Courses
Krahl says that the nature of the EMBO courses suit a virtual format. “People say that they have gotten to know each other despite being behind a screen,” he explains. “Rather than a barrier to connection, I think some people might feel safer: that slight level of abstraction lets them open up more. We spend a lot of time in the morning of the first day doing introductory exercises with participants, getting them used to the virtual space. As the course moves on we encourage them to talk about the harder stuff they face in their research career. It works incredibly well. When we can go back to in-person training, we want to bring some of the ideas we have developed online back into the physical space. I would also like to continue to offer online courses, as it presents possibilities to reach people all over the world, as well as those who don’t have the possibility or desire to attend for three days in-person.”
A recent survey by Nature suggests that a majority of researchers would like to see virtual conferences or a virtual component remain after the pandemic ends. Deborah Charlesworth, a Professor at the University of Edinburgh who co-organised a virtual EMBO | EMBL Symposium on the Molecular Basis and Evolution of Sexual Dimorphism, is amongst them. “I think online conferences are brilliant, the conference organisers at EMBL and EMBO ensured that everything ran very smoothly,” says Charlesworth, an EMBO Member. “There are pluses and minuses, but many older participants are relieved when they do not have to travel – especially flying. It saves time, is more environmentally friendly, and is more affordable. I think researchers should attend meetings in-person from time-to-time because of the networking benefits, but we also need to be mindful how public money is spent. We are still evolving how we meet together online and I feel there are lots of things still to explore: for instance on-demand recorded talks have been a revelation and we could select some of these talks and use them as discussion topics during lab meetings.”
We are still evolving how we meet together online and I feel there are lots of things still to explore.
EMBO Member Deborah Charlesworth
Online conferences also open up opportunities to reach a wider, younger, and perhaps more diverse global audience according to a survey of online conference participants by Science Careers. Shahar Taiber, a PhD Student at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel, who presented a virtual poster at the 2020 Association for Research in Otolaryngology conference, agrees. “Going virtual makes conferences very accessible – there’s no flying, no jet lag, you save time, and it’s much cheaper,” says Taiber, who works in the group of EMBO Member Karen Avraham and says that many more researchers in his lab were able to attend the conference this year than previously. But despite enjoying the scientific presentations, Taiber says there have also been drawbacks. “In previous editions of the conference, I have found the poster sessions to be an absolute highlight. But online I found interactions limited and awkward, both as a presenter and participant. At one point my session was even targeted by hackers, who made a lot of commotion – and there are also questions being asked about whether researchers are as comfortable sharing unpublished data in an online environment. The talks were great, but we are still learning how to get some things right.”
Time zone differences also present a challenge, as Yansong Miao, Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technical University in Singapore, found when he attended Cell Bio 2020. “In Singapore we are 12 hours ahead of the US East Coast and the conference was running until three or four in the morning here – I missed a lot of content,” says Miao, who is an EMBO Global Investigator. “Online meetings present great learning opportunities as some talks are recorded and I don’t need to travel. But I also feel the levels of engagement are a lot less. I like to talk to people face-to-face, see their excitement, go in depth about their research. My work is very interdisciplinary, and I attend conferences to connect with communities and tell the world who I am and what I do. it’s more effective if you tell your research in person.”
What is missing are the unplanned interactions, connecting with people you don’t know, meeting young researchers.
EMBO Member Jürgen Knoblich
Do a quick scan of recent media reports or social media posts and it becomes clear the issue that most frustrates scientists about online conferences is a lack of networking. “One of the key missions of our meeting is to generate an atmosphere of trust and cooperation – to get people together, agree standards, share data, and motivate young scientists to enter the field,” says Jürgen Knoblich, Scientific Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and an organiser of a virtual EMBO|EMBL Symposium on Organoids – which, with 880 participants, was the largest scientific conference ever organised by EMBL and EMBO. “Given the pandemic circumstances, our event was a huge success: EMBL and EMBO have been amazing and the whole mindset has been fantastic. But what is missing are the unplanned interactions, connecting with people you don’t know, meeting young researchers – this is a big disadvantage. On the other hand, the kind of conversations we are having now would have been hard to imagine even just one year ago: we have learned to be more connected. In future, I would like to see real meetings with online possibilities, but it’s something we need to adjust to – it will be important, for instance, to ensure online viewers are not ‘second-class’ participants, or this could damage the dynamic of the conference.”
Knoblich suggests that if it is not possible to improve networking opportunities during online-only conferences, then it could be necessary to radically rethink their format. His conference co-organiser Esther Schnapp also points to workarounds that could lend well to integration with in-person events once they return. “Talks went really well, we had a lot of questions and found that more participants were very comfortable asking them over text or video chat,” says Schnapp, who is a Senior Editor at EMBO Reports. “In theory, at a physical conference, there could be video sessions with certain speakers so that anyone who is registered remotely could ask questions directly. This could be used as a basis for making new contacts and new collaborations – it’s a different way of doing it, and maybe we just need to get used to it. But then again I have not met many people who would prefer that to meeting colleagues in person.”
Funders and organisers have been presented with big questions as to how to logistically and financially adjust as the uncertainties of the pandemic drag on, the answers to which Gerlind Wallon, Head of the EMBO Courses & Workshops Programme, says requires a community response. “It’s clear that the pandemic situation will be impacting science events for some time to come – do conferences stay online? Do we go back in person? Or can we create a hybrid to bring together the best of both worlds?” she asks. “But this then raises more questions: what would a hybrid actually look like? Are the speakers remote? What about the participants? What’s the financial model? We are getting a good idea of the advantages and disadvantages of online conferences, but no one has yet developed policies for what we expect events to look like after the pandemic.”
EMBO has been engaging with researchers to try and help answer these questions. “It could be that virtual meetings have not been developed to their full potential, or that participants are used to a certain way and the community needs to adapt,” Wallon says. “However, at the moment, only a minority of our meetings have gone virtual, while others have been postponed or cancelled – often because organisers feel the virtual format is not for them. A new platform developed by EMBO could make things more appealing and straightforward for virtual conference organisers, but this is not the only solution we need. On the other hand we have already been looking to make conferences greener and reduce the carbon footprint. The pandemic situation has compelled us to push forward ideas much faster. People want to meet as soon as possible, but it won’t be the same, and it will be very interesting to see the direction the community decides on.”
Aside from functional aspects, a big determining factor in making these decisions will be cost. “Delivering an online event is a professional operation and there is a lot of technology and resources involved – AV equipment, speaker tests, conference officers, registrations – the list goes on,” Jürgen Deka says. “In our experience we have needed double our staff operations to ensure online conferences run smoothly, and it was only possible due to the fact our programme has been downscaled by around 50% due to postponements and cancellations.”
This could make running virtual and in-person events in parallel cost prohibitive for some, especially for organisations that hold events infrequently, or on lower budgets, explains Erika Shugart. “But at the moment it’s a blank canvas, there are still a lot of possibilities,” she says. “One we are exploring is a combination of in-person and curated virtual events, where we have an in-person meeting, record a number of sessions, and they are shown a-synchronously at other sites. There could be continental hubs where people come and see virtual talks and host their own poster sessions. And maybe some of that content is even coming back to the main meeting. But almost anything is on the table at the moment.”
