This year, going to conferences looks really different. And so does preparing for conferences. Here at GMPV, we want to give you the best possible chance to get the most out of the conference. So, building on EGU’s top 10 tips, we bring you GMPV’s ultimate guide to #shareEGU20*
*we reserve the right to forget a few things 😉
Main points:
- You don’t need to register to participate but you do need a Copernicus user account if you want to comment on displays outside of the session chats.
- Some things are done via Zoom – like short courses, and big assembly-wide things like the Great Debates and Union Symposia – but the bulk of the conference is going to be run through written message chats which are meant as a Q&A session for authors so you’ll need to do your homework and have your questions at the ready!
- There are some opportunities for networking and socialising (see below)!
- Think critically about the meeting and your experiences – what worked well and what didn’t? EGU really wants and needs your feedback!
First, a basic question: do you need to register? The answer: no! You do not need to register or pay to view abstracts. However, to upload presentations, or comment on them outside of the chats which are replacing the sessions this year you need to have a Copernicus user account. Viewing abstracts and presentation materials does not require this. Participating in text-based session chat channels requires the provision of a nickname and your email address.
Second: how is it going to work this year? This is an experiment! Not only is this the first time that EGU has done anything like this, but EGU is also the first major geological science conference to go fully online in this way this year.
- Presentation materials: all abstracts,whether originally assigned a poster, interactive PICO session or talk, are now assigned as a ‘display’ which can be in one of a number of formats, but cannot be a larger file size than 50MB. For more information check here.
- Sessions: sessions will be run as written message chats. The exact format will be determined by the conveners but most are likely to assign a specific time slot to each abstract – so have your questions ready! Session chats are not recorded.
- Great debates: The GDBs highlight important topics for discussion by an expert panel, from diversity in academia to climate change. We’re really excited that the GDBs are going ahead this year – there is one each day of the conference, they’ll be hosted on Zoom and you can register here: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2020/sessionprogramme/GDB (I’ve already registered for all of them!)
- In a similar vein, the Union Symposia are also going ahead this year on Zoom – these discuss big overacrching themes in the geosciences. This year they cover: scientific best practice in a pandemic, UN sustainable development goals, fire(!), climate change, and planetary obervations from space. How could you resist? Find out more here.
- Short courses: a few of the short courses are being run as webinars this year, with topics including advice for data management, and mental health. Find out more here.
- Networking: you might think that networking is off the cards for this year but no! There are some special opportunites to interact with your fellow geoscientists:
- The GMPV ECS networking social event: we’re offering an opportunity to chat informally with new friends in small groups on zoom. The GMPV event is on Thursday 7 May 2020 at 19:00-19:45 CEST. See here for more details:
- Also remember that the division meetings are going ahead as usual. This is a chance to hear from the division president, as well as other members of the GMPV team of scientific officer and ECS reps on what GMPV is getting up to. This year the meeting is at 12:45-13:45 on Thursday 7 May 2020 (search for DM12 in the programme to join)
- There’s also a games night and a data helpdesk! Find out more here!
Our biggest piece of advice: do your homework! More than ever, getting the most out of the conference requires spending time preparing. We really think that to get the most out of the conference this year we all need to spend more time preparing than usual: looking at display material in advance and preparing questions so that we can ask them during the time-limited written chats in the sessions. There won’t be time to look at the material properly during the chats.
There are some activities happening through social media that would usually happen in person at the GA. There is the #shareEGUart ‘activity’ where we’re hoping to track geological art over the week. GMPV is proud to be hosting the kids art activity this year: Volcanic Paint! You can share your art via email to ecs-gmpv@egu.eu and on social media using the hashtag #shareEGUartKIDS. Artwork will be featured on the EGU website at the end of the week.
(logo by Maike Neuland)
EGU has set up a whole host of tutorials to help you navigate the conference this year!
- How to use the chats: for authors, conveners and participant, here
EGU has also created a ‘EGU 2020 at a glance’ page that highlights most of the information we have shared here
There are also more general FAQs here.
This post was put together by Emily Mason
