Virtual meeting overview

Ethos for EPSC2020

The ethos for EPSC2020 is to create a simple, flexible and inclusive virtual meeting.

Format for EPSC2020

EPSC2020 will be a hybrid conference, containing the following elements:

1. Synchronous (real-time) live-streamed sessions, focused in 2 short time-blocks per day (in the morning and afternoon, maximum 2 hours each). These will include:
• Daily morning briefing and guest interviews (informal chat with highlights from previous day, things to look out for in day’s programme, interviews with key members from the planetary community, discussion of services and wider issues in the community)
• Session showcases (20-minute sessions with a short summary by conveners of highlights within oral and poster sessions and Q&A opportunity for authors)
• Keynote talks (20-minutes lectures nominated by each programme group)
• Prize lectures (20-minute talks by Farinella and Europlanet Prize winners)
• Short courses (1-hour interactive workshops on Early Career, Diversity, and wider community issues)
• Europlanet General Assembly (1-hour community meeting)
• Agency event (1-hour community meeting)
• Industry showcase (1-hour session)
2. Asynchronous (offline) contributed oral presentations: 10-minute long video recordings of talks, arranged according to existing science sessions, and accessible for participants to browse for the duration of the meeting. Each talk will be accompanied by discussion forums for asynchronous Q&A (see 4. below). 'Public' and 'private' settings options will enable authors to opt for whether their presentations are available only to registered participants or a wider audience.
3. Virtual posters: Uploaded in a template designed to be readable on a screen, containing all the information you would traditionally find in a poster. Creativity and interactivity will be encouraged in submissions, and a discussion forum will be associated with each poster (see 4. below).
4. Asynchronous discussion forum: Thread-based comment system linked to each oral and poster presentation. This will permit interaction across multiple time zones and will be accessible to participants throughout the meeting.
5. Splinter meetings: Webconference meetings or workshops, organised and hosted externally by proposers (e.g. via Zoom, GoToMeeting etc.) but approved by the SOC for schedule in the programme.

Timeframe for EPSC2020

The timeframe of the actual conference will be extended over three weeks (21 September–9 October 2020) and all presentations will be available for viewing and comment during this period. Presentations must be submitted two weeks before the meeting (7 September 2020) to give conveners and conference organizers time to check and upload presentations.

Live activities will be focused around the original dates of the meeting but they are likely to be scheduled in the week before as well, particularly if there is a high number of abstracts submitted.

The aim of extending the time frame is to lessen the intensity of the meeting, and enable participation from those with other responsibilities (e.g. carers, teachers, etc.).