Virtual conferences raise standards for accessibility and interactions

Abstract

Scientific conferences have an important role in the exchange of ideas and knowledge within the scientific community. Conferences also provide early-career researchers with opportunities to make themselves known within their field of research. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has brought traditional in-person conferences to a halt for the foreseeable future, the growth of virtual conferences has highlighted many of the disadvantages associated with the in-person format and demonstrated the advantages of moving these events online. Here, based on data from in-person and virtual conferences in a range of subjects, we describe how virtual conferences are more inclusive, more affordable, less time-consuming and more accessible worldwide, especially for early-career researchers. Making conferences more open and inclusive will provide both immediate and long-term benefits to the scientific community.

Evaluating features of scientific conferences: A call for improvements

“…Live streaming allows chat amongst other online attendees in real time, access to sessions that fit attendee schedules, and the ability to stream sessions from any devices while on-the-go creating more space for researchers to interact and connect. The number of conferences that are live-streamed or held in a virtual reality setting have significantly increased over the past few years (Table S13, example 6), particularly the last months in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (Table S13, example 7) (25), showing great success ( Figure 5 ) (26,27,66). Nonetheless, many more are needed in all disciplines.…”

“…Graduate and postdoctoral trainees on average produce about three times less emissions from air travel than fully tenured professors, and female academics also travel less than their male colleagues (59,60). Virtual meetings can boost the number of registered participants up to 50% compared to in-person conferences (61,66). In addition to the added socio-economic and ethnic diversity, digital conferencing can increase diversity of the career stages and genders of attendees, which in turn improves the quality of the scientific research and the conferences (51, 52,54,62).…”

Towards inclusive funding practices for early career researchers

“…Many countries require in-person visa interviews at locations which might not be close to many applicants, and international sanctions may lead to visa denials (Bezuidenhout et al 2019). Furthermore, travel imposes a substantial financial burden on ECRs who often earn a living close to the minimum wage (Malloy 2020;Sarabipour 2020). Travel grants are limited worldwide, and many do not cover visa processing fees, creating a burden for ECRs from countries underrepresented in STEMM or of low-and middle-income status.…”

“…We also recommend that institutions make advance payments on trainee conference attendance and registration costs (Malloy 2020). Finally, conferences should more often be organized online (Weissgerber et al 2020;Sarabipour et al 2020, Sarabipour 2020. Virtual conferences were organized in 2020 across disciplines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing new avenues for research presentation and networking, enabling wider access and low-cost or free access to the latest research worldwide.…”

Post‐COVID‐19 scientific conferences: virtual becomes the new reality

“…Across the board, online conferences have increased attendance, especially from countries with low‐to‐middle income economies and of early‐career researchers, 4 and promoted the diversity of participants and speakers. The virtual environment takes full advantage of presentation, interaction, and moderation technologies, to a higher degree than face‐to‐face meetings.…”