Changing scientific meetings for the better

Scientific conferences are important avenues for researchers to share and discuss research findings, to exchange ideas and insights, and to network for collaboration and career development. Organizing inclusive and useful scientific meetings is a significant responsibility shared by researchers, scientific societies, and other organizations worldwide. Prior to 2020, most conferences were held in-person and provided limited attendance opportunities for many researchers from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly early career researchers (ECRs), researchers from low- and middle-income countries, and junior principal investigators (PIs)1. Some conferences in select disciplines have implemented valuable changes for the community, becoming more receptive to attendees with families. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a major shift has occurred towards virtual conferencing formats, triggering discussions in the scientific community on the current and future formats and organization of conferences. Here we provide recommendations for improving scientific meetings towards more efficient, sustainable, and equitable gatherings.

Instituto de Patología Vegetal

Fil: Sarabipour, Sarvenaz. Johns Hopkins University. Institute for Computational Medicine. Department of Biomedical Engineering; Estados Unidos

Fil: Khan, Aziz. University of Oslo. Nordic EMBL Partnership. Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM); Noruega

Fil: Khan, Aziz. Stanford University. School of Medicine. Stanford Cancer Institute; Estados Unidos

Fil: Yu Fen, Samantha Seah. European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Genome Biology Unit; Alemania

Fil: Mwakilili, Aneth D. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Plant Protection Department; Suecia

Fil: Mwakilili, Aneth D. University of Dar es Salaam. Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; Tanzania

Fil: Mumoki, Fiona N. University of Pretoria. Department of Zoology and Entomology; Sudáfrica

Fil: Sáez, Pablo J. Paris Sciences & Lettres Research University. Institut Curie; Francia

Fil: Sáez, Pablo J. University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology; Alemania

Fil: Schwessinger, Benjamin. Australian National University. Research School of Biology; Australia

Fil: Debat, Humberto Julio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Patología Vegetal; Argentina

Fil: Mestrovic, Tomislav. Dr Zora Profozic Polyclinic. Clinical Microbiology and Parasitology Unit; Croacia

Fil: Mestrovic, Tomislav. University Centre Varazdin. University North; Croacia