Thomas Ursby on the challenges of organising scientific activities in times of corona

LINXS chats to Thomas Ursby, core member of the Integrative Structural Biology Theme, and project manager for the MicroMAX beamline at MAX IV, about the challenges of organising scientific activities during the corona pandemic. The event, Time Resolved Structural Biology – Seeing the Structure of Motions, was moved forward several times, before it was decided to hold the event online.

Thomas Ursby is a core member of the Integrative Structural Biology Theme and project manager for the MicroMAX beamline at MAX IV, and previously responsible for the constructions of BioMAX, MAX IV.

How do you keep the momentum when you have to push forward an event?

It was difficult in the beginning but now we are getting used to the situation. I think it is important to simply decide a date and adapt the format according to the situation. Of course it adds complexity, and some activities are more difficult to move online. In our case, and in the current situation, I think it is better to just decide that it will be an online event.

What do you have to think about when you go from physical to online?

For us it has been a question of learning how to organise an online workshop which is not the same thing as setting up a video meeting, or participating in an online event. I think the most difficult part has been to figure out how to keep the interactions you have in a physical meeting.

How do you plan to engage the participants?

We will contact participants before the meeting to encourage active participation, but also ask organisers to make extra effort to be active in discussions and asking questions. My experience is that there are less questions during online presentations, but I have also seen many good exceptions to that. We will also have an online poster session, panel discussion, and probably the possibility to meet in a smaller format during coffee breaks. We will see how it works!

Is the science suited to discuss online?

I think it can work well, but I think most people agree that we would like to meet in person. But at a physical meeting, you also need to think about how to encourage different discussions. If there are too short breaks then you miss the opportunity to have a discussion in a smaller format during the break; if you don't have a participant list you might not know that someone you want to discuss with is around for example.

What tips could you give to other working groups in terms of planning?

It is always better to start early to increase the chances that both speakers and other participants can fit the dates into their agenda, but online events make some things easier since people do not need to travel. It avoids the climate effects of travel, but also reduces travel costs and time for travels. Of course if you plan for an online meeting, invite people from all over the world and then decide to change to a physical meeting you might be in trouble.