Through its courses and conferences (www.embl.org/events), EMBL gives scientists the benefit of its high-impact research, cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art training infrastructure.Credit: Aleksandra Krolik/EMBL
The EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, helps scientists make the most of big data in biology and life sciences research. Cath Brooksbank heads the EMBL-EBI training programme, which uses the experience, passion, and expertise of people across EMBL and the wider bioinformatics community to help educate a broad scientific audience. Its mission is to provide world-leading training in bioinformatics and scientific service provision, to strengthen global bioinformatics capacity, and to ensure that scientists can make the most of biological data and bioinformatics. The EMBL-EBI programme is part of the EMBL Course & Conference Programme, which provides an extensive and dynamic programme of more than 60 conferences and courses, annually, in the molecular life sciences.
Cath Brooksbank, Head of Training at EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UKCredit: EMBL
EMBL-wide, we had already started thinking about providing virtual training before the pandemic hit, as part of a long-term green strategy to reduce the carbon heavy transcontinental travel associated with international congresses. At EMBL-EBI, we have a decade of experience in creating standalone e-learning courses. We’ve been offering live webinars since 2014, but the outbreak of COVID-19 accelerated EMBL’s goal to virtualize full-length courses and conferences, which until then had been in-person events, primarily in Heidelberg and Hinxton. Over the past few years, EMBL-EBI has been able to reach tens of thousands of people with its on-demand e-learning, so we are optimistic that live virtual events will allow us to reach a broader demographic, sustainably.
Has becoming virtual changed your audience?
EMBL’s primary audience has always been post-graduates and beyond in molecular life sciences, and we have seen this grow as our digital offering has increased. But we are also seeing more people from beyond the research environment. We have health professionals coming along, as well as people from applied life sciences such as agri-food, environmental sciences and conservation management.
We have found that making courses and conferences virtual has enhanced our inclusivity: scientists can participate regardless of geographic location, sector or career stage. It has also given our attendees more flexibility – recorded sessions mean that people can watch lectures again, or clashes, or other commitments.
We believe that working virtually makes our training more accessible for people who wouldn’t normally be able to attend, for example those in low- and middle-income countries, and those who find travelling challenging because of health concerns or caring responsibilities. For these reasons, we believe that virtual courses and conferences are here to stay, regardless of pandemic status.
Can virtual events retain the impact and quality of face-to-face delivery?
EMBL pays great attention to the quality of its training, which is cutting-edge because it’s typically delivered by the teams who developed the technology. We are privileged to have inspirational input from scientists and technical experts from our six EMBL sites across Europe, as well as an international community of world-class scientists. Protecting the impact of our courses and conferences was at the forefront as we re-designed our events to work virtually; feedback reassures us that we have maintained, and improved, that impact.
One of the casualties of lockdown is the chance for delegates to meet by chance in coffee breaks or between sessions. We use videoconferencing formats that allow participants to ask questions in real time, and virtual networking tools that support people to talk as a group or have one-to-one discussions. Virtual social mixers allow delegates to meet people, and speednetworking means that people can still have chance encounters. Through these measures we have been able to retain interactivity in a virtual environment.
What’s next for the EMBL external training programme?
EMBL is going to begin a new scientific programme in 2022, with themes in both pure and applied science. We will reflect these in the EMBL Course & Conference Programme.
At EMBL-EBI, we are making our training more discoverable through our website, which has a new interface incorporating live content, interactive activities, downloadable material, on demand video, and a powerful free-text search engine. In future, users will be able to plan their learning and track their progress more intuitively. Working with our colleagues across EMBL, we hope to develop a one-stop training portal that will seamlessly incorporate these new training modalities across the entire Course & Conference Programme.
While we are always looking at ways to improve, our core values remain focused on expertise, innovation, agility, and inclusivity, and our courses continue to balance practical content and theory. We have seen an upturn in uptake by providing a virtual offering, and we are excited about bringing new audiences to EMBL’s external training programme.