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Virtual conferences becoming a reality

Nature Chemistry volume 2, pages 148–152 (2010)Cite this article

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Traditional scientific conferences can be costly and time-consuming, and certainly aren't 'green', with participants travelling long distances to attend. Are there advantages to meetings held in the virtual world, and can they really offer equally satisfying — or even better — experiences compared with the real world?

Scientists have long recognized the potential of the internet for facilitating scientific communication — indeed, this was one of the original motivations behind its creation. Well before the web revolution, scientists used rudimentary internet connectivity platforms such as BioMoo2 to communicate, collaborate and train fellow scientists via telnet connections using ASCII text and ASCII art. Subsequent improvements including online poster sessions, webinars, blogs and discussion forums have, as yet, had little effect in replacing face-to-face scientific conferences. Although heated debate and exchange of ideas are possible in online forums, the limited ability to carry on multiple simultaneous conversations in real time has, so far, limited the acceptance of these new media as credible alternatives to face-to-face scientific meetings.

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Figure 1: Participants in the Fifth Solvay Conference held in Brussels in 1927.

BENJAMIN COUPRIE, INSTITUT INTERNATIONAL DE PHYSIQUE DE SOLVAY

Figure 2: A virtual meeting environment.
Figure 3: The conference venue in action.
Figure 4: Group photo of participants from the virtual poster session pilot study.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Kevin Chapman, Anil Tarachandani and Mike Bevil for valuable discussions and assistance. We are also grateful to the Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) New Technologies Review & Licensing Committee (NTRLC) for providing financial support for this project, and to all the presenters and attendees of the Spring 2009 Merck Technology Poster Session.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Christopher J. Welch, Sanjoy Ray, Jaime Melendez, Thomas Fare, Martin Leach are at the Merck Research Laboratories, Merck, RY 801 A100, Rahway, New Jersey 07065, USA.,

    Christopher J. Welch, Sanjoy Ray, Jaime Melendez, Thomas Fare & Martin Leach

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  1. Christopher J. Welch
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  2. Sanjoy Ray
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  3. Jaime Melendez
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Correspondence to Christopher J. Welch or Sanjoy Ray.

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Welch, C., Ray, S., Melendez, J. et al. Virtual conferences becoming a reality. Nature Chem 2, 148–152 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.556

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