This article is made available via the ACS COVID-19 subset for unrestricted RESEARCH re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. International conferences are an essential component of the timely exchange of ideas and results in the scientific community, where scientists present their results, gain new insights, and meet colleagues and collaborators. In early 2020, a global pandemic caused by a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the corresponding disease (covid-19) resulted in a number of conferences being canceled or postponed.(1) To foster scientific exchange despite the restrictions, a range of initiatives were launched across the globe to move international conferences online.(2−8) The Perils of Traditional Scientific Meetings. Sharing knowledge is an imperative for scientists. This process leads to communicating results, findings, observations, and views arising from the research activities.(9) For scientific activities to become part of the shared body of knowledge, a formal communication process is an integral component of science. Communication, reputation, and impact are thereby important drivers of scientific progress.(10) There are two main channels of formal scientific communication, which are either written or oral. While written communication comes in the form of scientific papers, oral communication occurs mainly during scientific conferences (Figure 1, left). Both channels have a long tradition, and papers published in scientific journals are the most dominant format in which scientific knowledge resides. However, over the last few decades, the advent of digital media and communication has dramatically transformed the means and pace of scientific publications. The leading scientific journals publish papers in a more accessible way, including attractive formats that appeal to general readership.(11) Figure 1. Left: Scientific communication at international conferences. Copyright: teravector@123RF.com. Right: Online Conferences. Copyright: Bakhtiar Zein, 123RF.com. On the other hand, the format of scientific conferences has practically remained unchanged despite the digital revolution. At the same time, the number of conferences increased dramatically with the extended connectivity and travel. In the late 20th century, scientific conferences consisted mostly of large regular events joined by the entire scientific community. However, since 2010, the combination of several factors, including the ease of launching a conference, the appearance of new and rapidly expanding topics, such as perovskite solar cells, along with the extraordinary growth of the scientific system in Asia, led to an increase in the number of conferences, which has in turn affected the rate of international travel. The scientific community has long been pointing out the negative impact of intense professional mobility. For instance, Sir Fraser Stoddart, professor at Northwestern University, reported that the number of his international travel appointments increased from around 20 to more than 60 per year after receiving the 2016 Nobel Prize.(12) These are exceptional travel schedules. Scientists at the professor level emit on average around 11 tons of CO₂ per year, and around 4 tons at a student level.(13) This is unsustainable, especially for a community that works on shaping the future of our planet. As mobility becomes increasingly important for scientists, they are often viewed as global nomads,(14) living between international meetings, seminars, and conferences on flights and train rides throughout the year.(15−17) We are only beginning to grasp the implications of such a lifestyle on our carbon footprint, equal opportunities, and personal well-being, including work–life balance.(15−17) Traditionally, attending a scientific conference has been a matter of high professional importance and personal excitement. However, this format is presently questioned by the community. Apart from the large carbon footprint associated with the international flights, most international conferences remain scarcely accessible to a wide set of researchers, including persons with disabilities and those with limited resources or having caring and family commitments. This further reduces the capacity for frequent communication with a broader audience, unless one continuously attends events, which in turns stimulates competition to attract prominent invited speakers, leaving declined invitations to be even perceived negatively. As a result, most invited speakers often belong to the same pool of scientists, and thus, speaking at more conferences does not necessarily result in higher visibility. Therefore, attending conferences becomes a challenging enterprise, consuming time and resources, whereas professional benefits are not always apparent.(14) The Emergence of Online Conferencing. In the time of worldwide confinements disrupting travel plans, it comes as no surprise that the scientific community has been striving to find an alternative. This has been particularly important toward the efforts to minimize the environmental impact of travel.(15−18) Since major scientific meetings and conferences have been canceled or postponed, such as those of the Materials Research Society (MRS), American Chemical Society (ACS), as well as Gordon Research Conferences (GRC), more representatives of the community moved their international activities online (Figure 1, right).(4−7,19−21) This provided a unique learning opportunity for students and researchers, along with the possibility to explore various research areas remotely. There has been an effort from the energy research community in this direction. In particular, the nanoGe platform has organized a new series of online meetups that gathered the photovoltaics community,(2) along with the first virtual perovskite conference (ViPerCon) that took place in April 2020,(3) jointly bringing together more than 1200 attendees worldwide over several days of online seminars (Figure 2). This provided a new stage to meet and exchange ideas, typically opening with lectures of some of the leading experts in the research field, followed by a moderated Q&A session and ePoster presentations. The talks and Q&A took place in a video chat platform with questions submitted in writing and a moderator managing the logistics. The online poster sessions were placed in a separate chat platform that enabled discussion between participants. Figure 2. Impressions from the nanoGe Online Meetups and the ViPerCon. Image Credit: @nanoGe_Conf.(22) A few early lessons learned suggest that the talks were more effective if comparably short in this format, and that Q&A in a panel setting works very well. On the other hand, when scheduling virtual events, it has been proven necessary to carefully consider the differences in time zones, which can be a drawback for some participants, as keeping the attention on the screen for a long period of time during very early or late hours is particularly demanding. In this regard, the digital environment also requires an attractive and interactive format because of the ease of leaving the virtual space with a “click”. Some of the limitations of online conferences have also been the absence of contributing talks that would broaden the scope and give more opportunities to early-career researchers. In addition, one of the main challenges is to enable the interaction between participants that is at the heart of scientific conferences, where social life, informal discussions, and more personal exchanges generate essential contacts and cooperation, enhancing the scientific activity and research progress in general. While these personal interactions cannot be substituted, online conferences provide a unique opportunity to complement traditional conference formats while upholding the benefits(23) of presenting and receiving feedback, keeping up with cutting-edge research, sharing research insights, and having the opportunity to be exposed to inspiring ideas and people, as well as maintaining the sense of community. This stimulates a number of online initiatives, including short professional meetings that concentrate on particularly interesting research topics, such as those organized by the nanoGe Online Meetups,(2) as well as the continuation of earlier online events that are increasingly important, such as the RSC Twitter Posters.(20) Furthermore, major events have moved online to maintain the sense of rich scholarly days of traditional conferences, such as the 12th Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) that has been transformed into the HOPV20 Online Conference.(24) This effort is complemented with other educational programs, including webinars and courses, along with scientific discussions hosted by local research institutes, which have been substituted by video conferencing, opening them to the global scientific community. These online activities are shaping scientific communication beyond the traditional format. What We Learned Moving Forward. Following the experience of online conferences, it has become clear that international gatherings can take place online without compromising the quality of the scientific exchange (Figure 3). Some of the presentations, such as the online posters, are even enhanced by the multimedia content (e.g., video presentations). Moreover, the online events have proven to be more accessible, providing the opportunity for a greater number of researchers across the globe to attend at affordable prices and with minimal carbon footprint. This factor has brought a more diverse community together, including those who often do not have the resources to undertake long and expensive intercontinental journeys or cannot attend because of family care or other responsibilities. Finally, the interaction between the speakers and the attendees appears to be facilitated online as compared to in-person conferences, with many more questions following the talks and panel discussions. Each talk sparked more questions than there was time to answer them. Presumably, the somewhat less personal interaction lowers the barriers for the intimidating act of asking a question. While one-on-one discussions and direct personal exchanges remain more challenging in the early online formats, further advancements might be able to overcome this obstacle as well. Figure 3. Online conferencing. Copyright: Andrii Torianyk (left) and Anastasiia Nevestenko (right), 123RF.com. All in all, online conferences are not likely to entirely replace in-person meetings. However, a global crisis has created another stage for emerging online tools that have the potential to dramatically reduce the scientific “travel circus” and provide a more accessible, inclusive, and diverse platform for scientific exchange. This progress could be further enhanced by the development of digital technologies (e.g., virtual reality) and introducing “hybrid conference” events including both in-person and online sessions. We hope that the community uses this momentum to transform the conference experience in the future. Views expressed in this Energy Focus are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS. The authors declare no competing financial interest. The authors declare no competing financial interest. This article references 24 other publications.

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全球危机时期的在线会议：迈向可持续会议

本文通过 ACS COVID-19 子集提供，可供以任何形式或通过任何方式不受限制地进行研究重复使用和分析，并注明原始来源。这些许可的授予期限为世界卫生组织 (WHO) 宣布 COVID-19 为全球大流行病期间。国际会议是科学界及时交流思想和成果的重要组成部分，科学家们可以在这里展示他们的成果，获得新的见解，并会见同事和合作者。2020 年初，由冠状病毒 (SARS-CoV-2) 和相应疾病 (covid-19) 引起的全球大流行导致许多会议被取消或推迟。(1) 尽管存在限制，为了促进科学交流，全球范围内发起了一系列举措，将国际会议转移到网上。(2−8)传统科学会议的危险。分享知识对于科学家来说是当务之急。这一过程导致交流研究活动中产生的结果、发现、观察和观点。(9) 为了使科学活动成为共享知识体系的一部分，正式的交流过程是科学的一个组成部分。因此，传播、声誉和影响力是科学进步的重要驱动力。(10) 正式的科学传播有两种主要渠道，即书面的或口头的。书面交流以科学论文的形式进行，而口头交流主要发生在科学会议期间（图 1，左）。这两个渠道都有悠久的传统，在科学期刊上发表的论文是科学知识存在的最主要形式。然而，在过去的几十年里，数字媒体和通信的出现极大地改变了科学出版物的手段和速度。领先的科学期刊以更容易理解的方式发表论文，包括吸引普通读者的有吸引力的格式。(11) 图 1. 左：国际会议上的科学传播。版权所有：teravector@123RF.com。右：在线会议。版权所有：Bakhtiar Zein，123RF.com。另一方面，尽管发生了数字革命，科学会议的形式实际上仍然没有改变。与此同时，随着互联互通和旅行的扩展，会议数量急剧增加。20世纪末，科学会议主要由整个科学界参加的大型定期活动组成。然而，自 2010 年以来，多种因素的综合作用，包括召开会议的便利性、钙钛矿太阳能电池等新的且迅速扩展的主题的出现，以及亚洲科学体系的非凡发展，导致了会议数量，这反过来又影响了国际旅行率。科学界长期以来一直指出强烈的职业流动性的负面影响。例如，西北大学教授弗雷泽·斯托达特爵士 (Sir Fraser Stoddart) 报告称，在获得 2016 年诺贝尔奖后，他的国际旅行预约数量从每年约 20 次增加到 60 多次。(12) 这些都是特殊的旅行安排。教授级科学家平均排放约11吨CO ₂每年，学生水平约为 4 吨。(13) 这是不可持续的，特别是对于致力于塑造地球未来的社区而言。随着流动性对科学家来说变得越来越重要，他们常常被视为全球游牧者，(14) 全年都生活在国际会议、研讨会以及乘坐飞机和火车的会议之间。(15−17) 我们才刚刚开始理解其中的含义这种生活方式对我们的碳足迹、平等机会和个人福祉（包括工作与生活的平衡）的影响。(15−17) 传统上，参加科学会议具有高度的职业重要性和个人兴奋感。然而，这种格式目前受到社区的质疑。除了与国际航班相关的大量碳足迹之外，大多数国际会议仍然很难让广大研究人员参加，包括残疾人和资源有限或有照顾和家庭责任的人。这进一步降低了与更广泛的受众进行频繁交流的能力，除非一个人持续参加活动，这反过来又刺激了吸引知名受邀演讲者的竞争，甚至使拒绝邀请的人产生负面看法。因此，大多数受邀演讲者往往属于同一科学家群体，因此，在更多会议上发言并不一定会带来更高的知名度。因此，参加会议成为一项充满挑战的事业，耗费时间和资源，而专业效益并不总是显而易见。(14)在线会议的出现。在全球范围内的封锁扰乱旅行计划的时代，科学界一直在努力寻找替代方案也就不足为奇了。这对于尽量减少旅行对环境影响的努力尤为重要。(15−18) 由于重大科学会议和会议已被取消或推迟，例如材料研究学会 (MRS)、美国化学会 (ACS) 的会议）以及戈登研究会议（GRC），更多的社区代表将他们的国际活动转移到了网上（图 1，右）。(4−7,19−21) 这为学生和研究人员提供了独特的学习机会，可以远程探索各种研究领域。能源研究界一直在朝这个方向努力。特别是，nanoGe 平台组织了一系列新的在线聚会，聚集了光伏界，(2) 以及 2020 年 4 月举行的首届虚拟钙钛矿会议 (ViPerCon)，(3) 共同聚集了 1200 多名与会者为期数天的全球在线研讨会（图 2）。这提供了一个见面和交流想法的新舞台，通常以研究领域一些领先专家的讲座开始，然后是主持的问答环节和电子海报演示。会谈和问答在视频聊天平台上进行，问题以书面形式提交，主持人负责管理后勤工作。在线海报会议被放置在一个单独的聊天平台中，以便参与者之间进行讨论。图 2. nanoGe 在线聚会和 ViPerCon 的印象。图片来源：@nanoGe_Conf.(22) 一些早期的经验教训表明，如果这种形式的会谈相对较短，那么会更有效，而且小组讨论中的问答效果非常好。另一方面，在安排虚拟活动时，事实证明有必要仔细考虑时区的差异，这对某些参与者来说可能是一个缺点，因为在很早或很长一段时间内将注意力集中在屏幕上。深夜工作要求特别高。在这方面，数字环境还需要一种有吸引力的交互式格式，因为只需“点击”即可轻松离开虚拟空间。在线会议的一些局限性还在于缺乏能够扩大范围并为早期职业研究人员提供更多机会的贡献演讲。此外，主要挑战之一是使参与者之间能够进行互动，这是科学会议的核心，社交生活、非正式讨论和更多的个人交流产生了必要的接触与合作，从而总体上增强了科学活动和研究进展。虽然这些个人互动无法替代，在线会议提供了一个独特的机会来补充传统会议形式，同时保持提出和接收反馈、跟上前沿研究、分享研究见解以及有机会接触鼓舞人心的想法和人的好处(23)，以及维护社区意识。这刺激了许多在线举措，包括专注于特别有趣的研究主题的简短专业会议，例如由 nanoGe 在线聚会组织的会议，(2) 以及继续开展越来越重要的早期在线活动，例如RSC Twitter海报。(20) 此外，为了保持传统会议丰富的学术氛围，重大活动都转移到了网上，例如第12届混合与有机光伏会议(HOPV)已经转变为HOPV20在线会议。( 24) 这项努力得到了其他教育计划的补充，包括网络研讨会和课程，以及当地研究机构主办的科学讨论，这些计划已被视频会议取代，向全球科学界开放。这些在线活动正在塑造超越传统形式的科学传播。我们学到了什么继续前进。根据在线会议的经验，很明显，国际聚会可以在网上举行，而不会影响科学交流的质量（图3）。一些演示，例如在线海报，甚至通过多媒体内容（例如视频演示）得到增强。此外，事实证明，在线活动更容易参与，为全球更多研究人员提供了以实惠的价格和最小的碳足迹参加的机会。这一因素将更加多元化的社区聚集在一起，包括那些往往没有资源进行漫长而昂贵的洲际旅行或因家庭照顾或其他责任而无法参加的人。最后，与现场会议相比，演讲者和与会者之间的互动似乎在网上更加方便，在会谈和小组讨论之后还有更多问题。每次演讲引发的问题都多于没有时间回答的问题。据推测，较少的个人互动会降低提出问题的恐吓行为的障碍。虽然一对一的讨论和直接的个人交流在早期的在线形式中仍然更具挑战性，但进一步的进步也可能能够克服这一障碍。图 3. 在线会议。版权所有：Andrii Torianyk（左）和 Anastasiia Nevestenko（右），123RF.com。总而言之，在线会议不太可能完全取代面对面会议。然而，全球危机为新兴在线工具创造了另一个舞台，这些工具有可能大大减少科学“旅行马戏团”，并为科学交流提供一个更容易获得、更具包容性和多样化的平台。通过数字技术（例如虚拟现实）的发展和引入“混合会议”活动（包括现场会议和在线会议）可以进一步促进这一进步。我们希望社区利用这一势头来改变未来的会议体验。本能源焦点中表达的观点是作者的观点，不一定是 ACS 的观点。作者声明不存在竞争性经济利益。作者声明不存在竞争性经济利益。本文引用了其他 24 篇出版物。