Success for RoCS Virtual meeting

Good talks,  good discussions and many participants logged on. RoCS - Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics are doing their first virtual workshop this week. Every afternoon for four days. 

Photo of many people on a Zoom workshop

A glimpse from RoCS first Virtual workshop which went for three hours over four days. Photo: Luc Rouppe van der Voort, UiO.

All PIs take part in leading the meeting that is held for two hours each day from Monday 18th to Thursday 21st of January. We asked PI Luc Rouppe van der Voort how it has been so far.

Five men in the leader group
RoCS PIs (Principal Investigators) and Director (centre). From left to
right: Boris Gudiksen, Sven Wedemeyer, Mats Carlsson, Viggo Hansteen and
Luc Rouppe van der Voort. Another RoCS PI is Tiago Pereira (not in
picture). Photo: UiO.

- How many have been participating in the meeting ?

- 51 participants, 45 speakers - all people connected closely to RoCS. 

- How many have been participating from outside Norway?

Image may contain: Glasses, Eyewear, Glasses, Vision care, Chin.
Adjunct Professor Guillaume Aulanier has just accepted a position at RoCS and joined the meeting from Paris: - I already knew that the group was no less than the world leader in its specialty. But the meeting this week unveiled to me how amazingly lively the group also is. I am really looking forward to sharing our expertises, and to coming to Oslo as soon as the situation allows it.

11 persons:

  • All professor II (6)
  • All scientific advisory committee (4)
  • Rob Rutten (emiritus professor II)

- How has the experience been so far? 

- It is going well, there are good talks, some good discussions, many participants logged on (almost always more than 40). All PIs (Principal Investigators) take part in leading the meeting over the four days.

- Any feedback from the participants?

- Yes, a number have said they enjoy the meeting. It is really nice to hear what everybody is working on. Specially the professor IIs have said that they see this as a nice opportunity to get to know the whole group.

- 15 minutes to each presenter - is that due to Zoom fatigue or to get a slot for everyone?

Elderly man with red hair and glasses
Dr. Oskar Steiner, RoCS
Scientific advisory committee, gave a talk at the meeting from his home in Switzerland. He says: - I am impressed by the good, vibrant, common spirit that still exist at RoCS despite the fact that people are forced to work at home and don’t see each other  daily because of the pandemic. Especially for the PhD students, this is a big challenge and it’s important that supervisors keep in close contact with them not to get them lost. It seems to me, this is to a great deal done at RoCS. A virtual meeting like this is a very very important component of holding RoCS together during this period of pandemic times. Photo: UiO

- 10 minutes talk + 5 minutes discussion. This is mainly to have a chance to have everybody present their work. 10 minutes is just enough to get a taste of what one is working on. Normally, when we can meet in person, we have this kind of RoCS meetings compressed in two days.

We thought packing 45 talks in two full days would be too exhausting for a zoom meeting. Therefore we decided to spread it over multiple days.

- Is there anything you would have like to have done different?

- Nothing so far, but we'll make sure to ask everyone about their experience afterwards.

- How much planning was involved?

- There is an organizing committee consisting of Kilian Krikova, Aditi Bhatnagar, Benedikte Fagerli Karlsen and me. We had a few zoom meetings and further discussions over email and Slack. I think organising a physical meeting demands much more work. 

-  Do you think this worked so well you should do it again?

- Well, I very much prefer a meeting in person. I think the social aspect of meeting each other in person is very important. We have one quiz in the program but other than that there is no social element.

If the situation with social distancing and home office continues for longer than we currently anticipate, we should not wait too long with organising another zoom meeting like this.

One very positive thing of this meeting is that we have contributions from all professor IIs, that we would never have managed for an ordinary meeting.

Virtual meeting's program with full list of talks and participants
Efficient and interesting workshop over four days on Zoom. Enough breaks and also a social element to get to know each other even better. Photo: UiO.
By Eyrun Thune
Published Jan. 21, 2021 9:11 AM - Last modified Jan. 21, 2021 4:26 PM