With less than seven weeks to go until the start of the 2021 Ecsite Online Conference, and with one week left on our super early bird Conference rate, you may be wondering about the line-up and programme for the three-day event.

Coming up

This week the Conference Programme Committee (ACPC) are meeting over several days to discuss each and every session and decide which ones will make it into the Online Conference programme. They're positively impressed to discover many new voices and important topics brought forward by the community and the decision-making has not been easy. During these meetings, the ACPC and the Ecsite team are working to puzzle together the Conference Programme, ensuring speakers don't overlap, that sessions flow well and making sure to pay attention to those speakers in different time zones...

To all those who submitted a Conference session; if your session is accepted, you will at the same time be informed of the date & time of your session slot. You will then have a very short time to address any of the Committee's remarks to your session, as well as brush up your session's title, abstract and speakers line-up - the deadline for this is 7 May. After this date, we'll freeze the programme, give it a final editorial review and launch it to the rest of the world, no later than the week of 17 May.

Already confirmed

We have two exciting keynote speakers planned for 9 and 10 June: Ewine van Dishoeck and John H. Falk. There will also be around 70 sessions running throughout the three days, plus dedicated Business and showcase slots. Our Business Buzz will be open for the entire event, as will opportunities to network. There will be 'speed meeting' opportunities and specific online meeting areas that you can visit at any time to socialise and enjoy a coffee together. As with any Ecsite Conference, we'll have the usual mix of social events to finish off each day, including a musical extravaganza of a Gala, a 'not-so' Nocturne and a farewell dance party!