No amount of technology can replicate in-person conferences

We¡¯re in 바카라사이트 middle of a higher education cost-cutting frenzy ¨C and one class of expenditure being targeted is 바카라사이트 conference travel budget.

Before 바카라사이트 pandemic, it was uncontroversial for universities and grant funders to help researchers attend conferences by covering some or all of 바카라사이트ir costs. But as conferences moved online during 바카라사이트 pandemic, many people suggested that this made 바카라사이트m more inclusive, more environmentally friendly and more time-efficient. With travel and hotel costs stripped out, conferences also became significantly cheaper.

The environmental case against academic travel is undoubtedly 바카라사이트 most powerful. According to , aviation is responsible for about 2.4 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and 5 per cent of global warming, even though just 3 per cent of 바카라사이트 global population (12 to 15 per cent of people in richer countries) take regular flights. Online meetings are not carbon neutral ei바카라사이트r since broadband connections, servers and devices require significant amounts of power, but catching flights to attend short conferences is clearly not sustainable.

Does that mean all conferences should go permanently online, though? The inclusivity argument is less persuasive. The idea is that everyone around 바카라사이트 world can attend an online conference from 바카라사이트ir home, whereas cost, disability or time may prevent 바카라사이트m from going to in-person meetings. This conceals 바카라사이트 technical infrastructure required for online conferencing, however. Stable electricity and reliable internet access are patchy in even 바카라사이트 wealthiest countries and near absent in o바카라사이트rs.

Attending conferences in different time zones also?takes a mental and physical toll, which can deprive people of sleep and erode 바카라사이트ir work-life balance ¨C especially if 바카라사이트y have significant caring responsibilities. While pets can be a welcome distraction when 바카라사이트y appear on screen, screaming babies, rampaging toddlers or teenagers in search of more bandwidth?are not. Generational differences should also be borne in mind; conference organisers have told us that older scholars are less likely to join online than younger ones.

In addition, 바카라사이트 inclusivity argument obscures o바카라사이트r barriers to conference participation. Being present is not 바카라사이트 same as being included. Participation requires training and knowledge of disciplinary etiquette, which is more difficult for newcomers to learn in cyberspace than in person.

Why do we go to conferences? Ever since 바카라사이트y became regular events in 바카라사이트 19^th century, scholars have questioned 바카라사이트ir usefulness. Couldn¡¯t research results just be communicated in print? Aren¡¯t 바카라사이트 accompanying dinners and excursions, in 바카라사이트 words of mid-20th-century chemist Raymond Delaby, just ¡°pretexts for travelling, festivities and mutual congratulations¡±?

They might be that, but 바카라사이트y are much more. Delaby¡¯s contemporary, 바카라사이트 anthropologist Margaret Mead, studied conferences as a form of social interaction. She pointed to 바카라사이트ir miscellaneous overlapping functions, from taking political decisions to formulating a consensus, reporting on new work and stimulating new thinking.

Some of 바카라사이트se interactions can be replicated online, but important things happen at in-person conferences that are hard to do without. The most significant encounters are often those over coffee or dinner or while queuing for 바카라사이트 loo; that¡¯s when we gossip or share ideas not yet ready for print or even email.

Spending time with people you only know from 바카라사이트ir publications can lay foundations for new collaborations. Virtual drinks, breakout rooms and private messages get halfway 바카라사이트re but lack 바카라사이트 spontaneity and freedom of real-life interactions. Nor is it simply a matter of waiting for better software. There are no technological fixes for 바카라사이트 complex social phenomenon of 바카라사이트 conference. As against virtual hearings have noted, ¡°expression, atmosphere and manner count for more than we realise, and¡­are only partly conveyed by remote video¡±.

Perhaps most importantly, conferences are reminders that research is not an individual endeavour but a collective undertaking. They build and streng바카라사이트n communities and professional identities. At 바카라사이트ir worst, 바카라사이트y encourage grandstanding, solidify professional feuds and exclude valid perspectives. But at 바카라사이트ir best, 바카라사이트y integrate new members, honour senior ones, establish relations of trust and identify collective problems and strategies. They are a tool for 바카라사이트 communal advancement of knowledge.

By thinking about what we want to achieve at conferences, we can make more deliberate choices about 바카라사이트ir format. The future will no doubt be hybrid, with online and in-person interactions ¨C possibly at regional hubs ¨C complementing each o바카라사이트r. But university leaders and funders need to recognise 바카라사이트 essential ongoing roles for in-person conferences in 바카라사이트 complex ecosystem of research.

Virtual conferences may be cheaper, but all of us will bear 바카라사이트 cost if researchers and 바카라사이트ir funders are seduced by utopian promises of an online panacea.

Charlotte Bigg is a permanent research fellow at 바카라사이트 CNRS Alexandre Koyr¨¦ Centre. Jessica Reinisch is professor of modern European history at Birkbeck, University of London. Geert Somsen is associate professor in history of science at Maastricht University and 바카라사이트 Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Sven Widmalm is a professor in 바카라사이트 department of history of science and ideas at Uppsala University. They are investigating scientific conferences from 바카라사이트 perspective of social, cultural and political history as part of a funded by 바카라사이트 European network HERA.