A team of mathematicians from the UJI proposes a decalogue of rules for organising asynchronous virtual conferences



[Valencià](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/ca?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/ "Cambiar idioma a català")
[Español](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/es?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/ "Cambiar idioma a español")
[English](#0)

Mobile menu

* [Profile](#0)
  + [Future students](/perfils/futurs/)
  + [UJI students](/perfils/estudiantat/uji/)
  + [PDI-PI](/perfils/pdipas/base/pdi/)
  + [PTGAS](/perfils/pdipas/base/pas/)
  + [AlumniSAUJI](/serveis/alumnisauji/)
  + [Companies and institutions](/perfils/empresa/)
* [Tools](#0)
  + [Virtual Classroom](https://aulavirtual.uji.es/)
  + [CAU](https://cau.uji.es/)
  + [Directory](//www.uji.es/institucional/contacta/)
  + [Gmail](http://gmail.uji.es/)
  + [Intranet (IGLU)](//www.uji.es/upo/rest/iglu/)
  + [Virtual Office](/seu/)
  + [Academic information (SIA)](http://sia.uji.es/)
  + [Others](//www.uji.es/serveis/scp/eines/)
* [Valencià](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/ca?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/ "Cambiar idioma a català")
  [Español](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/es?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2020/5/decaleg-congresos-virtuals-asincronics/ "Cambiar idioma a español")
  [English](#0)

[# Universitat Jaume I](/)

* [# Universitat Jaume I](/)
* [Profile](#0)
  + [Future students](/perfils/futurs/)
  + [UJI students](/perfils/estudiantat/uji/)
  + [PDI-PI](/perfils/pdipas/base/pdi/)
  + [PTGAS](/perfils/pdipas/base/pas/)
  + [AlumniSAUJI](/serveis/alumnisauji/)
  + [Companies and institutions](/perfils/empresa/)
* [Tools](#0)
  + [Virtual Classroom](https://aulavirtual.uji.es/)
  + [CAU](https://cau.uji.es/)
  + [Directory](//www.uji.es/institucional/contacta/)
  + [Gmail](http://gmail.uji.es/)
  + [Intranet (IGLU)](//www.uji.es/upo/rest/iglu/)
  + [Virtual Office](/seu/)
  + [Academic information (SIA)](http://sia.uji.es/)
  + [Others](//www.uji.es/serveis/scp/eines/)
* [Studies](/mapa/estudis/)
  + [Studies](/mapa/estudis/)
  + [Bachelor’s degrees](/estudis/)
  + [University master’s degrees](/estudis/?p_estudio=m)
  + [Doctoral studies](/estudis/oferta/doctorat/)
  + [Lifelong learning](/estudis/base/formacio-permanent/)
* [Research and innovation](/investigacio/)
  + [Research and innovation](/investigacio/)
  + [Research portal](/investigacio/)
  + [Innovation](/innovacio/)
  + [Doctoral studies](/centres/escola-doctorat/)
  + [HRS4R](/investigacio/hrs4r/)
* [International](/internacional/)
  + [International](/internacional/)
  + [International Students](/internacional/base/estudiantat/estudiantado-internacional/)
  + [Exchange Programmes](/serveis/ori/base/programes-intercanvi/)
  + [Study Abroad](/internacional/base/study-abroad/)
* [UJI](/mapa/uji/)
  + [UJI](/mapa/uji/)
  + [Get to know the UJI](/mapa/uji/coneix-uji/)
  + [Structure and organisation](/institucional/estructura/)
  + [Strategy and quality](/institucional/estrategia/)
  + [Transparency](/transparencia/)
  + [Public integrity](/transparencia/liniaetica/)
  + [News](/actualitat/)
  + [Contact the UJI](/institucional/contacta/)
* [University life](/mapa/vida-universitaria/)
  + [University life](/mapa/serveis/)
  + [Library](/serveis/cd/)
  + [Campus](/mapa/uji/coneix-uji/campus/)
  + [Culture](/cultura/)
  + [Sports](/esports/)
  + [InfoCampus](/serveis/infocampus/)

[UJI](/)
[News](/com/sumari/noticies/)

## A team of mathematicians from the UJI proposes a decalogue of rules for organising asynchronous virtual conferences

07/05/2020 |
SCP

Compartir

Compartir

×

Linkedin

BlueSky

Facebook

Mastodon

Whatsapp

Gmail

Imprimir

![Aerial view of the campus](//static.uji.es/templates/uji2016_plantillas/static/images/campusaerea.jpg)

[Accept third-party cookies](#)

[Watch the video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/embed/43tSAaq8YiI)

Its advantages include non-reliance on technology, work-family balance and reduction of global warming by minimising travel.

A research team of lecturers from the Department of Mathematics at the Universitat Jaume I has proposed a set of ten rules for organising a virtual asynchronous congress, i.e., a non-real time web conference. The work developed by Anna Arnal, Irene Epifanio, Pablo Gregori and Vicent Martínez has been recently published in *PLOS Computational Biology*, an open content journal of the Public Library of Science.

To develop the decalogue, the research staff has used its experience in organising the 100% virtual congress ATIDES (Advances in Technologies, Innovation and Challenges in Higher Education) which takes place every two years (in October 2020 it will hold its third edition) and is part of the strategy of the UJI Board of Directors to promote the digitalisation of the university.

Currently, the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic prevent from holding face-to-face congresses, but not online congresses. Real-time virtual conferences emulate the structure of face-to-face conferences by using tools such as videoconferencing to connect the participants in the virtual meeting. The object of study of the UJI team has focused on non-real time web conferences, where a web platform connects the participants, the event does not take place live and communication can be done through publications in a forum that can sometimes take place over hours or days.

According to the analysis carried out by the research team, the advantages of non-real time web conferences, shared by with real time web conferences, are that they favour work-family balance and the participation of people with a small budget for travelling, thus becoming more participative and inclusive. In particular, they benefit women who cannot travel because they are pregnant, breastfeeding or caring for children or elderly people, and they are more inclusive because they favour the participation of people with reduced mobility due to disability or because of the criminalisation of homosexuality, which is penalised in 40% of countries.

In addition, asynchronous interaction allows attendees to have more time to reflect on the questions and comments, and the authors of the works to have more time to answer them. In the opinion of the researchers, this fact compensates the lack of face-to-face social interaction, because the forums give rise to discussions as stimulating as those developed in  unconferences (conferences where attendees and speakers have a more participative and active role), and asynchrony allows everyone to participate without worrying about time differences. They also solve the dichotomy of parallel sessions, where attendees have to choose between attending one and missing out on the other.

Other advantages of this type of conferences are that they don't depend on technology, because they don't need any videoconference software or a stable Internet connection, and the decrease of organisation costs, which would allow to decrease the registration fee and favour the access of a large number of people, who could also use translation tools to access the contents, and even allow the participation of people with hearing disabilities. Finally, this type of conferences also serve to reduce global warming and are more sustainable by avoiding part of the environmental impact of many people's travelling to attend the conference.

In the article published in *PLOS Computational Biology*, the research team presents a decalogue of aspects to be taken into account when organising asynchronous virtual conferences, such as setting up an organising and scientific committee that is engaged with information and communication technologies (ICT); setting up a correct timing of the conference; having an expert team in information technologies for web hosting and digital tasks or choosing a visible and friendly platform to facilitate participation and increase the visibility of the conference or congress.

It would also be necessary to develop the web and virtual space of the conference or congress including words such as "web conference", "asynchronous" or "non-real-time", so that they appear among the searches of the people who is looking for this type of events; to carry out a good diffusion campaign; to guarantees the confidentiality of the papers presented and their review by the scientific committee; to create a work space for each conference in order to improve communication between the people presenting a paper and the attendees; to ensure that the content of the presentations is accessible in several languages and to analyse data and obtain feedback once the activity is over.

The article "Ten simple rules for organizing a non-real-time web conference" can be found at: <https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007667>

Information provided by:
[Communication and Publications Service](/serveis/scp/)

About us

[Home](/com/investigacio/cienciauji/)
[UCC+I](/serveis/scp/ucc/)

Research dissemination

[Ciència TV blog](/com/investigacio/arxiu/ciencia-uji-tv/)
[Ciència UJI newsletter](/com/investigacio/arxiu/ciencia-uji/)
[Horizon Europe newsletter](/com/investigacio/docs/butlleti-horizon-europe/)
[Comboi, a trip through science](/com/investigacio/docs/podcast-comboi-viatge-per-la-ciencia/)
[Scientific news](/com/investigacio/sumari/noticies/ )
[Easy reading news](/com/investigacio/docs/noticies-de-lectura-facil)
[News magazine. Research](/com/revista/tematica/investiga/)
[Radio](http://www.radio.uji.es/programa.php?id=46 )

Scientific divulgation

[Experimenta UJI](/com/investigacio/docs/experimenta-uji/)
[Innobar, con b de bar (Espaitec)](https://espaitec.uji.es/podcast-innobar-con-b-de-bar/)
[Magazine «Humanes i Socials»](https://humanesisocials.uji.es)
[H2020 Projects](/com/investigacio/docs/butlleti-h2020/)
[Projects and papers COVID-19](/com/investigacio/docs/estudis-articles-covid-19/)
[Research pitches](/com/investigacio/research-pitches/)
[The Conversation](/com/investigacio/docs/the-conversation/)
[UJI Divulga (Onda Cero)](/com/investigacio/docs/uji-divulga-onda-cero/)
[Scientific vocabulary](/com/investigacio/docs/vocabulari-cientific/)

Projects and studies

[Projects and studies](/serveis/scp/ucc/projectes/)

Resources of interest

[Divulgateca](http://www.divulgateca.es)

External networks

[CRUE](https://www.crue.org/)
[FECYT](https://www.fecyt.es/es/info/que-son)
[RUVID](https://ruvid.org/)



Useful links

[University card](http://www.carnet.uji.es/)

[Multimedia catalogue](http://jecom.uji.es/)

[University press](/serveis/scp/publ/)

[Web map](//www.uji.es/mapa/)

[Educational model](//www.uji.es/institucional/estrategia/modeleducatiu/)

[Language Observatory](/serveis/ol/)

[Open Knowledge Portal](/serveis/cd/bib/pco/)

[UJI shop](http://www.tenda.uji.es/)

[Security and privacy center](https://www.uji.es/organs/ouag/sg/docs/politiques/gen/)
|
[Website legal notice](https://www.uji.es/comu/avislegal/avislegalicondicions/)
|
[Accessibility policy](https://www.uji.es/serveis/ura/base/accessibilitat/)

Information and queries:
[UJI suggestion box](/comu/forms/bustia)

Universitat Jaume I CIF: Q-6250003-H Av. Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071
Castellón de la Plana,
España

Tel.: +34 964 72 80 00