Towards ESOF 2010 in Torino
After a rough start, things are now progressing rather smoothly and the team is now operating quite efficiently.
The Call for Proposals for the Scientific Programme has been so far successful. In addition, almost all plenary and keynote speakers have been selected and invited by the Programme Committee. It’s a formidable and diverse list of prominent scholars (including three Nobel laureates), more than one third of which are women.
The Career, Science to Business and Science in the City programmes are also shaping up, and we expect a good return of proposals by mid-September, when the deadline is set.
The Communication team, which has benefitted from the arrival of a new Press Office, is planning new actions and strategies. Networks of collaborations are being activated in various areas.
Obviously, we cannot disregard the current financial and economical crisis. An effort is being made to overcome funding difficulties by attracting many young scientists (early career researchers, PhD candidates etc.). We are working in this direction with the help of many European bodies.
We have already held two Steering Committee meetings (plus one via remote video-audio connection) and one Programme Committee meeting (plus one in remote). In the forthcoming PC meeting, on July 17-18, the bulk of the bottom-up proposals for the Scientific Programme will be selected.
In the near future, we will provide regular information of the overall situation to the various Committees. Stay tuned!
Enrico Predazzi – ESOF2010 Champion – predazzi@esof2010.org
ESOF2010 – Work in Progress
Scientific Programme
In the past months, the Scientific Programme team has worked on two main projects: the dissemination of the Call for Proposals and the choice of Plenary and Keynote speakers. The overall schedule of the event has also been designed.
There will be approximately 90 ordinary sessions, 4 Plenary and 18 Keynote talks; sessions will start at 9 a.m. and end at 7.15 p.m.
The Call was launched in December 2008 and will close on June 30, 2009. More than 700 people from 68 countries registered in the dedicated area. In March 2009, a promotional e-mail was sent to 34,900 individuals whose records are part of a valuable and up-to-date database. In April‐May 2009, 1,100 personalised letters were sent to heads of European universities, research centres, institutions, and learned societies.
In choosing Plenary and Keynote speakers, we took into account not only scientific pre-eminence (which was taken for granted), but also the communication skills of the candidates, and cultural and gender diversity.
Here is the preliminary list of those who accepted:
Plenary: Peter Agre, Julia Fischer, Kurt Wüthrich, Anton Zeilinger.
Keynote: Sam Auinger, Angelika Brandt, Elena Cattaneo, Carlos Duarte, Ernst Fehr, Serge Feneuille, Tecumseh Fitch, Raghavendra Gadagkar, Mohamed Hassan, Sheila Jasanoff, Tom Kirkwood, Vladimir Kutcherov, Leena Peltonen, Svante Pääbo, Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson.
Luigi Civalleri – Scientific Programme coordinator – civalleri@esof2010.org
Career Programme
The ESOF Career Programme is specifically addressed at PhDs, post-docs
and young researchers who will be able to meet and share experiences.
As well as career-specific topics, other initiatives will concern the
development of particular skills for scientific careers (communication,
writing, interviews etc.).
A call for proposals for ESOF2010 Career Programme is on line at www.esof2010.org and will be open until September 15. The programme will consist of approximately 20 sessions in 2-3 days of activity.
We are working to boost the participation of groups of young researchers and students, with possible sponsoreship by companies or other private institutions. The groups will reach Torino by bus (ideally a low emission vehicle) or some other low-cost transportation. The Science Bus Template (describing the experience of the Torino-Barcelona Science bus at ESOF2008) is downloadable at http://www.esof2010.org/shuttles
Following similar and successful programmes in the past editions, the Pizza with the Prof event will allow future and young researchers to meet prominent scientists in an informal context.
Isabella Susa – Career Programme coordinator – susa@esof2010.org
Science to Business Programme
Building on the success of the ESOF for Business Programme at ESOF2008 in Barcelona, a Science to Business Programme will be proposed during ESOF2010. The main innovation is the launch of an open Call for selecting proposals, on line at www.esof2010.org. The deadline is September 15.
The programme also features a specific session format, the “showcase”, where universities, incubators and other non-profit organisations will be offered a proper setting to present their innovative activities or prototypes to all ESOF2010 registered participants.
We expect to organise 15-20 sessions in two days of activity, and hope to attract a wide public of business people and potential entrepreneurs. A special focus will be put on Torino’s fields of excellence: automotive, design, ICT, life sciences, nanotechnology, and aerospace.
A brand new and entertaining event, called Science Speed Dating, will allow attendees to arrange a quick and informal meeting with representatives from the world of science and business.
Cristiana Moretti – Science to Business coordinator – moretti@esof2010.org
Science in the City
Our city has a long and outstanding tradition in scientific communication to the public. Experimenta, a seasonal interactive exhibition, and GiovedìScienza (Science Thursdays), a weekly cycle of scientific lectures, are two well-established events that spring to mind, but there are plenty of other activities, such as the workshops for schools and the Settimane della Scienza (Science Weeks).
The Science in the City Programme will set the city centre in motion, hosting exhibitions, workshops, popular lectures, scientific treasure hunts, music and theatrical performances. A stunningly impressive square in the middle of the city (Piazza Vittorio Veneto) has been reserved for top events. Activities will take place mostly in the afternoons and evenings, while The White Night of Researchers will engage the whole city centre all night long on Saturday.
Furthermore, Torino has been declared European Youth Capital for the year 2010 by the European Youth Forum. This will be a great opportunity to increase the outreach programme with and attract an international audience.
Pino Zappalà – Science in the City coordinator – zappala@esof2010.org
Communication and Promotion
In this past year, the ESOF2010 Communication strategy has been focused on establishing the tools necessary to promote the event in national and international contests and to support the dissemination of the Call for Proposals. From March 2009 ESOF2010 can also count on the support of an international Communication Committee.
The aim is to create a kit of digital tools (the website, a banner, a digital card for the Call promotion) and to provide ESOF2010 with some promotional printed material (brochures, ESOF2010 Dossier, press kit).
We have so far participated in many international events. One of the most important was the AAAS meeting in Chicago from 18 to 22 February 2009 where ESOF2010 organised a joint press conference with the World Conference of Science Journalists. In the next few months, the most important appointment will be the World Conference of Science Journalists in London (WCSJ) from 30 June to 2 July, where ESOF2010 will participate with a promotional stand. WCSJ will mark the start of the phase of raising awareness and contacting the international science press.
Daniela Cavalletto – Communication manager – cavalletto@esof2010.org
ESOF2010 on the Web
In the last few months the website www.esof2010.org has been redesigned in order to make it more user-friendly and appealing. A graphic time line has been included, and a text-only version has been published to increase accessibility. The new banner promoting the calls for proposals and the ESOF2010 event is hosted by several websites.
Since January 1, 2009 the site has been visited by about 20,000 visitors; 40% of the traffic is from referring sites (a good signal for the communication team). We’ve had visitors from 119 countries around the world and our group on Facebook has about 300 members – ESOF2010 is spreading on the net!
WebESOF, a project that will bring the event closer to those who cannot participate in person, is now ready for the first test run. The young team fromTorino Polytechnic has developed an open source and multiplatform application for the real time streaming of the main events; the next step will be remote involvement and interactivity.
Andrea De Bortoli – IT manager – debortoli@esof2010.org
