Connections made easy by virtual conference

The coronavirus pandemic has brought daunting challenges to the world, and has led to dramatic changes in higher education and research worldwide. Apart from conducting teaching online, international conferences facilitating exchanges and networking among researchers have also gone virtual as part of the new normal. Supported by the Dr. Barbara Kwok Young Postdoctoral Researcher Travel Grants, Dr. TSANG Sin Man from the Institute of Chinese Medicine, CUHK joined the online European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Annual Congress 2020 in June. During the event, she gave a virtual poster presentation on fungal infection and eczema.

Dr. TSANG Sin Man presents her poster online in the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Annual Congress 2020.

‘This arrangement has saved me a lot of travelling time, allowing me to perform extra experimental work in Hong Kong before and after the congress. I could also share the inspiring findings I learnt from the congress with lab members spontaneously.’ Dr. Tsang enjoyed the digital congress as she could download and access all the pre-recorded presentations which are related to her research anytime, anywhere. She could also easily engage with speakers during and after the congress. Besides, all congress materials such as the program booklets, abstract proceedings and leaflets were digitalised, making it easy for participants to access to such materials. What’s more, the virtual conference also contributes to environmental protection.

The time difference posed the greatest challenge for Dr. Tsang to attend the virtual conference. She stayed up until 2-3am on several evenings to attend the plenary lectures in order to interact with speakers from another part of the world in real-time.

The arrangement of virtual conference is time-saving, allowing Dr. Tsang to perform extra experimental work in Hong Kong before and after the congress.

With the generous donation from alumna Dr. Barbara Pik-lin Kwok, the Dr. Barbara Kwok Young Postdoctoral Researcher Travel Grants support eligible CUHK researchers with an award of up to HK$25,000 for each successful application. For more details about the scheme, please visit the webpage.