vPICO presentations

The vast majority of vEGU21 presentations are organized into vPICO sessions. Each 1.5-hour-long vPICO timeslot will feature approximately 20 abstracts and be divided into two parts: an overview and chats. While the short presentation in the overview part is seen as a pitch to raise awareness of your work, the chat part allows you to discuss the details with your colleagues, and the display materials & commenting option takes your short live presentation further and gives you a 2-month period of interaction.

How to get to your vPICO session

  1. Find the active session of your interest in your personal programme, the session programme, or "What's on today". The landing page also features a button for the current time block with a condensed overview of sessions.
  2. Clicking on "Enter live session" will take you to the live session page. This has a list of presentations with links to display materials, a text chat, and access to the Zoom session and handshake tool. In the unlikely event that there is no "Enter live session" button, you can also enter the session page through the toggled session description or through the "vPICO presentations".
  3. Enter the Zoom session using the green button "Enter Zoom Meeting". Please make sure your microphone/camera are off. Preferably install and run the Zoom app rather than running Zoom in a browser window.
  4. If you do not see the live-session buttons come up, it helps to "hard-refresh" your browser (i.e. override the cache copy): Ctrl+F5 for all browsers on Windows; Chrome for Mac: Command + Shift + R; Safari for Mac: Command + Option + R.
  5. Please be patient if pages take a little time to load, especially upon arriving at the conference. Live-session buttons will now be up 30 minutes before each session instead of 15.

vPICO – how does it run in the new setting?

  • Everybody accesses the Zoom Meetings – conveners/chairs, presenting authors, and participants – at the start of the session.
  • A conference assistant will be present as host and will promote the conveners/chairs to co-hosts.
  • Presenting authors will unmute themselves and switch on their camera once the convener/chairs invite them to give their live presentation.
  • The conference assistant will share their screen to show pre-uploaded and pre-recorded slides/presentations.
  • The discussion period is also held in the Zoom Meeting with breakout rooms per presenter. Attention: the option to assign yourself to breakout rooms is not possible if you join Zoom through your browser. Please download the Zoom client to make full use of the breakout rooms and your self-assignment to such rooms. If you join Zoom through your browser, please ask the conference assistant to assign you to a breakout room of your choice.

Presentations in US, GDB, SC, or MAL sessions

Union Symposia (US), Great Debates (GDB), Short Courses (SC), as well as medal and award lectures (MAL) are run through Zoom Webinars.

  • We strongly recommend that you download the Zoom client. Using Zoom through your browser has some limitations in terms of features and the stability of your connection.
  • Your bandwidth must have a capacity of at least 1 MBits/s upstream and 2 MBits/s downstream to ensure a sufficient quality of your attendance.
  • You will give your presentation by sharing your screen and running your presentation file on your own device. Please use only desktop or laptop computers and no mobile devices when presenting.
  • You are defined in your Zoom Webinar as panellist. You will receive a personal invitation email after 6 April. Please do not share this invitation email. The invitation considers an earlier gathering time 15 minutes prior to the scheduled session time to check the availability of all panellists and their setup. The conference assistant will open the webinar for the general attendees upon scheduled session time.
  • The access to the Zoom Webinar for general attendees is linked from the conference programme and the visualized virtual conference centre.
  • Pre-recorded talks: if authors cannot attend the live session due to their time zone or personal reasons, please inform your session convener beforehand and record your talk in the form of a *.mp4 video file. Please ensure that the video respects the time limits of your scheduling and will be stopped after the foreseen presentation time has expired. These video files must be uploaded at least 24 hours prior to your session's start. The video file will be hosted on the vEGU21 Vimeo channel and is accessible during the live session. After that, it will form part of the entire session recording that will be available for viewing on demand to conference participants (see below). Presenters of pre-recorded talks are still required to register for the conference. The pre-recorded presentation will be uploaded through the central display & presentation upload tool differentiating between display material (available from 31 March to 31 May to all attendees, appearance on EGUsphere after 31 May if CC BY licence has been selected) and the pre-recorded live presentation video file (only shown during the live session, not available to attendees before or after the session).
  • Zoom sessions will be streamed for live attendance. In addition, Zoom sessions will be recorded for on-demand viewing by registered conference attendees through 31 May. Convening, chairing, or presenting in recorded sessions implies the acceptance of the recording.
  • Please study our tips for compiling your display materials & live presentation files.
  • Please follow our tips and rules for giving your live presentation.
  • Authors of abstracts presented in US and MAL sessions are encouraged to make use of sharing so-called display materials. Display materials can be made available to registered conference attendees and commenting can be enabled. Details are listed in the section display materials and commenting.

Display materials and commenting

  • All authors have the ability to upload display materials to accompany their abstracts. These can be uploaded and will be available to registered conference attendees during the 2-month period from 31 March to 31 May. Modifications are possible throughout this 2-month period.
  • In addition to display materials (*.pdf, *.ppt/pptx, *.pps/ppsx, *.png, *.jpg, or *.mp4 hosted on the vEGU21 server, or *.html linked from the vEGU21 website and programme, but hosted on the author's own infrastructure), authors can provide a DOI or URL linking to a presentation they have pre-recorded and submitted to portals like YouTube. If *.mp4 files are uploaded, these will be submitted to the vEGU21 Vimeo channel accessible for registered attendees.
  • The file sizes of display materials are limited to 50 MB per abstract for *.pdf, *.ppt/pptx, *.pps/ppsx, *.png, and *.jpg files, and to 200 MB for *.mp4 video files.
  • If authors opt for the open-access Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), their display materials become openly accessible to everyone through EGUsphere a month after vEGU21: Gather Online ends.
  • Registered conference attendees can comment on uploaded display materials through the conference platform during the 2-month period from 31 March to 31 May, unless the abstract authors have opted out of the commenting feature.
  • Please also read the article on Everything you need to know about displays, commenting & licencing.

Upload your display material files & links

Conduct and sharing

The EGU General Assembly provides a forum for scientists to present their work and discuss their ideas with colleagues in all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. The EGU strives for an open and constructive scientific exchange, based on mutual respect. All attendees must adhere to EGU's Code of Conduct and the EGU General Assembly rules of conduct.

Please note that it is not permitted to take screenshots of any live presentation or text chat unless explicit permission is granted by the author. Presenters are asked to include symbols encouraging or not allowing. screenshots and sharing on their presentation slide. Additional materials that abstract authors would like to share should be uploaded as display materials starting on 31 March.

Tips for compiling your display materials & live presentation files

  • Use font sizes that are large enough to be read for everyone.
  • Avoid the rainbow colour scale or the parallel usage of green and red since it is not distinguishable by everyone. For a list of colour scales that are legible to most readers, please visit ColorBrewer 2.0.
  • Place EGU's official graphic indicating whether you deny or allow screenshots of your live presentation.
  • Ensure that all images in presentations that are not yours are credited, including those from Wikipedia.
  • If presentations include maps, authors are asked to adhere to United Nations naming conventions. In order to depoliticize scientific presentations, authors should avoid drawing borders or using contested topographic names.
  • Consider adding a QR code to a website with further information

Tips and rules for giving your live presentation

  • All presenters and any other individuals involved in live sessions (conveners, chairpersons, or individuals giving laudations to medallists) must be registered for the conference in order to obtain access to the live sessions. This is also required for authors of solicited presentations. Without a completed registration, you will not be able to attend any event at vEGU21.
  • We recommend that each presenter finds a quiet space for participating in the live session, preferably in a well-lit area and with a plain and neutral-coloured backdrop. Lighting should illuminate the presenter's face (i.e., no window or light source behind you).
  • It is advised that all speakers use some form of external microphone or headset during their presentation, as internal computer microphones are often not able to provide sufficient quality.
  • Presenters who may not have a stable internet connection are encouraged to pre-record their presentations.
  • Acceptance of an abstract and its inclusion in the programme of the General Assembly obliges the author or one of the co-authors to present the contribution at the time and in the manner indicated, or to upload a pre-recorded presentation. If you know that your presentation will not be presented in either way, you are kindly asked to withdraw your abstract as soon as possible.