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8-bit PhD Event 2021

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8-bit PhD Event 2021

Register now for the 8-bit PhD Event! FuseNet organises its annual PhD Event for the eighth time on 22–23 November. The virtual venue of this year is Gather.town. While including all the signature elements—high-profile keynote speakers, a top-notch scientific programme and the much-valued Pecha Kucha contest, this year's programme will also include a poster market and the brand-new SpeePhDating initiative. All to ensure abundant opportunities for doctoral students to connect to their peers! Follow FuseNet on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to stay updated on the PhD event.

 

Scientific programme

Both the Monday and Tuesday programmes kick off with a high-profile keynote speaker, whose names will be revealed in the coming time via the FuseNet website and socials. Monday will further offer the choice of a plenary session on plasmas or materials with varied talks by experts in the field. After Tuesday's keynote, attendees get the opportunity to present their own scientific work in a specially prepared Gather.town poster hall. The afternoon is reserved for a series of side sessions that were highly appreciated by last year's attendees. Take your pick of side sessions on deployment of fusion reactors, liquid-metal divertors, fusion start-up and diagnostics for research and control.

 

PechaKucha contest

The FuseNet Pecha Kucha contest is readily becoming a household name. Pecha Kucha is a fixed-format presentation in which a presenter has to discuss 20 slides that are shown on the screen for at most 20 seconds each. To get across your own research in such a format is a challenging but highly rewarding experience. Of course, there are prizes to be awarded in different categories like most engaging, best designed, funniest and more. Winners are determined by popular vote and, besides eternal fame, will get a fun keepsake to commemorate their successful attendance. Interest to give a Pecha Kucha can be indicated in the registration form. You will be notified in the first week of November whether you've been selected.

 

Networking and leisure

The poster session and the Pecha Kuchas are both perfect opportunities to put yourself and your research in front of an audience. Just as important, though, are those unexpected but valuable one-to-one encounters. Gather.town facilitates that out-of-the-box to some extent (see below) but that was not enough for the organisers. That is why, for the first time this year, you can go SpeePhDating in the breaks! You can indicate your interest for this on the registration form. There is also ample time for leisure. You can break a sweat during the fitbreaks after lunch on both days, and display your knowledge of random (fusion) trivia during Monday's evening pubquiz!

 

Gather.town

During the event, attendees will be able to select an avatar and 'physically' traverse the premises of the PhD Event in Gather.town. Depending on their proximity to others, a video connection starts up to allow the kinds of spontaneous encounters that were so important in the 'live days'. Walking the thin line between a conference tool and an 8-bit video game, the developers of Gather.town struck a balance between playfulness, seriousness and, crucially, interpersonal relations, making it a perfect fit for the FuseNet PhD Event. See you there!

 

Register now

Registrations have opened and will remain open until 31 October 2021. Visit https://indico.fusenet.eu/e/phd-event-2021 to register today.