More information at: https://sciforum.net/event/PNTEC
Welcome from the Chair This conference innovatively brings On-Demand content to science, and makes it Open-Access to anyone in the world. It will uniquely award prizes to the best presentations, with the public engagement during a two month period (number of views and scoring) selecting the presentations short-listed for assessment by the scientific committee. All presentations will be pre-recorded, and will be immediately accessible 1 July, 2022, rather than drip-fed to the public in sessions. Then talks are viewed and scored by the public for two months to generate the short list from which the winners will be selected. 60 cash prizes in total will be awarded. 30 for the student category, 30 for the early career category. With both categories having an additional grand prize in the form of a fee-waiver to the journal Toxins. Long gone are the days when scientists were expected to present their work solely for specialist ‘ivory tower’ audiences. The dawning realization is that science can and should be communicated as widely as possible, and in a way that is accessible to both colleagues and lay public alike. The value of presenting technical work clearly and in an enjoyable way, has resulted in something like a paradigm shift in science communication. The widespread success of breaking down of barriers between scientists and non-scientists attests to the power of such initiatives to engage people with the world around them. In short, ensuring science communication is open and accessible sparks interest and curiosity in the population at large, and the greater clarity that results will also generate cutting edge insights in colleagues. This form of inaugural conference aims to bring both worlds together, scientific experts and the greater population, and anyone and everyone that has some interest in science, in order to generate knowledge and feed curiosity. To-date, scientific conferences have typically retained a ‘scientists-only’ assumption and this implied resistance to truly open science represents one of the more persistent barriers to break down. The inaugural Pathogens and Natural Toxins e-Conference (PNTeC) will be held in 2022. PNTeC is an Open Access conference that aims to do for the scientific conference world what The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins) and A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking) did for popular science writing. As such, toxinologists from all career levels are encouraged to present their work in an accessible format for a broader global audience that caters for all levels of scientific understanding and knowledge. All presentations will be pre-recorded, allowing participants to make them as elaborate or intricately edited as they wish – any approach is welcome, from simple recorded presentations to full-blown DIY documentaries. Prizes will be awarded for the best presentations within each section; one set for students, another set for early career researchers (defined as up to 10 years experience post-PhD to allow for career interruptions including maternity leave, illness, or COVID lockdown disruptions). All talks will be freely available to anyone anywhere in the world, from the date of the conference until the collapse of civilization (or the internet, which is the same thing really). This ‘science on demand’ approach will eliminate the headache caused by international time-zones more effectively than a novel spider venom-derived painkiller. It will allow an unparalleled level of public engagement and unprecedented amount of exposure for toxinological research. We invite you to make like a toxin and leave the body of the organism that produced you (the academy!) in order to effect change in the bodies and minds of your conspecifics around the globe. The conference will include presentations on the latest scientific discoveries concerning all aspects of pathogens and natural toxins, whether affecting humans, livestock, pets, or wildlife. Topics will span all things toxinological, from viruses and pathogenic bacteria to poisonous and venomous plants and animals. It will include investigations into basic science and methodologies, the evolution of pathogenic organisms and toxins, toxin structure-function, mechanisms of action, and therapeutic discoveries that both use toxins (i.e., biodiscovery) and combat them (e.g., antivenoms; vaccines; etc.). PNTeC 2022 will be divided into sections, with presentations on any relevant aspect including: - Evolution of pathogenic or toxic organisms - Toxin-synthesis and evolution of venom delivery systems - Toxin molecular evolution - Toxin biochemistry and pharmacology - Clinical effects and treatment options including antivenoms and antitoxins
Dates: 1 July - 31 August 2022 Conference Email: pntec@mdpi.com
If you have any questions related to the conference content please contact: bgfry@uq.edu.au
Scientific Committee Members
