The PLANT 2030 Status Seminar is the Annual Meeting of Plant Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

After the PLANT 2030 Status Seminar 2020 unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are pleased to announce that the PLANT 2030 Status Seminar will take place again this year, due to the uncertain situation, as an online event.

As usual, there will be oral presentations from the projects and from invited keynote speakers. Moreover, a digital poster session will give participants the opportunity to present their work.

This time, all ongoing projects from the funding initiatives PLANT BREEDING RESEARCH FOR THE BIOECONOMY I and II will present their latest progress. Each project consortium must be represented by one oral presentation and by one poster per sub-project. These scientific contributions will be evaluated by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) before and during the seminar. Contributions from BIOECONOMY INTERNATIONAL and from the GERMAN NETWORK FOR BIOINFORMATICS INFRASTRUCTURE (de.NBI) are also part of the conference schedule. 

• Follow the link "Access to Sessions" to get access to the seminar and find help.
• Poster presentation is open now.
• Posters can be uploaded now directly at the corresponding abstracts.
• The programme had to be changed. Some lectures will take place at a different time slot. Please check the programme!

Please check the Status Seminar webpage regularly for updates!

This year, no conference fee will be charged. However, registration for the event is necessary for participation. Only registered persons will receive access to the online platform and a confirmation of participation afterwards.

Registration for the seminar includes

→ Registration
→ Abstract submission for oral presentations
→ Abstract submission for poster presentations
→ Poster submission (poster upload is located below your corresponding abstract)

Registration is possible until March 7, 2021!

Please note that you need to create an account before you can register for the PLANT 2030 Status Seminar. If you have already attended a PLANT 2030 status seminar in the past, you only need to log in and register for this year's seminar.

• Registration: March 7, 2021

• Abstract submission (oral presentations & poster presentation): February 21, 2021
• Poster submission: February 21, 2021

• Individual test session for the speakers: March 1-5, 2021 (Speakers will be contacted to make an appointment.)

Abstract submission

The responsible project coordinators of PLANT BREEDING RESEARCH I and II are asked to submit an abstract for their oral presentation. The length of the abstract text should be in the range of 2.000 to 6.000 characters (including spaces). The presentations should give an overview of the progress made in all subprojects of the consortium. Emphasis should be put on scientific results and not on the project proposal or consortia structure. If the project coordinator himself/herself is not able to give the presentation, a substitute must be nominated.

All other invited speakers are also asked to submit an abstract in this way.

Please submit your abstract by February 21, 2021 at the latest!

→ Abstract submission for oral presentations

Procedure during the conference

This year, most of the project presentations will have a speaking time of 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes for discussion. Larger consortia are allowed 5 minutes extra time for their presentations. The respective lecture dates and time slots can be found in the program.

→ Program

All speakers are kindly asked to adhere strictly to the given time frame. During the presentation, the speakers will share their screen with the other conference participants so that the slides can be seen by all. Please make sure in advance that you have the necessary technical infrastructure for your presentation. This includes a sufficient bandwidth of your internet connection. It is advisable to give your slides to at least one other person from your consortium so that this person can stand in if necessary.

On March 1-5, 2021 all speakers will have the opportunity to participate in a short test session with the PLANT 2030 organising team. More details will be sent to the speakers by e-mail.

Poster presentation is a key element of the evaluation procedure in PLANT 2030 projects. Like in a physical conference poster presentations (poster exhibition & poster session) will take place this year, albeit in a different format.

Each poster will be presented in three parts – an abstract, a PDF for the poster itself, and a short, recorded presentation. If you like to contribute to the poster presentations it, is crucial to upload abstract, PDF and presentation by February 21, 2021.  Please note "Author Instructions for poster exhibition" below!

→ Abstract submission for poster presentations
→ Poster submission (poster upload is located below your corresponding abstract)

Poster exhibition

Each project consortium must be represented by one poster per sub-project. All other participants may submit a poster. The posters will be available on the Status Seminar platform before and during the whole conference. 

Poster session

In addition to the online poster exhibition, a separate live presentation (poster session) is part of the conference program. Due to limited capacities, only the compulsory posters of the project consortia can be presented in this session. 

The poster session will take place on March 11 between 10 am and 1 pm. We will provide several WebEx rooms for the live presentations Each project consortium will be allocated a time slot of 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the number of sub-projects. These time slots and the room number of their posters can be found in the program.

→ Program

Within the allocated time slot, all posters of a consortium will be presented in a single poster room via screen sharing by the authors. The consortia can freely organise their poster session. Each poster can be presented for an average of 10 minutes. Authors are advised to prepare a schedule for the presentation of all posters within their time slot.

Each poster room is supervised by a person from the organising team for technical support and smooth transition between projects.

The classic one-page A0 poster format is not easy to handle in a virtual conference. The posters should therefore be designed as PDF with 3 to 5 slides (landscape format). This PDF will be accompanied by a short pre-recorded presentation of the poster by the author. The presentation should take a maximum of 2-minutes. Poster-PDF, presentation and abstract have to be uploaded by 21 February 2021 at the latest.

Recording your poster presentation

The presentation should contain 3 to 5 slides. Recommended aspect ratio for best viewing experience is 16:9, although 4:3 can be used as well in Microsoft PowerPoint version 2013 or higher.

The easiest way to generate the video for upload  is to create a voice over PowerPoint and save the presentation as a MP4 (video compression standard: H264).

→ Record a slide show with narration and slide timings
→ Save a presentation as a MP4

There are several other video conferencing tools that can be used to easily record a presentation. With this method, you can show yourself through the web cam and present your slides as you speak.

You can use any meeting software as long as you get a good recording quality and your final file is in MP4 format! 
Here are a few examples:

• WebEx Video Conferencing – Record a Cisco Webex Meeting
• Skype Skype for Business: Recording a Meeting
• Google Meet Record a video meeting – Meet Help
• Zoom Local Recording – Zoom Help Center
• GoToMeeting How to Record a GoToMeeting Session and How to Convert and Open the GoToMeeting Recordings
• Microsoft Teams: Record a meeting in Teams – Office Support

Audio/Video File requirements:

• All files must be in MP4 format (video compression standard: H264)!
• The maximum length of the video is 2 minutes.
• There is no file size limitation, however, a bit rate of smaller 1 Mbps is recommended. To check the bit rate, right click on the file name, click on "properties", go to the "details" tab, and look for total bitrate. If the bit rate is too high, please lower the quality to "Internet Quality" to create the MP4.

Tips for recording:

• Use an area as quiet as possible
• Avoid areas that have an echo
• Do not use the computer's standard built-in microphone. Use a quality headset with the microphone near the mouth, but not in the direct airflow of the mouth. 
• Prefer white walls, light your face and do not position your camera against a window.
• Create a short test recording to check sound and video quality as well as bit rate before recording the whole presentation. 
• We recommend using the laser pointer, when entering the presentation mode of Power Point (full screen mode: right mouse click → pointer options → laser pointer).

Uploading your MP4:

The upload function will be available soon on the Status Seminar platform. You will need to complete your upload by February 21, 2021 at the latest. 

→ Poster submission (poster upload is located below your corresponding abstract)