The 2020 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC) will be held virtually over two weeks beginning October 24 and will offer a combined virtual platform for plenary, oral and poster presentations, a conference exhibition, a new program for young professionals called ELEVATE, virtual breakouts, coffee breaks and other features. Registration opened August 21 with an early-bird ticket price of $245 per attendee, which includes access to the virtual meeting platforms, one presentation and one manuscript submission. Registration also provides access to all sessions, breakouts and exhibits, special programs, a download of the special issue of IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity and entitles the ticket holder to vote in the ASC election.

Along with an on-line exhibition, (https://ascinc.org/virtual-exhibit), ASC will offer short courses on the virtual meeting platform over multiple days to accommodate long courses. A fee will be requested to help cover instructors’ costs. Course descriptions will be made available soon.

Oral sessions will focus on the discussion of pre-recorded content led by the session moderators. Authors will be asked to submit a slide deck in addition to the pre-recorded presentation to allow questions to be addressed. The first two slides of each presentation will provide a synopsis of the presentation to allow the author to preview the on-demand material and the introduction of the discussion by the moderator. The oral discussion will be recorded, and the full recording will be available for playback shortly after the completion of the oral session. Detailed presentation guidelines will be made available at a later date.

Poster sessions will be operated on the iPosterSessions platform (https://ipostersessions.com/cases) with poster galleries—a combination of poster sessions in one virtual hall, like the physical meeting—including as many as 200 posters. Clicking on a poster will bring you to a detail view of the content. Poster presenters will be able to interact in person during the “live” period of time identified on the program, or any other time the presenter chooses to be available. Other methods of interaction include chat, messaging and e-mail—all connected through the platform. Poster presentation guidelines will be made available at a later date.

“It’s ironic that, one year ago, we chose ‘Horizons in clear view.’ as the conference theme,” said Lance Cooley, ASC conference chair, in an announcement letter. “Having now passed through the major trials of 2020, with more undoubtedly still to come, we have been reassured by the widespread support we’ve received from the applied superconductivity community. We are convinced that the virtual ASC 2020 will be a valuable gathering that brings into clear view the technical challenges, key persons and major opportunities in applied superconductivity.”

Complete information on the two-week meeting, including the Schedule at a Glance and the Virtual FAQ, is available at ascinc.org. Here’s a list of helpful dates to keep in mind:
Oct. 1–Manuscript submission opens
Oct. 5–Exhibit registrations due
Oct. 15–All presentations must be uploaded
Oct. 24–Start of conference
Oct. 25–Manuscript submissions due