Tips & Tricks – EMBL Events

Competency-based training in bioinformatics

This article was written by Victoria Hill, Chemistry PhD student at the University of Sheffield.

Recently, EMBL-EBI, in collaboration with a number of our EU project partners, launched the Competency Hub. This is a free platform where students and professionals can evaluate their abilities against the competencies of that framework.

Competency Hub hero image — Competency Hub: Supporting competency-based training and professional development.

What is a competency?

A competency is an observable and measurable ability of any professional, specific to those required in your field. They’re further broken down into the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs).

The competencies are all mapped to career profiles ranging from PhD student to senior roles, both in industry and academia, and assigned a grade on a scale that measures the level the individual should be at in that competency depending on the profile. For a more in-depth analysis, the user can go into each graded competency and look at which KSAs are applicable at that career stage.

An example of a competency within the BioExcel framework graded at ‘Awareness’ and the associated KSAs mapped to the career profile ‘PhD Student in Biomolecular Simulations’.

What does the Competency Hub offer?

Evaluate your competencies against those of each framework by creating a profile and comparing them to the pre-defined career profiles.
Find training resources for each competency, and in some frameworks, more in-depth learning pathways for skills relevant to that field.
Develop courses as a trainer using the Competency Hub. Define your audience, plan your content, and write learning outcomes, as well as compare your resources to what is already available.
Assess whether, as a trainer, you are targeting the correct audience and use the competencies to provide an overview to stakeholders.
Evaluate your team and create job descriptions as a manager.

An example avatar

How did we do it?

After a pilot project with the BioExcel Knowledge Resource Centre, we decided to create a site where everybody can access all the information included in the competency framework.

The Competency Hub was developed by the EMBL-EBI Training and Web Development teams in dedicated two-week collaborative development sprints.

A goal was defined for each sprint; our most recent one focused on improving the career profile journeys. Previous sprints included making the site more user-friendly, adding learning pathway functionality, and adding career profiles, among other tasks to constantly improve the site.

What is next?

At the end of each sprint, we gain feedback from users to determine our next goals. The next sprint will focus on improving the connections between the competencies and the career profiles to the training resources.

Want to get involved with future development? Fill in our survey.

We’d love to hear what you think of this new feature! Tell us on Twitter using @EBItraining.

EMBL-EBI Training website: one year on

Author: Anna Swan, Scientific Training Officer, e-learning at EMBL-EBI.

In February 2021, we launched the new EMBL-EBI Training website. Read more about that in our previous blog post.

Since then we’ve had over 600,000 visitors from around the world using the site to discover our live courses and learn from our on-demand training.

What does EMBL-EBI Training’s site offer?

Listings and registration pages for all of our live training, including face-to-face courses and webinars
Access to on-demand training, such as self-paced online tutorials and recorded webinars that are available anytime, anywhere
A simple search box on the homepage to help you search for training on a topic of interest
Support for trainers in using our materials and expanding their training skills

A screen shot of the EMBL-EBI training homepage — The homepage allows users to search and browse for training of interest.

What’s new since we launched in 2021?

After releasing the new site, we continued with further development. In line with EMBL’s mission to provide the world with #OpenData, we now provide sets of course materials from live courses, open to everyone, not just those that attended. You can find these in the on-demand section of the website.

Course materials can be in a variety of formats: lecture recordings, slides and practical instructions.

A screen shot of EMBL-EBI training, on-demand listings — Sets of course materials are now listed in our on-demand section – available for you to access anytime.

The materials are presented with overviews and learning objectives for each session of the course and are searchable to help you find the specific materials that are of use to you.

Not only that, all sets of course materials are labelled CC-BY, so you can use them for your own learning, or to train others. We encourage you to use our training far and wide.

As we continue to run live courses, the materials will be updated with the latest science and analysis methods to help you stay up to date.

A screenshot of the EMBL-EBI course website for bioinformatics for immunologists and its course materials — There are a range of topics covered by our course materials, including bioinformatics for immunologists.

What’s new for 2022?

With the site now a place many people come to find and complete learning, our next focus is on the community around bioinformatics training and learning.

If you are someone who teaches about EMBL-EBI resources, we’re keen to hear from you! Complete our short survey to join our community focus group.

10 tips on how to make your virtual conference sponsorship a success!

For the past year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual sponsorship has become the norm rather than the exception at scientific conferences. With most events taking place exclusively virtually, companies are seeking alternative ways to stay connected to their users and potential customers. One way is supporting a scientific conference as a virtual sponsor and companies have increasingly been taking advantage of the benefits these packages offer. Undeniably, sponsoring a virtual conference is an entirely different experience from sponsorship at in-person meetings. Therefore, based on a year of experience, we have put together a list of tips and tricks to help you make the best out of your virtual sponsorship.

1. Define your goals and set priorities

Sponsorship goals may vary from company to company. While one company may aim for wider brand recognition, others may look for ways to generate leads or introduce a new product. Taking this step back to reflect on your goals will help you choose the best package for your needs and define your overall approach to achieve these goals.

2. Find out more about the virtual event platform

There are various virtual conference programs in use throughout the event industry. Inquire in advance about the software features that are relevant to your goals and do not shy away from asking the organisers about what worked previously and what didn’t. We pursue open communication with our sponsors and are happy to clarify all details in advance.

3. Choose your sponsorship package

Now that you have set your goals and know more about the virtual event platform, it is time to select the most suitable sponsorship package – it can either be a set package or one specifically tailored to your needs. Get in touch with the organisers to discuss the options.

4. Get ready for the event

Depending on the package you book and the opportunities the virtual conference platform offers, prepare all the necessary materials and content. For instance, if your goal is to generate more leads, prepare a sign-up form on your webpage and link your virtual booth to it. Keep in mind the deadlines so as not to miss any networking opportunities with the attendees.

5. Be creative

Understanding the format and the needs of the virtual audience is essential for your success. We now know that more interpersonal interaction and networking is something that many participants wish for at virtual events. You could address this need by offering quizzes or games at your booth with the chance to win prizes such as attractive merchandise products, discounts, or vouchers. Many of our participants are interested in career opportunities, so this is also a good way to engage them.

6. Highlight your sponsorship

Your participation at the virtual conference is not only a possibility to reach out to attendees but also the opportunity to create digital marketing content for your own audience. You can highlight your sponsorship and your support of the scientific community in your social media, newsletters, and website posts. Make sure to use the event hashtag in your post and don’t hesitate to ask us to provide you with the event visual.

7. Be curious, get involved

Take an active part in the conference, visit talks and posters to understand the participants’ research-associated needs and problems. This way you will be able to offer suitable solutions by your company.

8. Use networking opportunities

Your participation at networking activities can be the first step in engaging virtual participants. This is important to gain visibility and could encourage more visits to your booth. Make use of as many conference platform features as possible for better networking, e.g. fill out your profile, write about your interests and put in relevant keywords for better searchability. If you are interested in meeting specific people, request a virtual meeting with them via the platform. Once you’ve made a new acquaintance, do not forget to send them your virtual business card.

9. Request analytics

After the conference, do not hesitate to ask the organisers to provide you with some post-event analytics. For data privacy reasons, no personal details can be shared, but you can still get some anonymised statistics about the traffic at your booth or talk views. This will help you evaluate the success of your campaigns during the conference and will show if you need to make any tweaks for future events.

10. Give feedback to the organisers

For us, virtual conferences are a new domain so we rely heavily on the attendees’ and sponsors’ feedback to help us improve our services and their experience. We are eager to receive your feedback so please do not hesitate to pass this on to us. You can do this by either filling in the feedback surveys circulated at the end of the conference, or communicating it directly to our sponsorship and conference officers. We carefully look into the feedback provided by our sponsors and see which suggestions can be implemented in the future.

In times of restricted face-to-face interaction, it is important to stay in touch with the scientific community. Engaging relevant audiences in the scope of a virtual sponsorship is one way to keep their interest and stay abreast of any research developments. Do you feel ready to give it a go? Get in touch with us or check our sponsorship brochure to find out more about the sponsorship opportunities at our upcoming conferences.

How to get your abstract selected for a short talk

by Nicola Vegiopoulos, EMBL Alumna, marketing expert and pianist

So, you’ve registered for a conference – be it virtual or onsite – and you reeeeeally want to present your work? It’s got everything going for it – it’s a hot topic and you have some great results to show. There’s just one little problem – you haven’t made a name for yourself in the field yet, so of course you haven’t been invited as a speaker. Never fear! There are some short talk speaking slots available. But how are you going to make sure that the abstract you submit is selected for a short talk?

Follow these steps to give yourself an edge over the others, and increase the chances of your abstract being selected to present your work.

Get to the point – quickly

Generally you will have a word limit for your abstract. Don’t waste valuable words making your abstract flowery – enter straight into the subject, your problem or research question. Scientific organisers have to read a lot of abstracts, so make sure you put the most important information at the beginning.

Make sure you answer 4 important questions

– What problem are you addressing and why is it important?
– What methods are you using to research the problem?
– What data have you been able to produce or process?
– What (preliminary) findings will you be able to discuss?

Make it clear why your work is important

Be sure to clearly emphasise the approach and importance of your findings and theorisation. Make a concise statement that outlines the purpose, context, approach and significance of your work.

Clarity, clarity, clarity!

Make sure you give strong conclusions and clear outcomes. Don’t leave anything open to misinterpretation, and make it clear if the work is finished, or at least nearly finished.

Make it relevant to the research field

Outline how your research has made steps forward in the field, and what impact it will have.

Make it relevant to the conference topic

Take a look at the conference programme and relate your work to areas of interest covered at the conference, as well as session titles. Have an idea of which session your short talk could fit into.

Avoid dull titles

Make sure the title is catchy and informative – it will be the first thing that anyone reading your abstract will see, and will also be the topic of your short talk should you be successful in your goal.

Find the balance

It’s not the easiest thing to do, but try to bring across enthusiasm for the topic across whilst remaining professional. This is one of the hardest things to do, so take your time with it and don’t try to do it at the last minute.

Get feedback before submitting

Ask others to read and review your abstract before submitting, for example your colleagues or PI. They can provide you with valuable feedback which you should take on board!

Follow the guidelines

It sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many people contact us to ask if they can submit their work after the deadline. Late submissions won’t get considered for a short talk, and there is a chance that they will not be accepted at all. In addition, stick to the word limit, and make sure you include all authors and co-authors in the correct format.

So, to sum it up, aim for precision, linearity of thought, and succinctness, and you‘re in with a good chance of getting selected for a short talk at your next conference.

Original video by EMBL Photolab and EMBL Events, EMBL Heidelberg

Metagenomics and Ribosome Profiling Smartly Explained

The science behind molecular biology is advancing fast and scientists are eager to create and share new content. But the more content is being created, the harder it is to reach the desired audience. Therefore, the scientific community has had to come up with new attractive formats to help spread valuable scientific content.

One format that is currently popular is explainer videos, which combine both, audio and visual elements to untangle a topic. It has been proved that when one sense is activated we keep part of the information, but with the activation of multiple senses we can process and store far more.

We have therefore created explainer videos as part of our e-learning series.

“It was a great experience working on this project for our virtual courses. We are very fortunate to have Daniel Krüger, a former PhD student creating the graphics for these videos. This immensely improved the communication between the scientific advisers and the graphic designer because they speak the same language,” said EMBL Training Lab Manager Yvonne Yeboah, who came up with the idea of creating the explainer videos and led their production.

The first explainer video we are introducing deals with metagenomics, the genomic analysis of microbes by direct extraction and cloning of DNA, that allows studying communities of organisms directly in their natural environment.

“Our metagenomics course encompasses many different in silico and experimental approaches to understand and gain insights into microbial communities. Therefore, we thought that the visualisation of a video would provide students with an attractive overview that helps to connect and integrate all the aspects covered in the course,” explained José Eduardo González-Pastor, who organised the EMBO Practical Course: Microbial Metagenomics: A 360° Approach and acted as scientific advisor for the videos.

The second explainer video deals with the topic of ribosome profiling, a method that allows researchers to quantitatively analyse translation genome-wide and with high resolution. The video gives a comprehensive overview on how this technique works, what ribosome protected fragments (RPFs) are and what information we can obtain from them.

“Ribosome profiling is still an emerging technology. Therefore, it is great to have a concise summary that explains the method to students. I will certainly use the video for lectures and on my website,” said Sebastian Leidel and Jan Medenbach, both organisers of the EMBO Practical Course: Measuring Translational Dynamics by Ribosome Profiling and scientific advisors for the video.

Visit EMBL’s YouTube channel to find more exciting scientific content.