The 70th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan

Instructions and Notices

In ESJ70, the majority of the meeting will be held “online,” with only the awards ceremony and award lectures being “hybrid” (held onsite + online). Please read the information about ESJ70 carefully, and check the latest information on the ESJ70 official website (https://esj-meeting.net/home_en/).

[For all participants]

Meeting bylaws.

ESJ70 will be held in accordance with the bylaws of the Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan. Participants are requested to be aware of these bylaws and the following notes, and follow the instructions from the Organizing Committee members and chairpersons.

Registration

  • As an online platform, we will use ONLINE CONF (https://gakkai.online/), which will be the venue for ESJ70 (to be released on March 1, 2023. Participants will need an individual ID and a password to enter the portal site.
  • The individual ID and password will be notified by email to those who registered. We accept registration until March 13, 2022. Please register via ONLINE CONF after March 1, 2023 (The registration system will be unavailable from February 21 to 28, 2023). Please refer to the official website for information on how to register (https://esj-meeting.net/platform_en/).
  • There is no registration fee for undergraduate students (as well as junior and senior high school students) who will not give a presentation. Please apply for ESJ70 from the meeting platform after 1st March 2023.
  • The platform (ONLINE CONF) will be kept open from March 1, 2023 till April 11, 2023.
  • A printed version of the program booklet of ESJ70 will not be provided. The meeting information and PDF program will be available to the participants on the ESJ70 official website (https://esj-meeting.net/program_en/) or on the platform.
  • The audience that will be using a workshop ticket and the high school students that will participate only in the Ecology Course will receive a URL link for their participation via email by Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

Preparation of Internet access environment.

  • The majority of the meeting will be held “online,” with only the awards ceremony and award lectures being “hybrid” (held onsite + online)
  • All talks (oral presentations, symposia, workshops, forums, Ecological lectures for junior and high school student and award lectures) will be conducted using Zoom meetings (https://zoom.us/jp-jp/meetings.html). Poster presentations will be made on the platform (ONLINE CONF).
  • Please check in advance how to use these online tools and make sure your internet connection is stable. The Organizing Committee will not be able to assist the participants with their equipment, access to Zoom, or internet connection troubles on the meeting days.
  • We recommend the participants to use earphones or headsets with microphones, as the microphone in the PCs might have problems (poor sound quality, picking up the sound of the PC fans, feedback, etc.).

Zoom Settings

  • In Zoom, please display the name you have registered to the system. (e.g., “Charles Darwin; XX Univ.”).
  • In Zoom Meetings, please unmute audio only when required by the chairperson (otherwise, please keep the audio muted). If you want to ask a question, please follow the chairperson’s instructions.
  • Attendees might be asked to leave if the chairperson has found them disrupting the presentation. In this case, please re-check your Zoom settings and log-in again.
  • During the Zoom Webinar sessions (Public Lecture), the audio of the participants will be muted by default. Please follow the instructions of the organizers for how to ask questions.
  • It is not allowed to enter multiple venues at the same time using multiple devices and/or accounts.

About ONLINE CONF

  • On each presentation page in the platform, a public comment field will be provided for text communication between the presenters and the audience. Feel free to use this field if you are, for example, unable to ask questions during the presentation.
  • The public comment field of each presentation is available at any time during the open period of the platform.
  • The Organizing Committee reserves the right to delete any content that is deemed offensive to the public order and morals.

Notes on the online holding

  • URL links for Zoom Meetings and login ID for ONLINE CONF will be sent by email only to the participants who have registered for the annual meeting and paid the registration fee. Do not share the received URL links and login ID with others.
  • Recording presentations and saving posters without the presenters’ permission are not allowed. Please do not download any contents of the presentations without permission, including saving screenshots and recording using other devices.

Childcare fee assistance

  • The Ecological Society of Japan will reimburse a portion of childcare fees (e.g. the use of a sitter or temporary care at a daycare center) of the participants in their residential area, after the annual meeting. The receipts or other forms of proof for childcare systems are required for the reimbursement. The supported period is from Friday, March 17 to Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Up to 50% of your total expenditure will be reimbursed with the maximum fee of 5,000 yen per day per child, with no limit to the number of children. However, in case the number of applicants exceeds our limit, then the subsidy amount may be reduced.
  • For more information, please visit the ESJ70 official website (https://esj-meeting.net/childcare_en/).

Consideration of persons with disabilities

  • Ecological Society of Japan will take into consideration people with disabilities based on the “Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities.” If you need any special support when attending the annual meeting, please contact us through the contact page on the official website (https://esj-meeting.net/contact_en/).

Cancellation policy

  • Those who have registered the online system (https://iap-jp.org/esj/conf/login_en.php) may cancel the registration at no charge by Monday, February 20, 2023 (excluding bank transfer fees and other expenses). No refunds will be given after that time.
  • Those who have registered using ONLINE CONF and paid by a credit card may cancel their registration at no charge by Thursday, March, 16, 2023. Please contact through the contact page on the official website (https://esj-meeting.net/contact_en/).

[For presenters]

Precautions about the presentation materials

  • All online lectures, oral or posters, are publicly transmitted under copyright laws, so permissions are required. Please be careful not to cause copyright infringements and avoid any defamation in the presentation contents, on the slides shared on-screen, or on the PDF poster you submit. When quoting published work, cite the source appropriately. If the content of the writing (presentation slide or PDF poster) infringes the copyright of a third party or causes damage to a third party, the presenter will take its responsibility.

Oral presentations

  • Oral presentations will be held using Zoom Meetings. When the presentation time comes, the video files uploaded by March 15 in advance will be played, and the real-time session for questions and answers will follow the presentation. If you are unable to upload your video files of presentation by the due date, please give your presentation in real-time via Zoom. If you are a real-time speaker and wish to receive on-demand streaming, please either 1) record your own real-time presentation or 2) create a video of your presentation and upload it to ONLINE CONF. Please edit the video so that the session for questions and answers is not included.
  • You can also use the comment function provided on each presentation page of the platform to ask questions. Please use the comment function on the page of each presentation at any time.
  • There will be no rehearsal for the Zoom presentation.
  • Please note that we cannot provide refunds or support for issues due to your network environment, devices, or files.
  • The total presentation time is 15 minutes: 12 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes for Q&A. For real-time presentation, the bell will ring once, twice, and three times at 10 minutes, 12 minutes, and 14 minutes and 30 seconds, respectively. For video presentation, the bell will ring three times at 2 minutes and 30 seconds after the start of Q&A.
  • Speakers who have finished their presentations are requested to chair the next presentation. The first chairperson will be handled by the organizing committee.
  • For detailed information, please visit the official website (https://esj-meeting.net/information_en/#APPLICATION_FOR_ORAL_AND_POSTER_SESSIONS).

English Presentation Award

  • To facilitate communications in English and create more opportunities for discussions with international students and participants, the 9th English Presentation Award (EPA) will be held.
  • The English oral presentation sessions (Oral presentation [E]) will be conducted in the same way as the general oral presentation sessions although with several exceptions, so please also refer to the section “Oral presentations” (https://esj-meeting.net/information_en/#APPLICATION_FOR_ORAL_AND_POSTER_SESSIONS).
  • The list of EPA winners will be announced on the platform and the award certificate will be sent to the winners by email. For details of the EPA, please refer to the ESJ70 official website (https://esj-meeting.net/information_en/#English_Presentation_Award).

Poster presentations

  • The poster presentations will be made on the platform where participants can freely view the uploaded poster files. You can view it at any time during the open period of the platform.
  • Videos and comment functions are available on the platform. During the core time, you can use the video function to explain the poster and answer questions. In the comment function, you will receive an email notification when the audience gives comments. If you would like to have a video discussion out of the core time, you can use Video function on the platform during the ESJ70.
  • A core time (March 17 and 18, 12:30-14:30) will be set for the poster presentations.
  • Poster presentations may consist of a poster (plus supplementary materials), a graphical abstract, and <2 explanatory videos.
  • Poster files must be prepared in PDF format (without embedded audio and video); PDF files of up to 5MB can be uploaded (it is recommended that the size of the PDF file is no larger than 1MB or 500KB per page because larger files will take longer to be displayed on the platform).
  • To ensure visibility and readability on the platform, we recommend “A4-size, approximately four sheets, horizontally” format. The A4 version with normal font size (e.g., 12 point) will provide good visibility and readability on the platform without enlargement. Please ensure that the research can be understood without the need for an oral explanation.
  • For more details on the poster file, please see: (https://esj-meeting.net/information_en/#PREPARING_POSTER_PRESENTATIONS).
  • You may upload your poster files to the platform from March 1, 2023 by yourself.
  • Applicants of presentations applying for the Poster Award should upload the poster files (including graphical abstracts) by 23:59 on 15th March 2023. This is because we need time to paste your graphical abstract on SpatialChat.
  • Please upload your file by the deadline, even for presentations that have not applied for a poster award. In addition, the deadline for uploading graphical abstracts is under consideration. If you do not upload the files by the core time, they may be treated as unpublished, so please prepare early.

Poster Award

  • The Ecological Society of Japan awards excellent poster presentations to encourage students. The important criteria in the selection are the information transmission ability of the poster and the quality of the research. If multiple posters achieve the same score in the review, the poster that can be better understood in English will be ranked higher.
  • Please note that if the poster file has not been uploaded by 23:59 on 15th March, it may not be subject to review. Also, please do not replace poster files during the ESJ70. Details on how to manage the Poster Award and the selection criteria can be found in the “Poster Award” section of the information on the ESJ70 official website (https://esj-meeting.net/information_en/#Poster_Award). It is also listed on the platform.
  • The list of the poster award winners will be posted and announced on the ESJ70 website as soon as confirmed. Winners will receive a certificate by email.
  • The “Best Poster Award” winning poster will be displayed on the front page of the platform.

Poster presentations by high school students

  • Information about the poster presentations by high school students (core time: 19th March, 11:30–12:30 for PH-01–PH-33 and 12:30–13:30 for PH-34–PH-66) will be sent from the Committee (Chair of the High School Poster Committee) to the teachers in charge in advance.

Symposia, Workshops, and Forums

  • There will be no timekeepers for any of the sessions. Organizers and presenters are therefore requested to pay attention to time management and finish within the limited time. Extensions of time are not allowed.
  • The Symposia and Workshops will be held live-streamed in real-time via Zoom Meetings.
  • To ensure smooth operation and real-time streaming of the meeting, a professional operator will provide Zoom operation support for online meetings.
  • Q&A can also be sent in text using the comment function provided on each meeting page of the platform. Please use the comment function in case you cannot ask questions or answer all the questions during the presentation time.

Consideration for color vision diversity and comfortable online resources

About 0.2–0.5% of females and 5–10% of males have visual characteristics that make it difficult to distinguish differences in colors such as red and green (color blindness). In online presentations, it is often difficult for speakers to point out sentences or figures using a pointer, and they often use only verbal explanations relying on colors (e.g., “The red points in the figure show a larger change than the green ones”). Such presentations are difficult for colorblind people to understand. Therefore, careful considerations for color barrier-free presentations are requested in online presentations. To put it simply, it is better to use orange and blue than red and green, and to use a layout that does not rely excessively on color.

Watching a screen for a long time can be a great burden for the audience. To reduce the burden on the eyes, the contrast between the background and text color should be reduced. If the background is white, it is effective to use slightly lighter black (gray) text. You can also use a pale color background to reduce the contrast between the black text and the background color. Reducing the contrast between the text and the background is also a barrier-free method for people with visual sensitivity.