Category: conference invitations

Not actually a government event

"It's just the name of the shop, love"

Keith S. Taber

An invitation

This week I received an invitation to chair an event (well, as most weeks, I received several of those, but this one seemed to be actually on a topic I knew a little about…).

Dear Keith,

"It is my pleasure to invite you to chair at Government Events' upcoming event The Delivering Excellence in Teaching STEM in Schools Conference 2023, taking place online on 29th of March 2023.

Chairing would involve giving a short opening and closing address, chairing the Q&A and panel discussions, and providing insights throughout the day.

Invited Speakers Include:

  • Kiera Newmark, Deputy Director for STEM, Digital and EdTech, Department for Education
  • Maria Rossini, Head of Education, British Science Association
  • Sam Parrett, Chief Executive, London South East Colleges

I feel you would add great value and insight to the day and I would be delighted to confirm your involvement in this event! …"

(Well, I claim to know a bit about teaching science, not so much about teaching technology or mathematics, or engineering {that I was not aware was really part of the National Curriculum}.)

Read about STEM education

So, at face value this would be a government-sponsored event, including a senior representative from the ministry of education – so perhaps another chance for me to lobby to have the embarrassing errors in the English National Curriculum for science corrected – as well as a leading executive from the 'British Ass'. 1

My initial reaction was mixed. This was clearly an important topic, and one where I probably was qualified to act as chair and might be able to make a useful contribution. And it was on-line, so I would not have to travel. Then again, I retired from teaching because I suffer from regular bouts of fatigue, and find I have to limit my high intensity inputs as I tire very easily and quickly these days. Chairing a session might not completely drain me, but a whole conference?

Due diligence

Finding myself tempted, I felt the need to do some due diligence. Was this really what it seemed? What would be involved?

The invitation seemed genuine enough, even if it included one of those dodgy legalese footers sometimes used by scam artists to put people off sharing dubious messages. (The 'you must not tell anyone' trope reminds me of what fictional blackmailers say about not contacting the police.)

A rather silly legal disclaimer.
It seems from the wording, presumably carefully chosen by the legal department, that this disclaimer only applies to "email (which included any attachment)" – whereas mine did not.

This one suggested that if I had received the message in error I should

  • permanently delete it from my computer without making a copy
  • then reply to say I had done so

I will leave the reader to spot the obvious problem there.

However, this lack of clear logic did remind me of the similarly bizarre statement about the conservation of energy in the National Curriculum which perhaps gave some credence to this being a government event.

Luckily, I was the intended recipient, but in any case I take the view that if someone sends me an unsolicited email, then they have no right to tell me what to do with it, and as in this case I discovered they had already announced the invitation on their website (see image above), I could not see how any court would uphold their claim that the message was confidential.

Government events?

I was clearly aware that just because an event was organised by an entity called "Government Events" was not assurance this really was a government event. So I checked out the website. (The lack of any link in the invitation email to the event webpage, or indeed the organisation more generally, might have been an oversight, but seemed odd.)

As you will have likely guessed, this was not a government event.

In situations such as this I am always put in mind of the 'song' 'Shirt' by the dadaist-inspired Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band which included a joke about a man who takes his shirt to a dry cleaner for 'express cleaning' and was then told it would be ready for collection in three weeks. 1

Three weeks!? But, the sign outside says '59 minute cleaning'

Yes, that's just the name of the shop, love.

On searching out the website I found that "Government events" claims to be "Supporting UK Public Sector Teams to Deliver World Class Public Services" and to be "the UK's No. 1 provider of public sector conferences, training courses and case study focused insights and intelligence". By "public sector conferences" they presumably mean conferences for the public sector, not conferences in the pubic sector.

It transpired that "Government Events" is one brand of an organisation called "Professional Development Group". That organisation has a webpage featuring members of its "Advisory Board [which] is made up of senior executives and academics from both corporate and public-sector background" but its website did not seem to provide any information about its governance or who its executives or owners were. (Professional Development Group does have a listing in the Companies House registry showing two current directors.)

Possibly the senior leadership team at Professional Development Group? But probably not.

A bias against the private sector?

Perhaps I am simply displaying my personal bias towards the public sector? I've worked in state schools, a state college, and a state university. I have worked in the private sector if we include after-school, and holiday, jobs (mainly for Boots the Chemist or Boots the Pharmacist as they should be known), but my career is very much public sector. And I've not liked what I've seen as the inappropriate and misguided attempts to make the health and education service behave like a series of competing units in a free market. (And do not 'get me going' on the state of utilities in England now – the selling off of state assets at discounted rates to profit-making concerns (seemingly to fund temporary tax cuts for electoral advantage), and so replacing unitary authorities (with no need to budget for continuously needing to advertise and to try to poach each others' customers) by dozens of competing and, recently, often failing, profit-making companies that often own each other or are owned overseas.)

So, although I have no problem with the private sector, which no doubts does some things better, I am suspicious of core 'public sector' activities being moved into the commercial sphere.

Perhaps "Government Events" does a good job despite the misleading name. After all they are kite-marked by an organisation called the CPD Certification Service (a trademark of The CPD Certification Service Ltd, so another privately owned company. Again, the website did not give any information about governance or The CPD Certification Service Ltd's executives. But four directors are named in the public listing at Company's House). This all seems alien to someone from the public sector where organisations go out of their way to provide such information, and value transparency in such matters. (Three of the four directors share the same family name, 'Savage', which might raise some questions in a publicly governed organisation.)

A bit pricey for an on-line meeting?

But even if Professional Development Group do a wonderful job, do they offer value for money?

The conference is aimed at "teachers who work in STEM and senior leadership representatives from schools". If they work in state schools the cost per delegate is £399.00 (plus V.A.T., but schools should be able to reclaim that). For that they get a one-day on line conference. The chair (currently listed as" "Keith Taber, Professor of Science Education, University of Cambridge (invited)", but that will need to be changed*) is due to open the event at 09.50, and to wind it up with some closing remarks at 16.20. The £399 will presumably not include accommodation, refreshments, lunch, a notepad, a branded pen, a tote bag for the goodies, or any of the other features of face-to-face events.

It will include a chance to hear a range of speakers. Currently listed (caveat emptor: "programme subject to change without notice") are ten specified presentations as well as two Key Supporter Sessions (!) The advertised topics seem valuable:

  • National Trends and Updates on Boosting the Profile of STEM Subjects in Schools
  • Best Practice for Implementing Flexible Working to Help Recruit and Retain STEM Teachers
  • Providing an Inclusive and Accessible STEM Curriculum for Pupils with SEND
  • Driving Increased Interest and Participation in STEM Among Female Students
  • Encouraging Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds to Study STEM Subjects
  • Taking Action to Boost Extracurricular Engagement with STEM Subjects 
• Primary: Implementing a Whole School Approach to Boost the Profile of STEM Subjects• Secondary: Supporting Students to Succeed and Improve Outcomes in STEM Examinations
• Primary: Partnership Working to Promote STEM Education in Primary Schools• Secondary: Working with Employers and Universities to Encourage Post-Secondary STEM

However, anyone looking to book should notice that at this point only one of the ten mooted speakers has confirmed – the rest are 'invited'.

I was also intrigued by the two slots reserved for 'Key Supporter Session's. You, dear reader, could buy ('sponsor') one of these slots to talk at the conference.

You can sponsor the conference

Professional Development Group offer "sponsorship and exhibition packages" for their events. This would allow a sponsor to meet their "target audience", to "demonstrate your products or services" and even to "speak alongside industry [sic] leading experts".

Someone wishing to invest as a Key Supporter (pricing not disclosed) gets branding on the Website and Event Guide and a "20-minute speaking slot followed by Q&A". (For this specific conference it seems you could buy time to sell your wares in the 10.40 slot or the 13.55 slot.)

  • Perhaps you have invented a new type of perpetual motion kit for use in the classroom and are seeking an opportunity to demonstrate and market your wares? ["demonstrate your products or services"]
  • Perhaps you think that evolution is not really science because it is only a theory, and you want to subject delegates to a diatribe on why impressionable young people should not be indoctrinated with such dangerous speculations? ["speak alongside industry [sic] leading experts"]
  • Perhaps your company mines and refines uranium ore, and is looking to find a market for the vast amounts of fine slag produced, and think it might make an excellent modelling material for use in design and technology classes? [meet "your target audience"]

A Strategic Headline Sponsor at a Professional Development Group event can also purchase other features such as a "pre show marketing email to all registered delegates". I guess the terms and conditions of signing up to a Professional Development Group event mean delegates agree to receive such sponsored advertising.

What's wrong with selling conference slots?

There is nothing inherently immoral about selling slots at a commercial conference – after all, it is a commercial event – so, it is primarily about 'the bottom line' of the balance sheet. But that's my point. This would be unacceptable at an academic conference, where some speakers are invited because they are considered to have something relevant to say, and others wishing to present have to submit their proposals to peer review.

What I find, if not immoral, certainly distasteful here, is that an on-line conference of the kind that would likely be arranged for free or for a nominal fee in an academic context, is being priced at £399 for state school teachers at a time when public services are under immense pressures and budgets need to be very wisely spent. How can this price be justified?

Perhaps the speaker fees are a significant cost. But I doubt that: I was not offered any fee to give up a day of my time to chair the meeting, and so I expect the other speakers are also being expected to speak for free as well. That's how things usually work in academia and the state sector. (But if this is a commercial activity, then the professional speakers SHOULD ask for a fee. If they are taking time out of school, and so already being paid, then perhaps the fee could be used to buy school books or pay for supply teachers?) Indeed, there are two slots for fee-paying speakers who wish to advertise their wares.

So, this is perhaps not actually a scam, but it does not meet the standards of honesty and transparency I would expect in the state sector (because it is only masquerading as state sector), and the event seems to be priced in order to make money for shareholders, not primarily to meet a mission of "Supporting UK Public Sector Teams".

If the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it is that many (probably not all, but surely most) meetings can be held just as well on line, so avoiding all the time, money and carbon footprints of moving people around the country. Oh, and consequently, it showed us that most of these meetings (a) can be offered for free where they are hosted by a public sector organisation that can consider them as meeting part of its core mission; and (b) that even when that does not apply, and so costs have to be covered, they can be arranged for a fraction of the expense of a face-to-face event at a hired venue.

As you may have guessed, I declined.*

* I replied to decline this opportunity on 19th November. Checking on 25th November, I see I am still listed as Chair (invited). See note 1

Notes

1 In the academic world, the term 'invited speaker' is used to designate a conference speaker who was invited by the organisers in contrast to a speaker who applied to speak and proposed a contribution in response to an open call. However, 'invited speaker' here seems to mean someone whom has been invited to speak, in contrast to someone who has agreed to.

2 I have a pretty poor memory, but do recall seeing Bonzo stalwart Neil Innes play at Nottingham University when I was a student. He sang their most successful song, "I'm the urban spaceman" (which reached no. 5 in the UK single charts and led to Innnes getting an Ivor Novello award for his song-writing), then announced, deadpan, "that was a medley of hit".

The Bonzos

My work in the field of catalysis

Another predatory conference?

Keith S. Taber

Dear Programme Manager

Thank you for your message on behalf of the scientific committee offering me the position of invited speaker at 12th Edition of Global Conference on Catalysis, Chemical Engineering & Technology.

I appreciate that your scientific committee comprises of eminent leaders in the field of catalysis, but when you write that "By going through your work in the field of Catalysis, our scientific committee would like to offer you the position of Speaker" I am at a loss to work out what

  • Stanislaw Dzwigaj
  • Jose C Conesa
  • Anne M Gaffney
  • Nikolaos C Kokkinos
  • Dmitry Nikushchenko
  • M A Martin Luengo
  • Osman Adiguzel
  • Ahmet Haxhiaj
  • Eugenio Meloni
  • Ramesh C Gupta
  • Abdelkrim Abourriche

have found in my work that makes them feel my it would be of any particular interest to your delegates.

Perhaps you would be kind enough to ask the scientific committee to specify which of my publications they consider to be in the field of catalysis, so I have some idea what I am being invited to speak about.

I assume that as an invited speaker all relevant fees would be waived?

I am afraid that otherwise I will just have to conclude that this is yet another dishonest approach from a predatory conference where 'invited speaker' invitations are of no worth and are issued indiscriminately as a ploy to elicit money from potential speakers: without any regard at all for their suitability or relevance – as long as they can pay you the conference fees.

As you "would be glad to answer any questions [I] may have and provide necessary clarifications where needed" I look forward to your clarification so I can put my mind to rest and avoid concluding that this invitation is just another scam.

Best wishes

Keith

[Email response to the conference (copied to committee members). Clarifications awaited*]

The scientific committee of a catalysis conference has, allegedly, invited me to speak on the topic.

According to the conference programme manager, this committee of experts invited me to speak after 'going through' my (non-existent) 'work in the field of Catalysis'.
Are they incompetent? (I very much doubt that.)
Did the programme manager mishear 'Benjamin List' or 'David MacMillan' as 'Keith Taber'?
Or
Is this just another lie to publicise a predatory conference?

* Update: A clarification

To be fair to 12th Edition of Global Conference on Catalysis, Chemical Engineering & Technology I have today (20th July) received a response. I have been informed that:

"We went through your books and articles regarding teachings in chemistry and concepts and thought to invite you to our event, as most of the delegates who attend our event are from academia"

That sounds reasonable enough, as long as there is a suitable place in the programme.

"As an invited speaker, there are no registration charges to be paid"

Again, that is reasonable.

It is one thing to pay to be present at a conference you are seeking to attend, but another to pay for the privileged of giving a talk when you have been invited to speak.

"But you can present on any of the topics related to scientific sessions"

Okay, so where would a talk to 'mostly academics' about 'teachings in chemistry and concepts' fit?

The conference sessions are on:

  • Catalysis and Porous Materials
  • Catalysis for Energy
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Catalysis in Nanotechnology
  • Environmental Catalysis
  • Catalytic Materials
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Chemical Synthesis and Catalysts Synthesis
  • Macrocyclic and Supramolecular chemistry
  • Petrochemical Engineering
  • Green and Sustainable Chemistry
  • Catalysis for Renewable Sources
  • Catalysis for Biorefineries
  • Chemical Kinetics and Catalytic Activity
  • Photochemistry, Photobiology and Electrochemistry

So no obvious home for a talk on teaching about chemical concepts.

The topics I was directed to in the email were

  • Catalysis and Porous Materials
  • Catalysis for Energy
  • Photochemistry, Photobiology and Electrochemistry
  • Catalysis for Renewable Sources
  • Chemical Kinetics and Catalytic Activity
  • Catalysis and Applications
  • Homogeneous Catalysis, Molecular Catalysis
  • Catalysis for Biorefineries
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Heterogeneous Catalysis
  • Advances in Catalysis and Chemical Engineering
  • Reaction Chemistry and Engineering
  • Catalysis in Nanotechnology
  • Industrial Catalysis and Process Engineering
  • Environmental Catalysis
  • Advanced synthesis, Catalytic systems and new catalyst designing
  • Biocatalysis and Biotransformation
  • Catalytic Materials
  • Organometallics, Organocatalysis and Bioinorganic Chemistry
  • Surface Chemistry: Colloid and Surface aspects
  • Computational Catalysis
  • Enantioselective catalysis
  • Chemical Synthesis and Catalysts Synthesis
  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Micro-emulsion Catalysis and Catalytic Cracking
  • Macrocyclic and Supramolecular chemistry
  • Integrated Catalysis
  • Plasma Catalysis
  • Enzymes, Coenzymes and Metabolic Pathways
  • Nuclear Chemistry/Radiochemistry
  • Separation Processes in Chemical Technology
  • Petrochemical Engineering
  • Green and Sustainable Chemistry
  • Analytical Methodologies
  • Microbial Technology
  • Mechanisms of Microbial Transcription

So, I have been invited because of my expertise relating to teaching chemical concepts (one of the very few areas where I really might be considered to have some kind of expertise), and can participate for free, as long as I submit a talk on some aspect of the science of chemical catalysis in a session about some sub-field of chemistry relating to catalysis.

This is like writing to Reece James to tell him that on the basis of his exceptional skills as a footballer, he is invited to talk at a literary festival on any any genre of fiction writing; or, on the basis of her song-writing and musical achievements, inviting Kate Bush to be give a keynote at a history conference – and allowing her to choose between speaking about Roman Britain, The Agricultural Revolution, Europe between the 'World Wars', or Sino-Japanese tensions over Korea in the nineteenth century.

So, I recognise the attempt to make good on the invitation, but hardly a total 'save'.

Addendum: A glut of catalytic conferences?

By coincidence, or otherwise, today I also received an invitation to be a speaker at the

"?3rd Global Congress on Chemistry and Catalysis?, an event hosted by Phronesis LLC and held at Dubai, UAE during November 18-19, 2022 [where] The main theme of the conference is ?Contemporary Advances and Innovations in chemistry and catalysis?"

I would apparently be a 'perfect person' to speak at one the sessions. These are on:

  • Materials Science and Engineering
  • Advanced Structural Materials
  • Ceramics, Polymers and Composite Materials
  • Advances in Biosensors, Biomaterials, Medical devices and Soft Materials
  • Corrosion, Alloys, Mining and Metallurgy
  • Hybrid Materials and Bioinspired Materials
  • Materials in Nuclear Energy Science and Engineering
  • Energy, Environment and Materials Technology
  • Computational Materials Science
  • 3D Printing Technology
  • Materials Synthesis And Processing
  • Functional materials, Metals, and Metal Casting Technology
  • Emerging Smart Materials, Meta Materials and Smart Coatings
  • Materials Chemistry, Sustainable Chemistry and Materials Physics
  • Polymer Science and Polymeric Materials
  • Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
  • Optics Photonics Electronic and Magnetic Materials
  • Glass Science and Technologies
  • Nanotechnology in Materials Science
  • Nanotechnology for Energy and the Environment
  • Nanomaterials and 2D Materials
  • Carbon Nanomaterials, Nanostructures and Nanocomposites
  • Graphene Technologies and carbon Nanotubes
  • Manufacturing Technology and Instrumentation Technology
  • Materials for Energy and the Environment
  • Nanotechnology in Healthcare and its Applications

Hm. Perhaps I am not quite the 'perfect person', after all?

A fossilised conference invitation

Let's NOT shape the world's energy through oil, gas, and petroleum

Keith S. Taber

Let's shape the world's energy by moving away from reliance on non-renewable and polluting fossil fuels (Image by jpenrose from Pixabay)

I have just replied to yet another invitation to speak at a conference about a topic where I have no expertise! (Presumably, actually an invitation to be hoodwinked into paying a conference registration fee to a conference organiser who has no concern for the academic quality or accuracy of their conference presentations. 1)

Dear Dr. Jessie Parker

Thank you for your invitation to speak at the International E-Conference on Oil, Gas and Petroleum Engineering, but I really do not see I have any particular expertise that would be relevant to delegates at such a conference.

As you "would also love to hear [my] thoughts and opinions" relating to the conference theme of "Shaping world's energy through latest advances in oil, gas, and petroleum" then I am happy to share. Basically my opinion would be that oil, gas and petroleum should be phased out as contributions to the "world's energy" (i.e., power generation to meet human needs) as soon as it is feasible.

Best wishes

Keith

My reply to an email inviting me to speak on "Shaping world's energy through latest advances in oil, gas, and petroleum", 21/12/2021

An invitation to my alter ego 'Taber Keith S'

Note:

1 The email comes from urfconferences.com, which according to the web is Universal Research Foundation now seemingly trading as United Research Forum:

"The website United Research Forum is a platform where knowledge and zeal to [sic] meet with the vision of educating with the latest scientific and technology-specific innovations and the best implementations for mankind."

https://unitedresearchforum.com

Well, quite.

But strangely, the conference I was invited talk at to does not appear on the diverse of events shown on their website:

https://unitedresearchforum.com (accessed: 21/21/2021)

Someone there at least has a sense of humour, as on the dates that they invited me to talk about "Oil, Gas and Petroleum Engineering" they are advertising a meeting on "Environmental sustainability"! I hope they have not got the two meetings conflated.

Whereas there is a conference on the topic of Oil, Gas and Petroleum Engineering, with the same dates, listed on the website of the 'The World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology' which apparently is "an open science research organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of science, engineering, and technology" (https://waset.org/page/support, accessed 21/12/2021):


https://waset.org/oil-gas-and-petrochemical-engineering-conference-in-april-2022-in-london (accessed 21/12/2021)
[I had thought it was (the old) London Bridge, not Westminster Bridge, that had been built with buildings along it.]

Surely, United Research Forum (a.k.a. Universal Research Foundation) and The World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology are not different 'fronts' for the same organisation?

Talking about 'Women Health'

Keith S. Taber

Image by Waldryano from Pixabay
Strangely the invitation supposedly from William Stella, Conference Manager of the 'Webinar- Women Health' seems to have been sent to me by a Sara Jones of unitedresearchforum.org. Sara, or perhaps William (or perhaps Stella if the name 'William Stella' is to be read in the same way as 'Taber Keith S' as I was addressed?) would apprently be honoured if I would give a Keynote talk – about Women['s] health presumably?
Respected Taber Keith S, Greetings Hope you're staying safe and healthy during this pandemic. We would like to cordially invite you to partake as a Keynote Speaker for the upcoming "Webinar- Women Health". It is an online conference scheduled for 16-17th of September 2021. The webinar is a leading forum for Doctors, Physicians, Women Health Researchers, Public Health Professionals, Academicians i.e., Professors Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, novice researchers, and budding scientists. We are open for the Q & A Sessions, Panel Discussions with the Keynote Speaker/Attendees. Break out rooms with the requested attendees. For more information: … We look forward to a positive confirmation, an honor for us indeed. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any additional information and support from our side. Thank you Best Regards William Stella | Conference Manager
I cannot immediately see what I would have to offer, but perhaps Sara  / William / Stella has spotted some connection I have missed. Otherwise, it seems that the state of the academic conference industry has got to such a low point that anyone prepared to offer a keynote on any topic is considered good enough to put in front of (I assume) paying customers?
The scientific committee
The webinar has a scientific committee, also refered to as the organising committee who – one would assume – are at least consulted on possible keynote speakers (otherwise what is the point of such a committee?) and each member seems to be a genuine academic or professional who clearly has expertise relevant to the weninar topic. Academics allowing their names to be published as members of such a committee give prestige to the event (whilst adding an entry to their own c.v./résumé) but this is only meaningful if they are actively involved in organising the meeting. Well, I await enlightenment:

Invitation to be a Keynote Speaker: Webinar- Women Health

Dear Conference Manager William Stella (and Sara Jones) Thank you and your organising committee (Prof. Filiz Namdar Pekiner, Dr Tatiana Zavarykina, Dr Jeffrey V Leyton, Catharine Janssen, Dr Daniela Capdepon and Prof. Sophia Karagiannis) for the kind invitation to be a Keynote Speaker at 'Webinar- Women Health'. I am currently very busy with a range of projects and so have to decline most such invitations, but I do recognise that this is a very important topic where I should seek to contribute if I can genuinely be of use. You kindly invite me contact you for any additional information, and so I hope you do not mind if I ask which aspect of my research and scholarship you were hoping I might present on. I am sure that you and your impressive international scientific committee deliberate carefully before honouring colleagues with such prestigious invitations, but it is not immediately obvious to me which strand of my work would be most relevant to the intended audience of this particular webinar. If you are able to tell me which of my project(s) or publication(s) you had in mind as a basis for the Keynote when you issued the invitation, then I would be happy to give serious consideration to whether I could prepare a Keynote talk for the Webinar along those lines. You can find details of my work at: https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/taber/ https://science-education-research.com/projects/ https://science-education-research.com/publications/ I am looking forward to learning more about how my work might contribute to this webinar on a very serious and important topic. Yours sincerely Keith

Read about conferences and poor academic practice

Read about the weak basis of invitations to contribute to academic enterprises

An International Conference on Chemistry (Education and Research)?

Invitation to be an Honorable speaker, but perhaps at a dishonourable conference?

Keith S. Taber

Dear  *****  *****  (Program Coordinator: 'Chemistry Education 2021')

Thank you for the invitation on behalf of the organising committee, to be the Honorable Speaker at your upcoming 4th International Conference on Chemistry Education and Research, and for sending me the link so I could check out the details of the conference. Thank you, also, for suggesting that I share my thoughts on the conference. As someone who has become quite concerned about academic standards, and, in particular, how new academics find their way in the current chaotic scholarly environment, I am happy to do that.

Given the excessive number of invitations I receive to write or edit or talk in areas where I clearly have no expertise, it was reassuring to be invited to talk on a conference that, on the face of it at least, is related to my own area of research.

Despite this I feel I must decline the invitation for a number of reasons.

A very practical reason is that you have invited me to talk at less than four weeks' notice. When I do present, I take this responsibility rather seriously, and would want to plan and prepare a talk carefully. Whilst it is not impossible to produce something of quality on a short time-scale, I have various existing commitments that would need to be put to one side to concentrate on preparing a talk on such a time-scale. I would need a very good reason to do that – and so would need to feel this was indeed an important place to present.

In that regard, you tell me this is a "prestigious" conference, but I am not convinced.  This is not just because I feel I am familiar with the prestigious conferences in my area of work, and this is not one of them. This is also based on the evidence available in response to the kinds of questions I advise research students and new researchers to consider when evaluating conferences they might consider committing their time to attending.

The first point is that this conference seems to be organised by a commercial company, 'Conferenceseries LLC Ltd'. Whilst it is certainly not impossible for a serious and worthwhile conference to be convened by such an organisation, the more prestigious conferences are usually organised by professional societies and learned bodies and research associations in specific fields and disciplines. Your site refers to having "support from 1000 more scientific societies" which sounds at once both impressive, and yet vague. The link you give lists organisations publishing with 'OMICS International' – so is that another name for the same organisation?

More substantively, you refer to the invitation being from the organising committee. When I taught research methods sessions on presenting research I would recommend that students interrogated the membership lists of scientific or organising committees of conferences they were unsure about. Do they include well-known academics in the field – people who they are confident are leading names in the area and who suggest the conference has sufficient prestige to commit valuable time (and often money) to a meeting? I cannot find the list of the committee on the website. It does not seem to be there, suggesting you do not have a list of top people in the field prepared to be publicly associated with this conference. (If the listing is there and I have missed it, I would appreciate being directed to it.) This is often a sign of a predatory conference (that is one whose primary purpose is making money for its sponsors, not furthering knowledge.)

This impression is reinforced by details of the conference programme itself.

For one thing there is some ambiguity about the conference name and theme – something I associate with predatory conferences which are not managed and organised by experts in a field. How is 'Chemistry Education and Research' to be parsed? (n.b. "It is also an opportunity for researchers, chemistry professors, students to present and discuss the most recent advances and challenges on Chemistry Education and Chemistry Research.") The conference details are listed under the subheading 'CHEMISTRY EDUCATION 2021', and the first track is 'Chemistry Education' – but there are 21 other tracks which seem to be about other aspects of the chemical sciences, not education.

Under the first track, 'Chemistry Education' a number of specific 'sub-tracks' are listed:

Track 1-1 Developing theories Science and math ability
Track 1-2 Conduct research Perseverance
Track 1-3 Attending to data Analytical skills
Track 1-4 Curiosity Follow through skills
Track 1-5 Utilizing formulas Perform experiments
Track 1-6 Process data Observation and decision making
Track 1-7 Work independently and in groups Technological skills
Track 1-8 Oral and written communication Remain objective

I find it very difficult to believe that any experts in chemistry education would have devised that set of convoluted and incoherent themes for conference sessions. It reads more like a list that has been put together by a child asked to undertake an internet search in a subject that they have never studied. Presumably there are 16 items here which have been inadvertently paired-up on no particular basis. Indeed this list seems to appear, with exactly the same flaw, at the website of an American University where it is described as "interests and values … related to Chemistry Education". Surely your organisation has not simply copied and pasted from another website without anyone checking to see that that an already questionable list of features of undergraduate chemistry had lost half of its bullets?

Major to Career: Chemistry Education (Brigham Young University-Idaho website)

To return to your association with formal learned societies, I see you list an apparently impressive collection of international societies under the Chemistry Education track: – including the Royal Society of Chemistry (of which I am a Fellow, so I know it is not based in Belgium as your site suggests).

  • European Chemical Sciences
  • Society of Austrian Chemists
  • Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Chemical Society of France
  • Society of German Scientists
  • Association of Greek Chemists
  • Association of Hungarian Chemists
  • Italian Chemical Society
  • Polish Chemical Society
  • Portuguese Society of Chemistry
  • Slovak Chemical Society
  • Swedish Chemical Society
  • Swiss Chemical Society
  • Royal Dutch Chemical Society
  • Norwegian Chemical Society
  • American Chemical Society
  • American Institute of Chemists
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • Association of Analytical Communities
  • Canadian Society for Chemical Technology
  • Chemical Society of Japan
  • Chemical Research Society of India
  • Japan Association for International Chemical Information
  • Korean Chemical Society
  • The Chemical Society of Thailand

The implication would seem to be that these societies from around the world have some formal association with the conference and are, if not supporting it as such, at least offering it some credence by allowing their names to be used in this way. But I wonder if that would be correct?

Your site does not actually specify ANY formal linkage at this point – it just presents a list under the subheading 'Societies'. I therefore assume that although you would like it to be read as a form of accreditation or recommendation of your conference by relevant organisations, it is actually no such thing – rather the list should be read simply as societies whose members you would hope might be interested in your conference. Am I wrong?

In all then, I am unable to find any indicators here of the "prestigious" conference you suggest. Rather I see an inept and incoherent presentation that does not seem to have been developed or informed by experts in the field. Indeed, there are several signs that commonly indicate the kind of predatory conference that is designed to take money from delegates who are misled into signing up for something that has a veneer of academic respect, or who choose to share in the pretence as they wish to expand their own c.v./résumés with conference presentations (and perhaps cannot get their papers accepted at well-respected conferences) and so enter into the conceit and collude with the organisers to mislead others who may assume from the title that this is indeed a prestigious academic conference.

You will appreciate that in the circumstances I would not wish to attend your conference as an honorable (or even honoured) speaker, both as in my evaluation this would not be a good use of my time, and as my involvement could be used to mislead other more junior colleagues in the field to assume this was a conference they should consider investing in and attending themselves.

Best wishes

Keith

The relationship between science and religion: A contentious and complex issue facing gynaecology and obstetrics

Is 'Gynae & Obs' really the kind of specialism where experts should be informed by amateurs?

Keith S. Taber

Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

The 9th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics sounds like a pretty serious sort of conference where medical practitioners and researchers might wish to focus on the latest developments in research and practice.

Recollecting medical training

So, on the face of it,  I am probably not an obvious candidate to be an invited speaker. My best qualification for this role is sharing a flat for a year with two medical students undertaking their clinical post-graduate work, giving me some insight into that community.

I would say they were training to become 'doctors', but at Nottingham, at least, those successfully completing their BSc then proceeded to undertake a carousel of specialist placements (each about 6 weeks, as I recall) to work towards two further bachelor's degrees, of surgery, and medicine.

This was a fascinating process for an outsider (I was in my final year of a chemistry degree) to observe, as each specialism seemed to involve about a month or so of intense experience working as part of a medical (or surgical) team – in effect working in legitimate peripheral practice as the most junior members of a professional community headed by a consultant; followed by some days of exam. preparation (and, typically, very little sleep); and then finally a few days of (depending on the individual) either intense sleep, or, more commonly, hedonistic-induced stupor.

The process seemed to be a cycle of extreme extended stress, punctuated with occasional release, and designed mainly to ensure those making it through could cope with anything later practice might present to them. I seem to recall that the 'gynae and obs' placement offered particular challenges as the student was expected to participate in a minimum number of deliveries during their time with the team – which relied on the expectant mothers and due babies fitting with the training schedule, something that could not be taken for granted.

Image by Sanjasy from Pixabay

My talk will be one of the highlights of the congress

Despite my recollections of time 'in the field' (and a flat shared with medics seemed to fit that description at times) as an informal anthropologist, I am still not convened that qualifies me to talk to a conference of gynaecologists and obstetricians. So, the invitation from the programme coordinator of the 9th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics seemed a little misplaced.

Whilst it is nice to be told that:

"You are an internationally acclaimed scholar assuredly and have made a great contribution to this field. Your participation as Speaker will be among the highlights of the conference."

that does not make it an accurate evaluation.

It was suggested that I might

"present a talk on 'The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education' "

which would be feasible, as I have written a book chapter with the very title "The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education"!

What worries me is that, should I present on that topic – and the invitation suggests the Congress is not virtual, but in Lisbon in July; whereas I am in the third English 'lockdown' of the current pandemic and have not left Cambourne in about 6 months, so that does not look a likely opportunity – although the talk might be a highlight for me, listening to someone present about science and religion in science education would, at best, be light entertainment for most of the "Doctors, Nurses, Professors, Scientists, Researchers, Students, and other healthcare professionals" keen to learn about the latest developments in Gynae & Obs.

Image by Sam Chen from Pixabay

I can only conclude that despite its impressive title, the  9th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics is another of those predatory conferences that have become legion in recent years, where extracting conference fees to profit the organisers is the main purpose, not the sharing of scholarship, research and good practice.

(Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice')

 

Update at 28th April

A further invitation came today – although strangely the 9th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF GYNAECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS (ICGO-2022) seems to have been re-branded as… The 8th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics-2022.

The programme appears to be filling up. Presumably enough of these invitations are getting to people who are actually in the field who are enticed and consider this a genuine specialist conference. At least, the names and titles seem authentic:

Vitamin D supplementation during Pregnancy: What Do We Know?: Dr. David F. Lewis, Professor and Dean of School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, USA

Nomogram based on Radiomics Analysis of Primary Breast Cancer Ultrasound Images: Prediction of Axillary Lymph Node Tumor Burden in Patients: Dr. Qingli Zhu, Professor, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China

Hypertensive Complications of Pregnancy in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): Dr. Natalia Kozlovskaya, Professor, RUDN University, Russia

Assay for Fetal Hemoglobin RBCs: Impact of IVD Regulations and Expanded Applications into Sickle Cell Disease Management: Dr. Bruce H. Davis, Professor, University of Porto, Portugal

Fetal Cardiac Alteration in Intrauterine Growth Restriction: Dr. Fabio Ruiz Moraes, Professor, Federal University of Tocantins, Brazil

Labor Induction of Oral Misoprostol Solution for Term Pregnancy: Dr. Xiu Wang, Director of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Affiliated Guangren Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China

Nuchal Cord Is Not Associated with Prolonged Labor or Higher Cesarean Section Rate: Dr. Kimitoshi Imai, Director, Imai OB/GYN Clinic, Japan

Umbilical Vein Varix vs Persistent Extrahepatic Vitelline Vein Aneurysm" Dr. Il Woon Ji, Professor, Chungbuk national University, South Korea

Stimulation Options for Poor Responders Based on New Insights in Follicular Development: Dr. Peter Kovacs, Medical Director, Kaali Institute IVF Center, Hungary

"Seat to Eat" – Infant Feeding Position and Prevention of Ear & Respiratory Disease: Dr. Efrat Danino, Director of the Academic Campus of Nursing, Shamir Medical Center, Israel

Platelet Aggregation and Acetylsalicylic Acid Treatment during Pregnancy in Women with Recurrent Miscarriages: Dr. Lennart Blomqvist, University of Gothenburg, Sodra Alvsborg Hospital, Sweden

Isolated Large Vulvar Varicose Veins in a Non-pregnant Woman: Dr. Abdullah M. Alwahbi, Associate Professor, King Saud University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia

This only makes me even more convinced that those who are attending really do not want to hear about "The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education"!

Update at 28th July

The International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics seem keen for me to give a speech at their meeting, as I've had a further follow-up invitation:

It is clearly not as obvious to the conference organisers, as it seems to me, that 'The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education' does not really fit in the remit of a meeting on Gynecology & Obstetrics. So, I've asked for clarification:

Dear Cathy

Thank you for your kind and creative invitation on behalf of the Congress committee for me to give a speech at The 8th International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics-2022.

You have suggested that I might talk about "The Relationship Between Science and Religion: A Contentious and Complex Issue Facing Science Education" which would indeed, in principle, be a feasible title for me to talk to.

However, you also tell me that "The purpose of the three-day conference is to highlight the innovative treatments of Gynecology & Obstetrics diseases" and that "the program will focus on topics such as General Gynecology, Gynecologic Oncology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Obstetric Medicines, and Reproductive Medicine, etc". Those themes seem eminently sensible for a conference on gynaecology and obstetrics.

Perhaps I am being unhelpfully linear in my thinking, but I am struggling to see why a talk on the relationship between science and religion in the context of science teaching might contribute to delegates' discourse about the innovative treatments of gynaecological and obstetric conditions. Perhaps you would kind enough to explain the link? I would like to think that delegates might be fascinated by the mooted topic, which is of course of great importance in science education around the world. But I also suspect that colleagues interested in learning about innovative treatments of diseases, and giving up time from their busy schedules as clinicians, researchers and practitioners concerned with gynaecology and obstetrics, might feel that the conference programme would be better populated with talks about, well, "innovative treatments of gynaecology & obstetrics diseases".

So, I would very much appreciate learning more about your thinking about why the committee believes that my giving an invited speech would be especially pertinent at a conference on gynaecology and obstetrics. You will appreciate I need to protect my limited time and energy, and whilst I am open to giving occasional talks presenting on topics where I have some expertise to audiences with a genuine interest in my work, I would need some persuading that the delegates at your conference would have any professional interest in this topic. The International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetric committee (which seems to include many eminent people in the field*) would seem to have identified a connection here between my work and gynaecology and obstetrics that I have been missing. I look forward to learning about their insightful rationale in issuing this imaginative invitation.

Best wishes

Keith

I will see if I get any kind of explanation by way of response.

* I do not personally know people in this field, but the conference website [https://www.bitcongress.com/icgo2022-europe/ProgramCommittee.asp] gives a long list of people who seem to be genuine professioanals in areas related to reproductive health (as listed below). A websearch of several of these names suggests they do serious and important work, and it seems unlikely such people would knowingly give their names to give credence to a predatory conference.

  • Dr. A. A. W. Peters, Professor, Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands
  • Dr. Amy S. Yee, Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine, USA
  • Dr. Brennan D. Peterson, Assistant Professor, Chapman University, USA
  • Dr. Chan Celia Hoi-yan, Assistant Professor, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
  • Dr. Denise Pugash, Clinical Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada
  • Dr. Denise Tahara, Assistant Professor, New York Medical College, USA
  • Dr. Eric L. Jenison, Chairman, Akron General Medical Center, USA
  • Dr. Esther Uña Cidón, Professor, Clinical University Hospital of Valladolid, Spain
  • Dr. Fabio Ruiz Moraes, Professor, Federal University of Tocantins, Brazil
  • Dr. Faye Cagayan, Associate Professor, University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine, USA
  • Dr. Gabor T Kovacs, Professor, Box Hill Hospital, Australia
  • Dr. Gary R Morrow, Professor, University of Rochester Cancer Center, USA
  • Dr. Geoffrey W. Cundiff, Professor, Head, University of British Columbia, Canada
  • Dr. Gita Radhakrishnan, Professor, University College of Medical Sciences, India
  • Dr. Göran Westman, Professor, Umeå University, Sweden
  • Dr. Graeme Morgan, Associate Professor, Sydney IVF, Australia
  • Dr. Hassan Noman Sallam, Professor, Alexandria University, Egypt
  • Dr. Horacio Croxatto, Professor, Chilean Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Chile
  • Dr. Jennifer Salerno, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan School of Nursing, USA
  • Dr. Joann Bodurtha, Visiting Professor, Pediatric Geneticist, Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, USA
  • Dr. John Yovich, Director, PIVET Medical Centre, Australia
  • Dr. Joong Sub Choi, Professor, Director, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Korea
  • Dr. Jürgen Engel, President, Aeterna Zentaris Inc. USA
  • Dr. Kathie Records, Associate Professor, Arizona State University, USA
  • Dr. Kenneth Foster, Associate Professor, Texas Woman's University, USA
  • Dr. Kristi Watson Kelley, Associate Clinical Professor, Clinical Pharmacist, Auburn University, USA
  • Dr. Le Mai Tu, Professor, University of Sherbrooke, Canada
  • Dr. Lily Wu, Professor, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, USA
  • Dr. Lisa McKenna, Associate Professor, Monash University, Australia
  • Dr. Mahesh Shetty, Clinical Professor, Chief Physician, Women's Center for Breast Care & MRI, Baylor College of Medicine, USA
  • Dr. Mary L. Chavez, Professor, Texas AM Health Science Center, USA
  • Dr. Margaret Kemeny, Professor, Queens Hospital Center, USA
  • Dr. Matthew W. Gillman, Professor, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, USA
  • Dr. Mehmet Uzumcu, Associate Professor, The State University of New Jersey, USA
  • Dr. Meleesa Schultz, Senior Resident Medical Officer, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Australia
  • Dr. Mike A Smith, Professor, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
  • Dr. Maurice Bucagu, Medical Officer, World Health Organization, Switzerland
  • Dr. Molina B. Dayal, Associate Professor, George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, USA
  • Dr. Padma T Uppala, Associate Professor, Loma Linda University, USA
  • Dr. Peter Temple-Smith, Associate Professor, Monash University, Australia
  • Dr. Red M Alinsod,Program Director and Chairman, South Coast Urogynecology, USA
  • Dr. Rodney E Phillips, Professor, Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, UK
  • Dr. Ruola Ning, Radiology Professor, Electrical and Comp University of Rochester, USA
  • Dr. Sabine de Muinck Keizer, Associate Professor, ErasmusMC/Sophia Children's Hospital, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, Associate Professor, Mayo Clinic, USA
  • Dr. Shabih U. Hasan, Professor, University of Calgary, Canada
  • Dr. Suling Liu, Research Investigator, University of Michigan, USA
  • Dr. Terence H Hull, Professor, Australian National University, Australia
  • Dr. Terry Lichtor, Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Rush University Medical Center, USA
  • Dr. Therese Hesketh, Professor, University College London, UK
  • Dr. Tim Mould, Consultant Gynaecologist, Royal Free Hospital, UK
  • Dr. Xi Huang, Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University School of Medicine and NYU Cancer Institute, USA
  • Dr. Xinguang Chen, Professor, Wayne State University, USA
  • Dr. Ying Huang, Associate Professor, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, USA
  • Dr. Yihong Wang, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, USA
  • Dr. Yunhan Hong, Professor, National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Dr. Yung-Feng Yen, Director, Taipei City Hospital, Taiwan
  • Dr. Zhonghong Eric Guan, Head, Emerging Market Business Unit at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, USA

 

Just come to talk at our conference – don't worry what it's about

Keith S. Taber

Image by 정훈 김 from Pixabay 

Dubious conference invitations

I have raised the issue of dodgy conference invitations – such as being asked to talk at a conference in a field far from one's own, and to pay for the privilege of doing so – before in this blog, BUT a recent invitation from Kostas Chiotopoulos takes the top prize for the most desperate and pointless attempt by a commercial conference organiser to tempt academics who have given up the will to engage in meaningful scholarship.

The subject line of the email was:

"Rome, Italy, May 26-28, 2018. Malta Island, June 22-24, 2018. Mallorca Island, Spain, July 14-17, 2018 kst24@cam.ac.uk Hard Copy of Proceedings available again* kst24@cam.ac.uk A Certificate from the University will be given to all the Invited Speakers.."

Not exactly succinct, but then I'm sitting writing this while listening to (Rick Wakeman's excellent) 'The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table' so I cannot claim to be inherently adverse to a long title!

Perhaps Kostas Chiotopoulos knows about some very clever marketing principles, but I could not help wondering:

  • why does my email address need to appear twice in the subject of the email?
  • what does the asterisk indicate – was the subject even longer originally and Kostas Chiotopoulos took pity on me?
  • Does a second full stop at the end of a sentence add emphasis?

Of course, one thing that was missing from the subject line was the topic of the conferences. Were these conferences on science education, or some closely related field? Perhaps that was the clever marketing ploy – Kostas Chiotopoulos got me intrigued enough to read the whole email in the expectation that the conferences would not actually be relevant to me, but wanting to check just in case he might prove me wrong!

However, it seems Kostas Chiotopoulos is even more wily than that! So I carefully read the email and find that I am invited to be an 'invited lecturer' at conferences in:

  • Paris, or in Rome, Italy
  • or in Malta Island, or in Mallorca Island, Spain
  • or even [sic] in Corfu Island, Greece, or in Dubrovnik, Croatia
  • or in any London, UK [n.b., there is only one London, UK I'm aware of] or in Rome, Italy
  • or in Bern, Switzerland, or in Madrid, Spain
  • or in Cambridge, UK, or in Venice, March 2019 …

I'm told that "A certificate from the Universities that sponsor each particular event will be given to" (I'm guessing my University, Cambridge, is not issuing the certificate for the Cambridge conference!)

I'm told my contributions can be published in journals published by the likes of "…SAGE, Springer Verlag, Elsevier…" – publishers one might expect would have their own editorial and peer review procedures.

So what information is missing?

Well I cannot complain that Kostas Chiotopoulos is inviting me to talk at a conference outside my field, as the invitation contains absolutely no information about the fields, subjects, disciplines, themes, or topics, of any of these conferences.

So it seems that things have got so bad (cf. Taber, 2018) that commercial companies are now prepared to sell 'invited lecturer' status to anyone who is prepared to pay, to talk about anything they like, without any pretence that these are serious academic conferences that are actually about something.

Retirement, take me soon.

Source cited:
  • Taber, K. S. (2018). The end of academic standards? A lament on the erosion of scholarly values in the post-truth world. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19(1), 9-14. doi:10.1039/C7RP90012K [Free access]

Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice'

First published 5th April 2018 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

Misunderstanding smart materials and solar energy

My misunderstanding about smart materials and solar energy

Keith S. Taber

Image by LoganArt from Pixabay 

It all started with an invitation from the 4th Annual World Congress of Smart Materials:

"Dear Dr. Keith S. Taber,

Hope this letter doesn't bother you.

The construction work of the The 4th Annual World Congress of Smart Materials (WCSM-2018)'s program is drawing to a close due to lots of preparing work and Festival Holiday before the conference. And almost every session is only one or two available slot. However, the congress committee considers that we still lack one fantastic speech on Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems like your research. Therefore, we cordially invite you to make an oral presentation as the Speaker under Session 705: Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrids.

What's more, please kindly pay attention [!], the deadline for submitting the speech abstract is December 20th. If you're interested in it, please contact me as soon as possible. Please don't miss the last chance to enjoy an academic feast.

Until now, WCSM has confirmed 300+ speakers from 22 countries. Keynote Speakers are list as below:

Dr. Shuji Nakamura, Professor, University of California Santa Barbara, USA (2014 Nobel Prize for Physics)

Dr. Mark Bradley, Professor, University of Edinburgh, UK

Dr. Florin Udrea, Professor, Cambridge University, UK; Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, UK

Dr. Masahiro Yoshimura, President, the World Academy of Ceramics (WAC); Chair Professor, the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Dr. Mo Elbestawi, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering; Professor and Director, W. Booth School for Engineering Practice and Technology, McMaster University, Canada

More speakers and topics have been update online for your reference. Please don't hesitate to contact the coordinator to get details. …"

 It was not immediately obvious to me how school students' understandings of the interactions in atomic and solar systems fitted with smart materials, so I did not hesitate (well, at least, not for too long) to contact the coordinator for clarification:

Invited speaker at World Congress of Smart Materials – query

"Thank you for the invitation to be a speaker at the 4th Annual World Congress of Smart Materials alongside such leaders in the field as Profs. Nakamura, Bradley, Udrea, Yoshimura, and Elbestawi. This would seem to be a very worthwhile conference which is likely to attract many delegates wishing to hear the expert presentations. I am pleased you have nearly completed the job of populating the programme with relevant talks.

I would not say your letter 'bothered' me, but I must confess I was a little surprised to be invited to speak at the session on Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrid, given my own area of research and scholarship. I am sorry to read that you still still 'lack one fantastic speech' on the theme of 'Upper Secondary Students' Understanding of the Basic Physical Interactions in Analogous Atomic and Solar Systems'.

Whilst I can see why you would invite me as someone who would be ideally placed to speak on that subject, I am still struggling to see how it would be of interest to experts in materials science. Do they really want to hear about how school students may transfer ideas incorrectly between their understanding of the forces acting in the solar system, and their developing thinking about basic models of atomic structure? I feel it may be difficult to do the topic justice in the the usual time for an oral presentation, as I imagine that many in the audience would not have strong background knowledge in terms of learning theories, pedagogy, curriculum representations, teaching models, student conceptions, and the like, which would mean I would have to set out a lot of background that I might normally take for granted if talking to delegates more familiar with the field in which the work was undertaken.

Perhaps, however, I am missing the connection you are making in extending this kind invitation, and I look forward to hearing back from you about what you might imagine that I would include in such a talk that would be of interest to colleagues in this field, and to persuade me why I should prioritise my own time to select to present to this particular audience.

Best wishes

Keith"

Sadly the clarification was not as in-depth as I might have hoped:

"We hope you could make a keynote Speech under Session 705: Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrids.
More details on this session, you could click on http://www.bitcongress.com/wcsm2018/ScientificProgramme7.asp 

Please let me know whether you're interested in it."

So further clarification was sought:

Congruence of topic for keynote talk Re: Invited speaker at World Congress of Smart Materials – query

"Dear …

Thank you for getting back to me.

It is kind of you to reiterate the invitation to be an invited speaker and give a keynote at the conference.

I remain a little perturbed however, that specialists in smart materials who I appreciate might want to hear the latest developments and ideas in the topic of Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrids are surely unlikely to find a talk considering conceptual difficulties that impact secondary level pedagogy of particular interest. I was hoping you could clarify the line of logic that led to you deciding that this work fitted alongside that of materials scientists and engineers of the quality of Profs. Nakamura, Bradley, Udrea, Yoshimura, and Elbestawi. In my own area of scholarship I understand why I would be called upon to consider giving a plenary talk, but a keynote speaker needs to be able to interest and enthuse (to inform and to some extent entertain) the specialist audience at a conference. Clearly my own work largely relates to aspects of conceptual understanding, integration, and progression in basic physical science topics commonly included in the secondary science curriculum.

Although I am clearly honoured to be considered alongside experts in this important field of research (which I recognise is of real significance in economic and environmental, as well as technical, terms), I am missing the rationale for why a serious academic conference aimed at academic and industrial scientists would choose to offer a valued and rare keynote opportunity to a scholar who works in a not entirely cognate field. I do not think this is false modesty, and I would genuinely appreciate you sharing your thinking on this. I am pleased you value my work so highly, but feel there must be a question here of its central relevance to your conference theme that I need to give due weight in considering an invitation.

Best wishes

Keith"

Still the clarification was disappointing:

"Thank you for your kind reply. 

I think you maybe have some misunderstanding. 

We hope you could make the Keynote Speech under Session 705: Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrids not plenary.

What's more, due to the limited sponsorship and high cost for the conference preparation, I'm afraid that we couldn't cover the expense for our invited speakers.

It this convenient for you?

Look forward to your reply!…"

I was not really getting any clarification on the key issue:

"Dear …

I think you may be right that I have some misunderstanding, but I was hoping you could clarify for me, as I do not want to commit to talking to an audience that would not appreciate the presentation. It seems a little mean to invite speakers to give keynotes, but then not pay their expenses. What are the options for presenting remotely: as this would save you the cost of travel, accommodation etc.

I must reiterate, however, that I first need clarification of how my work fits with the interests of those attending. Do you have many delegates with science education backgrounds who are registered for the 'Materials for Solar Energy and Solar Microgrid' session? Are there going to be scholars and researchers from fields such as chemistry education and physics education in the audience? I would also need clarification of the timing of the Keynote, as there is a considerable time difference between here and Osaka.

Best wishes

Keith"

Back came a response, but still not addressing the logic of the invitation

"Thank you for your kind reply. 

You could get more details on Solar Energy session by the following link…

Due to the limited sponsorship and high cost for the conference preparation, the committee is not able to cover the expense for our invited speakers, so you need to cover your expense by yourself. Hope you could understand.

Is this convenient for you? …"

So I am left to decide if it is convenient for me to travel around the world at my own expense to talk on a topic that clearly does not fit in the session topic or even the wider conference theme, to delegates unlikely to want to her about my work, at an event organised by people with no concern for 'constructing' a coherent programme.

I will give it some thought.

Addendum:

"Dear Dr. Taber,

Hope you receive this letter in a wonderful mood.

Have you make the decision on your attendance? Please let me know your decision. More details on the congress, you could click on the following link. …

Look forward to your reply! …"

"Dear …

Thank you for your message.

You have made no attempt to answer my substantive question in any of your replies, so I am left bemused about the rationale for the invitation. I suggest you look for someone with appropriate expertise to be able to talk on a topic likely to be of interest to the delegates, i.e., someone with expertise relevant to the theme of the strand. If people are paying you to attend a meeting about current developments in solar energy technology then I would imagine they are likely to wish to hear about that topic. I have not been able to work out why you think otherwise as you have not been prepared to explain this and have just ignored the question.

I hope the conference goes well.

Best wishes

Keith"

Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice'

First published 12th December 2017 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

A meeting at an 'other place'

Keith S. Taber

The Radcliffe Camera – a well known library building at the other place*: Image by Wolfgang Claussen from Pixabay 

The secret conference I referred to recently was advertised as being "at the University of Oxford". Now this is quite a well known university, considered by some to be very prestigious (there are some who claim it is as prestigious as Cambridge, and indeed some who even suggest more so!) With so many conferences seeking to attract academics and graduate students aspiring to develop an academic career, it is important that potential delegates can determine which are worth considering for attending and presenting work. The conference website tells potential delegates that "[f]ew places are more readily associated with scholarly endeavour [Morse?] than Oxford", and that "whilst some might argue that the city is not as aesthetically pleasing as its arch-rival Cambridge it remains a visual delight and a veritable treasure house of human achievements". 

Organisers vs. facilities-for-hire?

Well a conference organised by Oxford University, or one of its Colleges or Departments, should be taken seriously. However, here this is just the conference venue. That is, the organisers have hired space to have their conference. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, either from the point of view of the conference organisers or the University: but there is a big difference between 

  • a conference organised by a top university, and 
  • a conference hiring rooms at a top university. 

Prestige indicators

I tell students that if they are unsure of the likely merits of a conference they should look for indicators of prestige, such as the membership of the organising committee. An academic conference normally has at least two committees, one local to the event, and another sometimes called the 'scientific' committee or international committee, that looks after the academic programme and organises peer review of submitted contributions. One would expect this latter committee to consist of senior academics, well known in the field, normally based at top universities or institutions of similar standing. 

Oddly, although the website gave detailed instructions on formatting submissions (not as proposals, but as full papers in camera ready form for publication), I could find no information about either peer review, nor any scientific/international committee.  Perhaps I missed this? More likely anyone submitting a paper is accepted for the conference as long as they pay the fee. Again, there is nothing wrong with this in the sense of there being anything underhand – as long as those who were looking for "[r]ecognition of your work on [the] international platform" appreciate that the conference is not peer reviewed and so will count for little on their c.v. 

Still, if you have never been to Oxford, it is certainly worth a visit, even if it is "not as aesthetically pleasing as … Cambridge".

Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice'

First published 13th January 2017 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

Note: * 'The other place'

It is something of a tradition at Oxford and Cambridge Universities to refer to the other as 'the other place', as in "she teaches at the other place", "he did his undergraduate degree at the other place", "they might accepts this kind of nonsense at the other place, but…"

This may seem arrogant to anyone not at 'Oxbridge' (in my experience it is not intended so) given the current higher education context, but for about six centuries it would have referred to the only other place in England where one could get a University education.

It's a secret conference invitation: pass it on…

Keith S. Taber

Perhaps I should not be telling anyone this, but I have been invited to register for a conference that "seeks to elucidate a wealth of issues in all aspects of business management" which it was suggested would "be of interest to scholars, practitioners and researchers in management".

That raises the issue of why I was invited, but I have laboured that point before and that was not what tweaked my interest in this message. Rather, it was the strange juxtaposition of a clearly quite general circular inviting me to circulate it even further, suffixed with a statement telling me the email contents should not be further communicated. 

A 'legal' notice

The foot of the message included a 'legal notice' telling me that the contents of the email were "confidential and may also be privileged". This notice told me that 

"If you are not the addressee, do not disclose, copy, circulate or in any other way use or rely on the information contained in this email or any attachments. If received in error, notify the sender immediately and delete this email and any attachments from your system."

Was I the addressee? The message did not have any declared recipient. 

Of course it was delivered to my email address, so I could argue I was the addressee as the email was sent to my address. However, that makes a nonsense of the legal notice: anyone who has this turn up in their inbox is a addressee in that sense, and so anyone receiving the email can ignore the legal notice.

Spread the word?

At the bottom of the message was a subheading "INVITE YOUR COLLEAGUES", where I (or if not me, the intended addressee) was told "We would be grateful if you could forward this email on to your colleagues who might be interested to join with us". 

So if I pass on this message, does that make anyone I send it to an additional addressee (and so again free to ignore the legal notice), or should I actually preface the forwarded message with "Hi Zaniwoop , thought you might be interested in this" to ensure that they need not worry about relying on the information, as they will clearly be the addressee?

This then raises the further question that if I was not the addressee, and so should not pass on the message, and I send it on to someone who I name at the start of the email, so they are the addressee of the forwarded message (I hope you are following that), then are they entitled to ignore the legal notice even though I have circulated it "illegally"? (I would not want to burden colleagues with such worries: I remember at primary school being given copies of Star Trek cards of the type put in packs of bubble gum – only much later to hear a rumour that the bubble gum factory had been broken into: did I inadvertently receive stolen goods?) Luckily I suspected the conference was not worth taking seriously so I did not need to fret too much over what to do.

Pedantry: first duty of an academic

I realise this all seems rather pedantic, but either the legal notice is meant to be taken seriously or it is something we can just ignore. If it is meant to be taken seriously, it should only be attached to messages that have a clear addressee.

To compile a circular that you want distributed as widely as possible, and then attach a notice warning recipients that they should not "disclose, copy, circulate or in any other way use" the information in the circular seems pretty counter-productive. A lot of people seem to assume that rules, laws and regulations do not apply to them and may be ignored at their convenience. This kind of nonsense can only provide support for that kind of thinking.

Image by AllClear55 from Pixabay

First published 5th January 2017 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

Senior academics and conference scams

Expertise in the field – science education, and synthetic biology? Senior academics and conference scams.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay 

It is considered an honour to be invited as a plenary speaker at a major international conferences – and an indicator of recognition as an expert in a field.

So it seems odd when one is invited to be a plenary speaker at a conference in a field that one has never worked in and so has no published work.

On 02/11/2015 17:21, Syntheticbiology 2016 wrote:

 Honorable Invitation from Synthetic Biology 2016 at London UK

Dear Dr. Keith S. Taber,
 
Basing on your expertise in the related field, we are pleasured to welcome your eminent Plenary Speaker at the upcoming 2nd International Conference on Synthetic Biology 2016 London UK, which is going to be held during August 18-20, 2016 London UK.
 
Synthetic Biology 2016, a three day event consisting of a scientific program, workshops, symposiums, comprehensive talks, special sessions, oral and poster presentations of peer-reviewed contributed papers and exciting and innovative research products which can be exhibited for further development of Synthetic Biology.
 
Synthetic Biology research area interconnects Systems Biology, Computational Biology, Nano biotechnology, Biophysics, Evolutionary Biology, Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, Bio-Chemical Engineering and Genetic Engineering. …

[Note – science education does not get a mention here.] …
 

My response:

On 26/02/2016 19:51, Prof Keith S Taber wrote:

Dear Kevin

I apologise for not giving this invitation attention earlier, but for some reason it was in my SPAM folder, so I had not seen it.

I am of course honoured to be invited as a Plenary Speaker at your conference. However, your invitation did not offer any details of what this would involve. I assume you repay travel expenses for your Plenary Speakers, but do you offer free accommodation for the whole conference, or just the day of the Plenary Lecture?

Do you offer a fee to Plenary Speakers, or do you simply cover their conference fees?

I would also be keen to know how you came to choose me as potential Plenary Speaker at this conference – and which area of my research the conference organising committee were especially keen for me to speak to your delegates about.

I look forward to receiving more details relating to your kind invitation.

Best wishes

Keith

This was copied to several academics at prestigious universities who were apparently part of the organising committee that had invited me:

  • Dr. Oscar Ces (OC), a Reader in Chemistry at Imperial College London
  • Professor Krams who holds a Chair in Molecular Bioengineering at Imperial College, London
  • Anthony Forster Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden
  • Vsevolod V Gurevich, Professor at Vanderbilt University.

Not surprisingly, I did not receive a reply from ‘Kevin’ (or anyone else) who had written to invite me as a plenary speaker – not to develop the invitation, to explain it, or apologise for it being a mistake (perhaps they meant to invite that other Keith S. Taber well known for his work in synthetic biology?)

This seems another sign of the sad demise of academia as a body worthy of being respected in the public domain. I wonder how many other academics with no connection to this field were invited as plenary speakers (but presumably actually would be charged fees if they did wish to speak). I find this type of scam as annoying (although my email application seemed to know I was being spammed), as I teach research methods, and it is difficult for new researchers to sift the decent conferences from the less worthy ones, when this type of irresponsible marketing ploy is used. I tell students to look to see if conference committees include senior academic they recognise from their reading, as one indicator of conference quality. In this case, committee members from top universities was no assurance of the quality of conference processes.

I am not surprised at some conference organisers behaving in such disreputable ways – I guess to them conferences are just events to be marketed in the search for profits. What I find very sad is that top academics from such highly regarded institutions put their names to these scams*, giving them a veneer of respectability they clearly do not deserve.

Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice'

First published 24th July 2014 at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/

* This assumes, of course, that the academics named as scientific committee members have agreed to join such a committee, which I found when investigating another dubious invitation is not always the case! ⚗︎

Our Psychology conference offers an unformed fear

And a voice in the wilderness was heard calling out upon the racing wind: our Psychology conference offers publication and an unformed fear!

Keith S. Taber

This week's* most bizarre invitation is to submit a proposal to a Psychology conference:

"The aim objective of CPSY 2016 is to provide a platform for researchers, engineers, academicians as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and development activities in Psychology. Submitted conference papers will be reviewed by technical committees of the Conference."

Well that all sounds pretty standard. But then the next paragraph begins:

"Before her eyes as she gazed a smooth plain of snow spread out in the distance. The wind, carrying white, shaggy masses, raced over the plain, piping cold, shrill whistles."

I'm not sure they are really selling the location (in Shanghai, China) as an ideal place for a conference. The paragraph continued….

"Across the snowy expanse moved a girl's figure, dark and solitary, rocking to and fro. The wind fluttered her dress, clogged her footsteps, and drove pricking snowflakes into her face. Walking was difficult; the little feet sank into the snow. Cold and fearful the girl bent forward, like a blade of grass, the sport of the wanton wind. To the right of her on the marsh stood the dark wall of the forest; the bare birches and aspens quivered and rustled with a mournful cry. Yonder in the distance, before her, the lights of the city glimmered dimly."

  • Perhaps the airport is some way outside the City?
  • Perhaps the lights 'glimmered dimly' due to air pollution – I've supervised a student from China who told me it can get pretty bad there.

The next paragraph tells me that the conference proceedings will be published by "by DEStech Publications" and will be indexed, for example in Google Scholar. Then I am told:

"'Lord in heaven, have mercy!' the mother muttered again, shuddering with the cold and horror of an unformed fear."

It seems papers are invited in areas including educational psychology and the psychology of learning, so although I am not a psychologist, I can see there might be presentations of interest. But it does sound a bit chilly there, and I think I probably already have enough unformed fears without travelling half way around the world to develop some more.

  • Perhaps they just wanted to get my attention.
  • Perhaps it's an experiment with different recipients randomly split into groups getting different messages in their invitations, to see if there is differential uptake?
  • Perhaps the person who prepared the copy did not have the high level of English skills they claimed when they applied for the job?
  • Or they had just learnt to 'cut and paste'?
  • Or perhaps this was prepared on someone's last day in post, and they had not enjoyed their employment there?

If anyone reading this is going to the '2016 International Conference on Psychology' next June, perhaps you'd be kind enough to drop me a line if you find out what that was all about!

Read about 'Conferences and poor academic practice'

* First published 9th September 2015 (at http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/kst24/) – but I'd still be interested to hear from anyone who went to the conference!