Category: predatory conferences

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

Keith S. Taber

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

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:

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):

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?

Keith S. Taber

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

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

Keith S. Taber

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.

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.

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

 

My misunderstanding about smart materials and solar energy

Keith S. Taber

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/