ICRS 2021 virtual
ICRS 2022 Bremen, Germany

The 14th International Coral Reef Symposium
Virtual: July 19th - 23rd, 2021

Registration deadline for presenters is April 30th, 2021
Registration deadline for non-presenters is July 4th, 2021

The 15th International Coral Reef Symposium
In-person: Bremen, Germany: July 3rd - July 8th, 2022

Please, feel free to participate in the survey we created for feedback regarding the symposiums:

Below you can find the link to it. Choose the language you feel comfortable with. We are looking forward to reading your feedback.

English: https://forms.gle/oyyGKZVEoptkfEUM7
French: https://forms.gle/ffcDHaJUxgTFb8D69
Spanish: https://forms.gle/PzuaoBh6PmWLqZNH7
Portuguese: https://forms.gle/uaZKtU9MSALy9pa47
Italian: https://forms.gle/ENEecoHjoEQAEJFZA
German: https://forms.gle/jkZA21TZRe9nUsYr7

From Reef Encounter Issue: March 2021

Written by: Prof. Dr. Christian Wild

Background: By the beginning of March 2020, preparation for the 14th International Coral Reef Symposium - ICRS 2020 (originally planned for 5th-10th July 2020) and registration of delegates were both well underway. The overall budget was in balance, due to the recent commitments of key sponsors, and more than 2,600 participants had submitted abstracts, and about 3,000 participants were expected to be in Bremen, based on numbers attending the previous three ICRS events. The COVID-19 pandemic then led to the inevitable decision to postpone the 14th ICRS from July 2020 to July 2021 (planned for 18th – 23rd), hoping that the situation would by then be normal. This decision was taken jointly by 14th ICRS organizers and ICRS at the end of March (2020) and widely communicated by the beginning of April.

Current situation: Unfortunately, as of now, the COVID-19 situation has become more difficult, rather than easier. Indeed, at the moment, the venue for ICRS 2021 is serving as the vaccination center for Bremen, and even though vaccination campaigns have started in many countries, experts do not expect the situation to improve much before July. Instead, it has become clear that distancing rules, hygiene measures, people number limitations, and travel restrictions, will likely be with us until the end of the year. For example, participants from Australia and some US universities (a major constituency of the ICRS) are already affected by travel restrictions lasting until the end of June 2021, and so are unlikely to be able to be in Bremen by July. For these and related economic reasons, supporters and sponsors of the 14th ICRS have become hesitant to make financial commitments towards an ICRS being held this year. In fact, the postponement has caused significant additional costs, due to cancellation penalties and staff expenses within the 14th ICRS secretariat. As a consequence, our budget is deeply in the red, so that it has become impossible to run the 14th ICRS in July 2021 as hoped.

New plan: After much discussion and detailed evaluation of all options, it has now been decided, as of January 2021, to run both a 100% virtual 14th ICRS 2021 online, and an in-person 15th ICRS 2022 in Bremen, Germany. This strategy combines the opportunity to present scientific content on-line, as asynchronous pre-recorded talks and posters, with synchronous panel discussions, during the scheduled week of 18 – 23 July 2021, while also enjoying an in-person meeting during a 15th ICRS in summer 2022. We are now working on a detailed concept for the on-line 14th ICRS in collaboration with professional companies that specialize in running virtual meetings, so that we can ensure such a virtual meeting will run successfully. We also need to consider how the two events can complement and support each other, so that any competition between events for participants is minimized. It is anticipated that the registration fee for the virtual 14th ICRS will be ca. 50 % of what the inperson registration fees would have been. The oral and posters presentations will be professionally archived and accessible to all registrants for a year. The virtual meeting would not however include plenary sessions or ceremonies of any kind, as these events will be postponed to the in-person meeting in summer 2022. Nevertheless, exchange of scientific content and discussion of the newest findings can take place during the 2021 virtual meeting, and we are currently developing ideas for discounted combination tickets for the two meetings. This new strategy certainly is laborious for us organizers, but it offers the opportunity to implement all components of the event as originally planned, since almost all predictions expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will be under control by early 2022 at the latest. There is also a good chance that working this way we can achieve a balanced budget and that the external pledges of financial support for the in-person meeting will be honored.

Abstracts and presentations: Abstracts submitted for ICRS 2020/2021 have all been evaluated and can be presented at the Virtual 14th ICRS 2021 and / or the in-person 15th ICRS 2022. We also plan to invite additional abstract submissions for the in-person 15th ICRS, which is now scheduled to take place over the week Sunday July 3rd to Friday July 8th, 2022. With this new adaptive strategy, we will be able to:

- Include participants who cannot or do not want to join us in person, at least in 2021

- Provide the opportunity for scientific exchange and discussion in 2021

- Retain the priceless opportunity for personal exchange and networking in 2022

Our original dream was for Bremen to offer an unforgettable first ICRS in Europe. We still have this dream, despite the most challenging of circumstances.

ICRS Student Chapter Event Planning: We will be holding our workshop in-person during the 15th ICRS Event, 2022. Thank you for your patience, we can’t wait to see you there! In the meantime, check our education seminars and resources.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Have a question? Email icrs.students@gmail.com

What do registration fees go towards?

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Student discounts and scholarships?

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