RDA’s 17th Plenary Meeting: Shift to Virtual, Key Deadlines and Updates

Dear RDA Community, 

Happy New Year! As we all return to our virtual offices after the festive break and settle back into our work life, we wanted to give you a brief reminder of the upcoming VP17 deadlines - and a few updates!

• Despite the welcome news regarding vaccination programmes being rolled out in the UK and around the world, the uncertainty around in-person events is still unfortunately ongoing. Therefore, in the interest of this community's safety and to allow for more clarity around session preparations, RDA's 17th Plenary will be a fully virtual event. Following the success of Virtual Plenaries 15 and 16, we are confident and excited about yet another engaging event bringing the community together in April 2021. 

• The call for breakout session submissions has been extended until 26 January, 23:59 UTC. You can submit your application for Working and Interest Group Sessions, Joint Meetings and Birds of a Feather sessions by completing the submission forms available here: https://www.rd-alliance.org/rdas-17th-plenary-call-sessions-extended 

• A draft programme structure for RDA’s 17th Plenary meeting is now available at https://www.rd-alliance.org/rdas-17th-plenary-meeting-programme-structure to assist with session preparation and provide more information around the timings of the plenary. 

• As in previous plenaries, you will be able to present your poster during dedicated time slots in the programme, social and coffee breaks, as well as at a dedicated poster exhibition area on the VP17 virtual platform. Submit your poster abstract by 26 March, 23:59 UTC: https://www.rd-alliance.org/rdas-17th-plenary-call-posters 

• Planning a virtual event? If your event will be focused on showcasing your data-related work and/or synergizing with other data experts, co-locating with VP17 will provide you an excellent opportunity to meet these objectives. Your event can take place virtually on the 19th or 23rd of April 2021. To co-locate with RDA for VP17 simply submit your application before 12 February, 23:59 UTC: https://www.rd-alliance.org/rdas-17th-plenary-call-co-located-events 

• As the programme develops and more speakers are confirmed, more information will become available at https://www.rd-alliance.org/rda-17th-plenary-meeting-speakers. Make sure to check the profiles for our two scheduled keynote talks by Dr Jeni Tennison and Professor Richard Gold. 

• Similarly to VP16, a nominal fee will be requested to attend RDA VP17. More information on registration and fees will follow in the next few weeks. Stay tuned! 

For any questions please contact enquiries@rd-alliance.org. 

We look forward to seeing you (virtually) in April! 

Alex Delipalta 

on Behalf of the RDA Secretariat and the VP17 Organisers