The 2020 Insight Student Conference (ISC) was hosted by Insight@NUI Galway in February. The ISC is an annual event organised by students for students. It is a unique occasion for all members of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics to network and get to know the research being conducted by students within various research teams. Moreover, it provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate and develop their academic writing, presentation and peer- reviewing skills.

2020 marked the sixth year of the conference which brought together more than 130 Insight researchers, students and staff, from six different institutions around Ireland. The event carried the tradition of previous conferences, but also introduced new aspects. First, the poster session went completely paper-free (see picture, bottom left), by replacing posters with screens. The students hope that this initiative will help Insight to be more environmentally friendly and less wasteful. The traditional lecture lecture-style presentations were replaced with networking and other fun activities such as treasure hunting and a business card sharing competition. The aim was to create an entertaining environment that allowed participants to make the most of their time together.

The conference was a great success, generating many discussions and even laying the foundation for potential collaborations.

Big congratulations to the conference co-chairs Sina Ahmadi and Bianca Pereira. They in turn thank the members of the Local Committee; Heike Vornhagen, Alex Acquier, Mona Isazad, and Jefkine Kafunah. Also the members of the Scientific Committee for managing the submissions and the review process; Piyush Yadav, Koustava Goswami and Rajdeep Sarkar; all the administrative support provided by Hilda Fitzpatrick, Christiane Leahy-Coen and Claire Browne; and all the support and motivation provided by Prof. Noel O’Connor and Prof. Mathieu d’Aquin.

We’ll look forward to next year’s conference!