Like many other scientific conferences, the joint annual meeting of the DMG Sections Geochemistry and Petrology & Petrophysics planned for 2020 in Frankfurt am Main had to be cancelled. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation (as of April 2021), it is still not possible to predict when—and to what extent—in-person or hybrid events will be feasible again.
We have therefore decided to hold this year’s joint annual meeting of the Sections Geochemistry and Petrology & Petrophysics as a virtual conference from June 5 to 6, 2021, organized and hosted by Goethe University Frankfurt. We regret that the usual traditions—most notably the barbecue evening, which is highly appreciated by all of us—cannot take place in their customary form. However, the chosen online platform (gather.town) will make it possible to facilitate personal and scientific exchange even in a virtual setting. Despite the limitations associated with online events, we also see the increased accessibility of this format as an opportunity to open the annual meeting to members who have previously been unable to attend due to geographical or time constraints, or other personal commitments. We therefore hope that this year’s meeting will enjoy strong participation, perhaps even because of these exceptional circumstances.
What remains unchanged is the aim of the meeting: to reflect the full breadth and diversity of current research in both sections and to foster direct, interdisciplinary exchange within a shared forum. In this spirit, we explicitly welcome contributions from all areas of petrology, petrophysics, and geochemistry. As in previous years, we particularly encourage early-career researchers from both sections to present their current projects and research results to a broad scientific audience.
According to the preliminary program, the talks will begin on Saturday at around 1:00 p.m. Following the poster session in the late afternoon, a gathering in a “virtual pub” is planned, providing an opportunity to continue scientific discussions initiated during the day and to establish new contacts. The meeting will conclude on Sunday by approximately 4:00 p.m. with the awards for the best presentations and posters.
The virtual platform gather.town offers a wide range of interaction formats for both small and large groups and was successfully tested in March 2021 during the FIERCE Isotope School, which hosted around 120 participants. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with participants particularly impressed by the platform’s capabilities for presenting posters. It enables lively individual interaction, active scientific discussion, and informal exchange—including the kind of small talk that makes attending in-person conferences especially rewarding.
Registration is open online from April 25 to May 16, 2021 (https://paneth.eu/DMG2021.html). Contributions are welcome both as oral presentations and posters. There is no participation fee. Further details regarding the schedule (registration, program, virtual venues) will be sent by email approximately one week before the meeting.
We hope that many participants will find their virtual way to Frankfurt and look forward to an engaging and stimulating section meeting.
Matthias Willbold (Göttingen), Roman Botcharnikov (Mainz), Horst Marschall (Frankfurt), and Axel Schmitt (Heidelberg)