EGU has cancelled the physical General Assembly 2020 in Vienna

19 March 2020

The EGU is officially announcing the cancellation of the physical EGU General Assembly 2020 in Vienna, Austria. Because the Union is committed to minimizing the impact of COVID-19 on scientific research and collaboration, we believe EGU has a responsibility and a duty to ensure these activities continue despite the current, extreme circumstances. We have therefore decided to host EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online (#shareEGU20), a week-long series of online activities held during the first week of May that support our community by fostering scientific communication.

EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online will allow abstract authors to share presentation materials and open these for live discussion as well as participate in a selection of online networking events. We are also planning additional activities that will extend into the rest of the year and will provide more information about all of these events in the coming weeks.

We would like to personally thank our members and other attendees for their patience as the Union has navigated this difficult situation. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the hundreds of volunteers around the globe who have worked so hard to shape such an exciting programme, and especially the Programme Committee for their tireless efforts to make EGU2020 as inclusive, environmentally friendly, and progressive as possible.

For answers to pressing logistical questions regarding the cancellation, please refer to the list of frequently asked questions below. We look forward to virtually meeting during the online activities of EGU2020 and welcoming you in person to Vienna from 25–30 April 2021 at the next face-to-face General Assembly!

Alberto Montanari, EGU President
Susanne Buiter, EGU Programme Committee Chair

Cancellation FAQs

  1. Will my registration fee be reimbursed?

    All General Assembly registration fees, minus any fees charged by your credit-card company or bank in case of bank transfers, will be reimbursed during the next couple of weeks. You do not need to do anything at this time to receive the reimbursement. Once the reimbursement is made, you will automatically receive an email that informs about the refund and has a credit note as attached PDF file.

  2. Will the €50 fee I was charged for cancelling my General Assembly registration before 9 March 2020 be reimbursed?

    EGU has responded to the corona crisis by encouraging participants to postpone registration and by subsequently pausing registration to the General Assembly since 9 March. The reimbursement of the full registration fee applies to registrations currently still active in our system, since the cancellation is in this case initiated by us.

  3. Will my abstract processing charge be refunded?

    These are administrative fees to process your abstract that are used before scheduling of the programme. Since your abstract has received a DOI and will remain publicly available online, these charges cannot be refunded, but will entitle authors to share their presentation materials online.

  4. Will EGU reimburse me for the travel and accommodations I have already booked?

    EGU is not able to reimburse such expenses, so we recommend that you check with your insurance provider, travel and accommodation providers, and/or institution regarding potential refunds. A formal letter of cancellation for you to give your institution or insurance provider can be found here.

  5. Will my membership fees collected during abstract submission be refunded?

    Your membership is valid for one year and gives benefits beyond a discounted General Assembly registration. These include membership rates for events held by our sister organizations AGU, AOGS, and JpGU, as well as the ability to apply for EGU funding and prizes and to stand for Council or Early Career Scientist positions.

  6. Why aren't you moving EGU2020 completely online?

    We are offering online visibility and feedback to all our attendees, regardless of whether they planned to present a poster, oral, or PICO. This is an innovative experiment, and we hope all authors and conveners will join us in finding new online solutions that work across the diverse range of EGU General Assembly activities. During the week of 3–8 May, we plan to digitally stream some of our union-wide highlights to promote scientific conversation and collaboration; please follow our social media accounts (Tw: @EuroGeosciences) and our official hashtags #EGU20 and #shareEGU20 for more information.

  7. Will mentors still be assigned to mentees? If not, will I remain registered in the system until next year?

    Because the mentoring programme is specific to the General Assembly, EGU will not pair mentors and mentees this year. Participants will be asked to register again next year to participate in this popular scheme.

  8. Will the OSPP contest take place this year?

    Although EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online will provide various means of scientific exchange, we will no longer differentiate between the oral, poster, or PICO presentation types. Therefore, the OSPP contest dedicated to the promotion of posters and PICO presentations will be paused this year.

EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online

EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online (#shareEGU20) brings part of the activities of the EGU General Assembly 2020 online. We hope that authors and conveners will join us in sharing their research and discussing with colleagues. From 4 to 8 May 2020 (CEST) everyone can join us online for their favourite sessions.

Please have a look on our EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online page which is frequently updated. Please follow this website and the EGU's social media accounts (Tw: @EuroGeosciences) using the official hashtags #EGU20 and #shareEGU20 for more information.

Participation in EGU2020: Sharing Geoscience Online does not require a separate registration or the payment of a registration fee. For uploads of presentation materials and commenting, authors and participants only need to have a Copernicus user account. Viewing presentation materials and participating in chats does not require registration or login. To organize your participation, please consider preparing your personal programme