Speaker kit

Practical information for invited speakers in the GBA-CCN Network seminar series, covering format, time zones, recording, travel and a technical checklist.

Thank you for agreeing to speak in the GBA-CCN Network seminar series. The series runs on the second Friday of each month, so your talk is on one of twelve dates in the year; your host will confirm which one, and will send the meeting links and anything specific to their lab. If something here differs from your invitation, the invitation wins.

Who we are

The Greater Bay Area Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience Network (GBA-CCN Network, 粤港澳大湾区计算与认知神经科学网络) is a network of computational and cognitive neuroscience labs across Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Macau and the wider Greater Bay Area. We are not a registered society; coordinators run the network, and each seminar is hosted by one member lab. The PI of that lab invited you, will chair your session and handles the logistics. The full roster is on our labs page.

Who is in the audience

Expect faculty, postdocs and students from many campuses, some in your own area and many from neighbouring fields, so a few minutes of orientation at the start is welcome. Talks are in English. Questions may come in any language, and when one is not in English the chair will summarise it for you.

Format and timing

Seminars run on the second Friday of each month at 16:00 Hong Kong Time (UTC+8, no daylight saving). Your talk is 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes for questions. Please plan for 45 minutes and no longer; we keep to time.

Some sessions open with an optional 15-minute junior talk by a student or postdoc before the main talk. In that case the session runs 16:00-17:15 and your talk starts at about 16:15. Otherwise the session runs 16:00-17:00 and you start at 16:00. Your host will tell you which applies.

Platform and hybrid

Seminars are online by default on Zoom, with Tencent Meeting (VooV) as the fallback for participants in mainland China; your host will tell you if a VooV link is in use. When the host lab has a room, the session is hybrid, with a live audience in the room and everyone else online.

Time zones

16:00 Hong Kong Time is 08:00 UTC all year, because Hong Kong keeps no daylight saving. The session is always the second Friday of the month, so each of the twelve dates has one correct local time rather than an approximate one. The columns below hold for every session except the two cases named under the table.

Two exceptions follow from the second Friday itself. Sydney starts daylight saving on the first Sunday of October, which is always before the second Friday, so an October session is 19:00 in Sydney and not 18:00. North American clocks change on the second Sunday of March, which falls after the second Friday in most years but before it when 1 March is a Saturday or a Sunday; in those years New York is 04:00 and Los Angeles 01:00.

All of these fall on the same Friday: Los Angeles is just after midnight at the start of that Friday, and Sydney is the Friday evening. We know the slot is unkind to North America. If it does not work for you, tell your host as early as you can: there is one session a month, and the next one belongs to a different host lab, so a change of date is arranged between labs rather than moved by a fortnight.

What we need from you, and when

There is one seminar a month, so your host builds the event page and renders the poster four weeks out and announces the talk two weeks out; late material misses both. Four weeks before your talk, please send your host:

• a title and an abstract of one or two paragraphs;
• a short bio of three or four sentences;
• a photo for the announcement;
• a yes or no on recording the talk (see below);
• a yes or no on publishing your slides afterwards;
• any accessibility needs, for example captions, a break, or a particular set-up in the hybrid room.

Recording and publication

We record only with your written consent; an email to your host is enough. Recordings go to Bilibili, for the mainland audience where YouTube is blocked, and to YouTube. You can decline, or agree now and withdraw later by writing to your host. Slides are published only if you say yes.

Honorarium and travel

We do not pay an honorarium; the network has no budget of its own. A host institution may fund travel for an in-person visit. If so, the invitation will say so plainly, with what is covered. If the invitation does not mention travel, please assume there is no funding.

Technical checklist

• Use a wired internet connection if you can; Wi-Fi is the usual cause of a poor stream.
• Use a headset or earphones with a microphone to avoid echo.
• Share the slide window, not your whole screen, so that notifications and other windows stay private.
• Join 10 minutes early so that we can check audio, video and screen sharing before people arrive.
• A member of the host lab monitors the chat and reads out written questions; you need not watch it yourself.
• Keep 15 minutes for questions.
• If you will play video or audio, tell your host in advance so that sound sharing can be tested.

After the talk

If you consented to recording, your host will send you the links once they are live. The network may also list you under recent speakers on the site with a link to your page. That list turns over at twelve talks a year, so an entry stays on the home page for several months; tell your host if you would rather not be listed.

Code of conduct

Our seminars follow the network’s code of conduct, which applies to speakers, chairs and audience alike. If anything concerns you, write to your host’s address in the invitation.