Code of Conduct

The MDS Virtual Congress is a professional scientific event that provide a respectful, harassment-free and inclusive environment for all participants, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, appearance, ethnicity, race, national origin, age or religion.

All Delegates, including speakers, exhibitors, media, staff, and other participants are expected to behave with integrity and respect towards other delegates attending or involved with the MDS Virtual Congress and/or any related event, activity or third-party related platform.

The MDS Congress is committed to informing Congress delegates about the code of conduct for event attendees, as well as ensuring that procedures and guidance for appropriate reporting of unacceptable behaviour of any kind are made available to all those involved.

The present Code of Conduct is not a legal document or prescriptive in nature. It supplements, but does not affect, the application of other relevant policies, regulations, rules and laws, including laws regulating the premises or platform in which the MDS Congress takes place, third party related platforms, and any applicable host country agreement if the event takes place in a physical venue. The MDS Congress complies with such policies and will report all inappropriate conduct accordingly.

Online Behaviour During the MDS Virtual Congress

Congress delegates will be provided with personalised credentials allowing them access to the Virtual Conference. These credentials are personal and non-transferable. Non-registered individuals, patient parent/relatives, other members of the public and minors will not be able to access the Virtual Congress, unless upon prior agreement with the Virtual Congress organisers.

Throughout the Virtual Conference, all meeting delegates are expected to interact with fellow attendees in the same way as at a physical MDS Congress. As such:

• All communication, be it verbal or electronic, must be carried out in a respectful and polite manner. Inappropriate messaging or contact will not be tolerated.
• Live sessions during the Conference will be moderated. Delegates are expected to respect the choices of the moderator in selecting questions or comments, managing session times, etc.
• Any recording, filming, photography, screenshots or other capturing of presentations, live sessions or other events, including scientific E-Posters, taking place during, or associated with, the MDS Congress, is prohibited without the express consent of the presenter. Express consent is a written confirmation by the author in a live chat or email correspondence.

Participants are encouraged to report any experienced harassment to the designated MDS Congress organiser at mds@kenes.com. The Congress organisers reserve the right to take any action deemed appropriate in case of harassment. Host institutions of reported individuals will be notified about filed harassment reports.

Use of Camera and Video

Attendees of the MDS Virtual Congress are required to respect the privacy of other participants and refrain from any unauthorized or unwelcomed recording or photography, including recording of any direct or indirect interactions or electronic messaging with other meeting delegates. Participants are not allowed to take photos or videos of scientific material shown unless express prior consent by the presenter has been ascertained. Moreover, integral recording of complete oral presentations is not allowed unless these are done by a professional entity that has been contracted for this purpose by or on behalf of the organiser.

Taking photos and recordings within the Conference environment for professional use is not allowed without obtaining prior permission from the organiser.

The MDS Congress adheres to the copyright laws guiding the appropriate sharing of scientific research material, including data. Authors’ consent may be requested by the MDS Congress in case sharing of scientific material from abstracts/posters/presentations will be required as part of the MDS Congress educational activities.

• As detailed under “Online behaviour at the MDS Virtual Congress”, any recording, filming, photography, screenshots or other capturing of presentations, live sessions or other events, including scientific posters, taking place during, or associated with, the MDS Virtual Congress, is prohibited without the express consent of the presenter. Express consent is a written confirmation by the author in a live chat or email correspondence.

Presenters and exhibitors are strongly encouraged to clearly indicate whether or not photography/recording of the poster, presentation, or exhibit booth and sharing/remixing of the material is permitted.

Harassment

For the purpose of these guidelines, harassment consists of improper or unwelcome conduct that might reasonably be perceived as causing offence or humiliation to another person. Harassment may involve any conduct of a verbal, non-verbal or physical nature, including written and electronic communication, and may occur between persons of the same or different genders. Harassment in any form is not tolerated at the Congress.

Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to:

• Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, race, age, religion, political affiliation
• The production or non-consensual sharing of harassing non-consensual photography or unwanted recording, including sexual images in public spaces (in any format, electronic or otherwise)
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following
• Sustained disruption of talks, sessions or other events
• Inappropriate contact, including via electronic communications
• Unwelcomed sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviours

Presentations

All data and scientific research that is presented at the MDS Virtual Congress shall be based on original research findings that have been derived from procedures and experiments that adhere to the accepted guidelines for good ethical and experimental research conduct. Presenters are responsible for the content of their presentations, whether oral or written, and shall secure appropriate consent from collaborators and funders, as relevant, prior to any presentation at the MDS  Virtual Congress.

Social Media

MDS Virtual Congress encourages open and respectful discussions on social media platforms. Nonetheless, participants are requested to not post images or video online without obtaining appropriate permission. Participants are requested to respect any request from an author not to disseminate the contents of their presentation/poster.

Reporting Process

The MDS Congress and organisers reserve the right to take any action as deemed necessary as a consequence of any breach of the present Code of Conduct. This includes reporting to host institutions and permanent removal of MDS Virtual Congress credentials.

In case of a breach of the Code of Conduct, the concerned individuals are requested to contact a member of the MDS Virtual Congress staff via the live chat support of the MDS Virtual Congress platform or by email to: mds@kenes.com

MDS  Virtual Congress reserves all rights to take any action to prevent and report violations of the Code of Conduct, including blocking access to the MDS 2021 Virtual Congress and filing a police report when appropriate. MDS Virtual Congress cannot investigate reports of harassment or other misconduct during the Congress but will inform the appropriate departments of the accused person’s host institution about any such filed report.