16-ISABC · Ioannina 2023

Getting the most out of the ISABC 2023 mobile experience

When researchers from across the world prepare to attend a major international gathering, having reliable digital tools can make the difference between a productive visit and a chaotic one. The 16th International Symposium on Applied Bioinorganic Chemistry, hosted in Ioannina, Greece, in June 2023, recognises this reality and offers a dedicated mobile companion to help delegates stay organised throughout the event. Whether you are flying in from Sydney, Melbourne, or one of the regional campuses, a few minutes spent familiarising yourself with the app before departure will pay dividends once the scientific programme gets underway.

The conference itself, organised by the University of Ioannina, brings together chemists, biologists, and materials researchers who share a common interest in the role of metals in biological systems. With parallel sessions, poster presentations, and networking events packed into a tight schedule, having a portable guide in your pocket removes much of the guesswork. For Australian attendees in particular, who often juggle the symposium with teaching commitments back home, the app functions as a central hub for abstracts, speaker details, and last-minute room changes.

Downloading and installing the companion app

The first step is straightforward: search for the official ISABC 2023 application in your device's app store. The application is available for both iOS and Android platforms, and the download is complimentary for registered delegates. Once installed, you will be prompted to enter the same email address used during registration, after which the system will sync your personal data and unlock the full feature set. Participants travelling from Australia should ensure they download the app before leaving, as relying on hotel Wi-Fi or roaming data in Greece can sometimes prove unreliable, particularly in older buildings around the old town of Ioannina.

After logging in, take a moment to explore the home screen, which typically displays a welcome banner, a quick-access menu, and a notification icon. If you encounter any issues during installation, the secretariat team at Zita Congress & Event Management can offer technical guidance in the lead-up to the event. You can find the main entry point and registration portal at isabc2023.com, which serves as the gateway to all official symposium resources.

Navigating the interface and finding sessions

Once inside the app, the interface is divided into several tabs that mirror the structure of the conference itself. The programme tab lists all scientific sessions in chronological order, while the speakers tab allows you to browse biographies and abstract previews. For Australian researchers accustomed to strict session timings at home conferences, such as those run by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the layout will feel immediately familiar. Filters let you narrow down content by topic, room, or presentation type, which is helpful when parallel sessions overlap.

A particularly useful feature is the favourites star, which appears next to each session or presentation. Tapping it adds the item to your personal agenda, and the app will automatically generate a visual timeline of your day. You can revisit the same tab later to adjust your selections as your interests evolve. The full schedule, including poster numbers and chair assignments, is mirrored online, ensuring you always have a backup reference if your phone battery runs flat during a long day in the lecture halls.

Building a personal schedule that works across time zones

Although Ioannina operates on Eastern European Summer Time, which is seven or eight hours behind Australian Eastern Standard Time depending on daylight saving, the app displays everything in local Greek time. This means a morning session beside Lake Pamvotis will appear as a late afternoon or evening slot for delegates in Brisbane or Adelaide. Many Australian attendees find it helpful to set a manual alarm or two during the first day to avoid missing keynotes that fall outside their usual working hours.

When planning your week, consider building in buffer periods for the poster sessions, which often run late into the evening in Ioannina. The relaxed pace of Greek summer evenings means events can stretch beyond the printed end time, and the app will reflect any extensions in real time. You might also want to flag networking receptions, as these frequently provide the most fruitful conversations for early-career researchers looking to forge international collaborations.

Accessing abstracts, posters, and speaker profiles

The digital library function within the app gives you offline access to all accepted abstracts, which can be searched by keyword, author, or session code. This is invaluable during the symposium itself, when Wi-Fi bandwidth in session rooms is often stretched to capacity. If you are presenting a poster, double-check that your title, affiliation, and abstract number are listed correctly, and notify the secretariat immediately if any detail appears wrong.

Key features worth exploring include:

These tools are particularly appreciated by Australian graduate students, who often need to brief supervisors back home on emerging research directions. Researchers who have attended related meetings, such as those documented through ICPH 2015, will recognise many of these digital conveniences from previous gatherings.

Notifications, updates, and real-time changes

Last-minute changes are an unavoidable feature of any large scientific meeting, and the ISABC 2023 app handles them through a dedicated notifications feed. When a session is moved to a different room, a speaker swaps timeslots, or a poster is reassigned, an alert will appear on your device. You can customise which categories of alert you receive, so you are not woken at 3 a.m. Sydney time by a non-urgent administrative notice.

Helpful notification settings to consider include:

These small adjustments help you stay informed without feeling overwhelmed, especially during the busiest days of the symposium.

Getting help when things do not go to plan

Even with careful preparation, technical hiccups can occur, ranging from forgotten passwords to syncing errors. The app includes a built-in help section that walks you through the most common scenarios, and the secretariat team can be reached through the contact details listed on the official portal. If you need to access the schedule from a desktop computer, perhaps to share it with a colleague who cannot attend, the web version of the programme is available through the scientific programme page.

Printing a paper copy remains a sensible fallback, particularly for those who prefer annotating by hand during sessions. Whatever your preferred workflow, the combination of mobile app and online portal ensures you can engage fully with the science on offer in Ioannina.

Register today through the official portal and download the companion app well before you board your flight, so that the moment you land in Greece you are ready to dive straight into the symposium. A little preparation now will leave you free to focus on the chemistry, the collaborations, and the conversations that make international conferences worthwhile.