Today marks the official opening of registration for attendance at the second Global Evidence Summit (GES) 2024. Organized by the world’s leading organizations in evidence synthesis and evidence-based practice, including Cochrane, JBI, Guidelines International Network (GIN), and The Campbell Collaboration, the summit is set to take place in the historical city of Prague, Czech Republic, from 10 to 13 September 2024, with satellite meetings on 9 September 2024.

The GES is intended as a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural event to exchange ideas about how we best produce, summarise and disseminate evidence to inform policy and practice, and using that evidence to improve people’s lives across the world. The summit will feature plenary keynote speakers, special sessions with panel experts, and traditional conference elements like posters and oral presentations. There will also be a robust social program to make sure there are plenty of opportunities to network and have conversations across sectors, such as health, education, social justice, the environment, and climate change. The programme domains include:

• Sustainable development agenda
• Research integrity & making evidence accessible
• Power of synergy in evidence & synthesis products
• Evidence translation & implementation
• Advocating for greater evidence communication & use of evidence
• From global evidence to local impact 

Miloslav Klugar, Chair of the Scientific and Local Organising Committee, extends a warm welcome:

“On behalf of our organising partners, I invite you all to join us for the eagerly anticipated 2nd Global Evidence Summit. You belong at GES! It’s a unique gathering of research and scientists, policymakers and managers but also students, consumers and activities, and patients and caregivers. This is a unique opportunity for people across the globe to get involved in evidence-based practice, with a shared mission to provide a platform to discuss critical issues across different sectors, including health, education, social justice, the environment and climate change.”  

Catherine Spencer, Cochrane's CEO, emphasizing the significance of the GES in fostering synergies and knowledge sharing within the global evidence community:

" I encourage the Cochrane Community to take advantage of Early Bird Registration for the 2nd Global Evidence Summit. Your participation will not only enrich your knowledge but also contribute to a global movement towards impactful, evidence-informed decision-making. Let's unite for #GES2024 and contribute to advancing evidence-based practice globally! We look forward to seeing you there!"

Early-bird registration is now open until 13 June. Standard registration is open until 14 August with late/onsite registration available. We also offer discounts to those from low-income economies as well as patients/consumers and students.

• Visit the GES website
• Learn more about registration
• Registration form

Today marks the official opening of registration for attendance at the second Global Evidence Summit (GES) 2024. Organized by the world’s leading organizations in evidence synthesis and evidence-based practice, including Cochrane, JBI, Guidelines International Network (GIN), and The Campbell Collaboration, the summit is set to take place in the historical city of Prague, Czech Republic, from 10 to 13 September 2024, with satellite meetings on 9 September 2024.

The GES is intended as a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural event to exchange ideas about how we best produce, summarise and disseminate evidence to inform policy and practice, and using that evidence to improve people’s lives across the world. The summit will feature plenary keynote speakers, special sessions with panel experts, and traditional conference elements like posters and oral presentations. There will also be a robust social program to make sure there are plenty of opportunities to network and have conversations across sectors, such as health, education, social justice, the environment, and climate change. The programme domains include:

• Sustainable development agenda
• Research integrity & making evidence accessible
• Power of synergy in evidence & synthesis products
• Evidence translation & implementation
• Advocating for greater evidence communication & use of evidence
• From global evidence to local impact 

Miloslav Klugar, Chair of the Scientific and Local Organising Committee, extends a warm welcome:

“On behalf of our organising partners, I invite you all to join us for the eagerly anticipated 2nd Global Evidence Summit. You belong at GES! It’s a unique gathering of research and scientists, policymakers and managers but also students, consumers and activities, and patients and caregivers. This is a unique opportunity for people across the globe to get involved in evidence-based practice, with a shared mission to provide a platform to discuss critical issues across different sectors, including health, education, social justice, the environment and climate change.”  

Catherine Spencer, Cochrane's CEO, emphasizing the significance of the GES in fostering synergies and knowledge sharing within the global evidence community:

" I encourage the Cochrane Community to take advantage of Early Bird Registration for the 2nd Global Evidence Summit. Your participation will not only enrich your knowledge but also contribute to a global movement towards impactful, evidence-informed decision-making. Let's unite for #GES2024 and contribute to advancing evidence-based practice globally! We look forward to seeing you there!"

Early-bird registration is now open until 13 June. Standard registration is open until 14 August with late/onsite registration available. We also offer discounts to those from low-income economies as well as patients/consumers and students.

• Visit the GES website
• Learn more about registration
• Registration form

Taking over as the Cochrane Review with the most included studies when it was updated in November 2023, is the Cochrane Methodology Review of strategies to improve the response rates for postal and web questionnaires. Here's lead author, Phil Edwards from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK, to outline the importance of the review and its latest findings.

About one in ten live births around the world are preterm and many very preterm babies will develop respiratory distress soon after birth and require help with their breathing. Various strategies are available for this and an updated Cochrane review from July 2023 provides the latest evidence on the early use of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation compared with nasal continuous positive airway pressure. We asked one of the authors, Marc-Olivier Deguise from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada to tell us about the findings, and he used ElevenLabs to make this recording.

About one in ten live births around the world are preterm and many of these babies will develop respiratory distress and require help with their breathing. Various strategies are available for this and an updated Cochrane review from July 2023 provides the latest evidence on the comparison of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure when a baby’s breathing tube is removed. We asked one of the authors, Marc-Olivier Deguise from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada to tell us about the findings, and he used ElevenLabs to make this recording.

Alongside the many thousands of Cochrane reviews of the effects of health care interventions, is a review of decision aids that might help people make decisions about treatment or screening. This was first published in January 2003 and the fifth update has been published 21 years later. Here's the current lead author, Dawn Stacey from the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, who's been working on the review for all that time to tell us about the need for the review and its latest findings.

Specifications: Fixed term (2 years), 0.6 FTE
Salary:  £35,000 pro-rata
Location: (Remote – Flexible) Candidates anywhere from the world will be considered; however, Cochrane’s Central Executive Team is only able to offer consultancy contracts outside these countries.
Closing date:  6 February 2024 

Cochrane is an international charity. For 30 years we have responded to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesising research findings and our work has been recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Cochrane's strength is in its collaborative, global community. We have 110,000+ members and supporters around the world. Though we are spread out across the globe, our shared passion for health evidence unites us. Our Central Executive Team supports this work and is divided into four directorates: Evidence Production and Methods, Publishing and Technology, Development, and Finance and Corporate Services.

The Consumer Support Officer will work closely with Cochrane’s Consumer Engagement Officer to support the involvement of consumers (patients, carers and the public) in the Wellcome-funded GALENOS project, including in systematic reviews about mental health topics. Support of consumers in this work will involve connecting consumers with lived experience of mental health challenges to researchers, developing learning resources to support consumer involvement in systematic reviews, and generally promoting patient and public involvement in the systematic review space.  

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Our organization is built on four core values: Collaboration: Underpins everything we do, locally and globally. Relevant: The right evidence at the right time in the right format. Integrity: Independent and transparent. Quality: Reviewing and improving what we do, maintaining rigour and trust.  

You can expect: 

• An opportunity to truly impact health globally.  
• A flexible work environment  
• A comprehensive onboarding experiences.
• An environment where people feel welcome, heard, and included, regardless of their differences.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations, and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply
• The deadline to receive your application is 6th Feb, 2024.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples. 
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement

Specifications: Fixed term (2 years), 0.6 FTE
Salary:  £35,000 pro-rata
Location: (Remote – Flexible) Candidates anywhere from the world will be considered; however, Cochrane’s Central Executive Team is only able to offer consultancy contracts outside these countries.
Closing date:  6 February 2024 

Cochrane is an international charity. For 30 years we have responded to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesising research findings and our work has been recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Cochrane's strength is in its collaborative, global community. We have 110,000+ members and supporters around the world. Though we are spread out across the globe, our shared passion for health evidence unites us. Our Central Executive Team supports this work and is divided into four directorates: Evidence Production and Methods, Publishing and Technology, Development, and Finance and Corporate Services.

The Consumer Support Officer will work closely with Cochrane’s Consumer Engagement Officer to support the involvement of consumers (patients, carers and the public) in the Wellcome-funded GALENOS project, including in systematic reviews about mental health topics. Support of consumers in this work will involve connecting consumers with lived experience of mental health challenges to researchers, developing learning resources to support consumer involvement in systematic reviews, and generally promoting patient and public involvement in the systematic review space.  

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Our organization is built on four core values: Collaboration: Underpins everything we do, locally and globally. Relevant: The right evidence at the right time in the right format. Integrity: Independent and transparent. Quality: Reviewing and improving what we do, maintaining rigour and trust.  

You can expect: 

• An opportunity to truly impact health globally.  
• A flexible work environment  
• A comprehensive onboarding experiences.
• An environment where people feel welcome, heard, and included, regardless of their differences.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations, and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply
• The deadline to receive your application is 6th Feb, 2024.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples. 
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement

Specifications: Permanent – Full Time
Salary:  £64,000 per Annum  
Location: (Remote – Flexible) Candidates anywhere from the world will be considered; however, Cochrane’s Central Executive Team is only able to offer consultancy contracts outside these countries.
Closing date:  9 February, 2024 

Cochrane is an international charity. For 30 years we have responded to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesising research findings and our work has been recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Cochrane's strength is in its collaborative, global community. We have 110,000+ members and supporters around the world. Though we are spread out across the globe, our shared passion for health evidence unites us. Our Central Executive Team supports this work and is divided into four directorates: Evidence Production and Methods, Publishing and Technology, Development, and Finance and Corporate Services.

To lead and hold responsibility for Cochrane’s editorial operations, and to support the Deputy Operations Manager and Editor in Chief of Cochrane in achieving the strategic aims and delivering the objectives of the Cochrane Evidence Production and Methods Directorate (EPMD).   

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Our organization is built on four core values: Collaboration: Underpins everything we do, locally and globally. Relevant: The right evidence at the right time in the right format. Integrity: Independent and transparent. Quality: Reviewing and improving what we do, maintaining rigour and trust.  

You can expect:  

• An opportunity to truly impact health globally.  
• A flexible work environment  
• A comprehensive onboarding experiences.
• An environment where people feel welcome, heard, and included, regardless of their differences.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations, and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply
• The deadline to receive your application is 9th Feb, 2024.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples. 
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement

Specifications: Permanent – Full Time
Salary:  £64,000 per Annum  
Location: (Remote – Flexible) Candidates anywhere from the world will be considered; however, Cochrane’s Central Executive Team is only able to offer consultancy contracts outside these countries.
Closing date:  9 February, 2024 

Cochrane is an international charity. For 30 years we have responded to the challenge of making vast amounts of research evidence useful for informing decisions about health. We do this by synthesising research findings and our work has been recognised as the international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Cochrane's strength is in its collaborative, global community. We have 110,000+ members and supporters around the world. Though we are spread out across the globe, our shared passion for health evidence unites us. Our Central Executive Team supports this work and is divided into four directorates: Evidence Production and Methods, Publishing and Technology, Development, and Finance and Corporate Services.

To lead and hold responsibility for Cochrane’s editorial operations, and to support the Deputy Operations Manager and Editor in Chief of Cochrane in achieving the strategic aims and delivering the objectives of the Cochrane Evidence Production and Methods Directorate (EPMD).   

Don’t have every single qualification? We know that some people are less likely to apply for a job unless they are a perfect match. At Cochrane, we’re not looking for “perfect matches.” We’re looking to welcome people to our diverse, inclusive, and passionate workplace. So, if you’re excited about this role but don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. Whether it’s this role or another one, you may be just the right candidate.

Our organization is built on four core values: Collaboration: Underpins everything we do, locally and globally. Relevant: The right evidence at the right time in the right format. Integrity: Independent and transparent. Quality: Reviewing and improving what we do, maintaining rigour and trust.  

You can expect:  

• An opportunity to truly impact health globally.  
• A flexible work environment  
• A comprehensive onboarding experiences.
• An environment where people feel welcome, heard, and included, regardless of their differences.

Cochrane welcomes applications from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, locations, and backgrounds; diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our values.

How to apply

• For further information on the role and how to apply
• The deadline to receive your application is 9th Feb, 2024.
• The supporting statement should indicate why you are applying for the post, and how far you meet the requirements, using specific examples. 
• Read our Recruitment Privacy Statement

Poster sessions are a key component of most academic conferences. However, rows of text-heavy posters can be difficult for attendees to navigate, particularly for those for whom English is not their native language, or who may be neurodivergent or disabled. Cochrane recently teamed up with researchers to introduce poster templates for the Cochrane Colloquium based on the latest research. The results from the 'real world' assessment are now available. We spoke with the researchers to find out more. 

Can you tell us a bit about your elite poster research team, so we have an understanding of how you are approaching academic posters?Sure! Our team includes Dr. Zen Faulkes, author of the book “Better Posters” and founder of the Better Posters blog; Dr. Mike Morrison, the psychologist who created a redesign for scientific posters that went viral and started the #BetterPoster movement; and Dr. Emily Messina and her colleagues at IPG Health Medical Communications (Noofa Hannan, Victoria Evans, and Anja Petersen) and Helios (James Wells).  

What do you see as the purpose of academic posters?
For all the criticism posters get, they have incredible potential and play a crucial role in science communication. A scientific poster session is one of the only learning environments in science where researchers walk into a room completely open to learning. So, a key function of scientific posters is to give scientists broad, serendipitous insight into work going on across their whole field. Poster sessions are also a great way to meet people with similar research interests. Networking is a key purpose of attending a poster session, but the job of the poster itself is to communicate key ideas quickly (and engagingly!) in a stressful and demanding, busy environment.

Most conference attendees can probably relate to this. Most academic posters follow the same format that they always have. What’s wrong with them?
Imagine that you’re standing in front of a wall where somebody has taped up printed pages of a scientific paper, and you’re trying to read all that dense text and those tiny figures on the pages from four feet away. Now imagine trying to do that while there are a hundred other similar ‘posters’ you would like to see in a short time, while also trying to listen in to what the presenters are saying. Now imagine trying to do that if you’re someone with low vision or a processing disorder that amplifies the lights and sounds in the room. It’s difficult to learn anything from the poster in that context, which is why people often just give up and ask the presenter to explain the study, or just walk away.

That’s the core problem with the traditional scientific poster design: it ignores the context of just how busy and overwhelming the room is. This could be because the traditional design was created decades ago when poster sessions were much smaller.

There is also a harmful feedback loop in scientific poster design, where authors with (typically) no design training feel like they need to ‘fill up all the space’ with text and figures to ‘show that they did work’, and then the poster session attendees learn just to accept that cluttered posters will always be the norm and have to make do with them.

We had over 300 posters at Cochrane Colloquium and walking through them you could see many people used the accessible template. It felt less mentally overwhelming and was fantastic to walk around and learn from them. Can you tell us a bit more about the templates offered?
The #BetterPoster template we provided was based on the latest research in instructional design, accessibility, and eye tracking. It was designed to teach people something (typically the main finding) from a far distance; making it possible for them to learn something from every poster in the room, not just the few that they stop at. Then, the remainder of the poster is designed to quickly communicate additional details (limitations, key figures, methods) still visible at about 3ft. The figures also include mini takeaways, to help people interpret graphs while also trying to, for example, pay attention to you, the presenter. Finally, it includes a QR code that people can scan to get the author’s contact details or read the whole paper. The template was just that – a starting point to make it easier for people to get creative and make their own accessible posters. It was wonderful seeing people use the template whilst also adding their own touches.

At the event you made observations, interviewed people, and did a survey of attendees afterwards. What did you learn?
It was a great three days at the Cochrane Colloquium, seeing the poster template being embraced and people’s response to it. We just got back from presenting our findings at the 2024 European Meeting of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals. Our survey and interviews found that more accessible poster designs may improve engagement and communication at conferences. People found the posters with large figures and limited text to be more engaging; posters using the template were cited as memorable or informative; and they were also easier to understand. 

That's fantastic. This template was made specifically for the Cochrane Colloquium. What can researchers and those creating posters for any conference take away from this?
While the template was designed to the specifications of the Cochrane event, you can tailor them to any event that you need to present a poster at! We encourage all academics to download the template and adjust it as they need to. We're excited to see what you come up with; please tag pictures of your poster with #BetterPoster on social media so we can see them!

• Learn more about the research findings
• Learn more about the accessibility of different conference presentation formats
• Download the #BetterPoster template

Poster sessions are a key component of most academic conferences. However, rows of text-heavy posters can be difficult for attendees to navigate, particularly for those for whom English is not their native language, or who may be neurodivergent or disabled. Cochrane recently teamed up with researchers to introduce poster templates for the Cochrane Colloquium based on the latest research. The results from the 'real world' assessment are now available. We spoke with the researchers to find out more. 

Can you tell us a bit about your elite poster research team, so we have an understanding of how you are approaching academic posters?Sure! Our team includes Dr. Zen Faulkes, author of the book “Better Posters” and founder of the Better Posters blog; Dr. Mike Morrison, the psychologist who created a redesign for scientific posters that went viral and started the #BetterPoster movement; and Dr. Emily Messina and her colleagues at IPG Health Medical Communications (Noofa Hannan, Victoria Evans, and Anja Petersen) and Helios (James Wells).  

What do you see as the purpose of academic posters?
For all the criticism posters get, they have incredible potential and play a crucial role in science communication. A scientific poster session is one of the only learning environments in science where researchers walk into a room completely open to learning. So, a key function of scientific posters is to give scientists broad, serendipitous insight into work going on across their whole field. Poster sessions are also a great way to meet people with similar research interests. Networking is a key purpose of attending a poster session, but the job of the poster itself is to communicate key ideas quickly (and engagingly!) in a stressful and demanding, busy environment.

Most conference attendees can probably relate to this. Most academic posters follow the same format that they always have. What’s wrong with them?
Imagine that you’re standing in front of a wall where somebody has taped up printed pages of a scientific paper, and you’re trying to read all that dense text and those tiny figures on the pages from four feet away. Now imagine trying to do that while there are a hundred other similar ‘posters’ you would like to see in a short time, while also trying to listen in to what the presenters are saying. Now imagine trying to do that if you’re someone with low vision or a processing disorder that amplifies the lights and sounds in the room. It’s difficult to learn anything from the poster in that context, which is why people often just give up and ask the presenter to explain the study, or just walk away.

That’s the core problem with the traditional scientific poster design: it ignores the context of just how busy and overwhelming the room is. This could be because the traditional design was created decades ago when poster sessions were much smaller.

There is also a harmful feedback loop in scientific poster design, where authors with (typically) no design training feel like they need to ‘fill up all the space’ with text and figures to ‘show that they did work’, and then the poster session attendees learn just to accept that cluttered posters will always be the norm and have to make do with them.

We had over 300 posters at Cochrane Colloquium and walking through them you could see many people used the accessible template. It felt less mentally overwhelming and was fantastic to walk around and learn from them. Can you tell us a bit more about the templates offered?
The #BetterPoster template we provided was based on the latest research in instructional design, accessibility, and eye tracking. It was designed to teach people something (typically the main finding) from a far distance; making it possible for them to learn something from every poster in the room, not just the few that they stop at. Then, the remainder of the poster is designed to quickly communicate additional details (limitations, key figures, methods) still visible at about 3ft. The figures also include mini takeaways, to help people interpret graphs while also trying to, for example, pay attention to you, the presenter. Finally, it includes a QR code that people can scan to get the author’s contact details or read the whole paper. The template was just that – a starting point to make it easier for people to get creative and make their own accessible posters. It was wonderful seeing people use the template whilst also adding their own touches.

At the event you made observations, interviewed people, and did a survey of attendees afterwards. What did you learn?
It was a great three days at the Cochrane Colloquium, seeing the poster template being embraced and people’s response to it. We just got back from presenting our findings at the 2024 European Meeting of the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals. Our survey and interviews found that more accessible poster designs may improve engagement and communication at conferences. People found the posters with large figures and limited text to be more engaging; posters using the template were cited as memorable or informative; and they were also easier to understand. 

That's fantastic. This template was made specifically for the Cochrane Colloquium. What can researchers and those creating posters for any conference take away from this?
While the template was designed to the specifications of the Cochrane event, you can tailor them to any event that you need to present a poster at! We encourage all academics to download the template and adjust it as they need to. We're excited to see what you come up with; please tag pictures of your poster with #BetterPoster on social media so we can see them!

• Learn more about the research findings
• Learn more about the accessibility of different conference presentation formats
• Download the #BetterPoster template