Transformative Quantum Technologies and the Institute for Quantum Computing are dedicated to providing a harassment-free workshop, event, or conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion.
Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
* Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion
* Sexual images in public spaces
* Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
* Harassing photography or recording
* Sustained disruption of talks or other events
* Inappropriate physical contact
* Unwelcome sexual attention
* Unwelcome (actual or threatened) physical behaviour
* Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour
We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, event organizers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the conference [with no refund or reimbursement for extra costs incurred].
Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.
We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and event-related social activities. If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy at our event!
You can make a personal report by contacting event organizers.
When taking a personal report, our staff will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other event staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone and we won’t tell anyone who you are.
Our team will be happy to help you contact appropriate security, local law enforcement, local support services, provide escorts, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.
Speaker & Audience Guidelines
The following is based on the Perimeter Institute Inclusion Platform working group on “how to promote a better and more inclusive culture for discussions in seminars and group meetings”.
Scientific Disagreement
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As a general strategy, frame your question in a manner that presumes the speaker is correct and that you are the one who is mistaken or misunderstanding a point.
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Do not presume to know the motives for a speaker’s statement.
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Criticize ideas and results.
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Do not criticize people.
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Compliment before you criticize.
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If you don’t agree with the speaker’s general research program, you can still offer constructive comments (or criticisms): “If I take on your approach, I think this would be a natural question (or problem). What do you think?”
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“What would persuade you that you are wrong about this?” / “What result would cause you to give this up?”
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“When will you finally stop working on this?”
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“Do you want to say a few words about your views on the role of experimental testability in theory construction?”
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“Physics is an experimental science. What you are doing is not physics.”
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“Can you give a concrete example?”
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“Are there any applications?”
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“Yes, and…”
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“No, but…”
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Asking Questions
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Be concise when asking your question and then listen to the answer. |
Do not monologue. Have a question formulated before asking it. |
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What seems to be a disagreement is often, in fact, a mutual misunderstanding. Therefore, when asking a question on some concrete point, a useful strategy is to first summarize what you understand the speaker to be claiming and ask the speaker if your summary is accurate before moving on. |
Do not always bring up your “hobby horse” in your questions and comments, in particular when it is not relevant to the talk. That is, do not use the question period as an opportunity to promote your own research. |
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If you have a question that you are worried might derail the talk, ask: “I have not quite understood this point. Is it critical for the rest of your talk?” This will allow the speaker to manage their time. If the point is not critical, the speaker can choose to help you understand it after the talk. If it is an important point, the speaker can spend time remedying your misunderstanding. |
Do not use the question period as an opportunity to indulge in lengthy explanations of something. |
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If another audience member asks an aggressive question, you should attempt to rephrase the question in a more respectful manner. |
Helping the Speaker
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It’s the audience’s responsibility to interfere if the level of the talk is too low or too high by asking questions or requesting clarifications. |
If the speaker has left you behind, there are probably others like you in the audience. Do not just open your laptop and stop paying attention; take responsibility for ensuring effective communication. |
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If you think you can answer a question in a way that will benefit the local audience, first ask the speaker: “May I try to answer this question for you?” |
Do not presume that you can answer a question better than the speaker can. |
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If you notice a significant pedagogical gap in the talk, you may want to say, “This audience is not aware of this technique/recent development. Could you briefly summarize it?” |
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If you think you can resolve a misunderstanding between the audience and the speaker, first ask the speaker, “May I rephrase the question for you?” |
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If audience members ask too many questions so that speaker cannot finish the talk, propose: “Let’s give the speaker the opportunity to finish the talk and continue this discussion/question session over lunch/dinner.” |
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If discussions during a talk are too long, you might point out: “Feel free to continue this discussion if you like, but I just wanted to remind everyone that we have only X minutes left in the talk.” This gives the speaker an out if they want to move on. |
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Procedural Points
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Respect the final authority of the chair and support the chair when appropriate. |
Do not start a conversation with the speaker out of turn or interrupt during someone else’s question. |
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If you’d like to ask a question, raise your hand and wait to be called on by the speaker or the chair (especially if it comes during the talk). |
Do not begin a discussion among audience members while the speaker is presenting. |
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If a question is only audible for part of the audience, the audience members who can’t hear should let the chair and speaker know. If the chair (or speaker) suspects that the question is inaudible, they should repeat the question. |
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