Hard Probes 2023 conference app — poster browsing and track navigation for heavy-ion researchers in Münster

Hard Probes 2023 — the International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions — was held at Münster University, Germany, from 26 to 31 March 2023, bringing together approximately 300 researchers working on heavy-ion collisions, quarkonia suppression, jet quenching, and electromagnetic probes in the quark-gluon plasma.

The programme comprised 4 topical tracks, 150 oral presentations and 120 posters, with a strong emphasis on poster sessions as a key venue for presenting new experimental results and theoretical calculations.

The Challenge: A Poster-Heavy Programme on a University Indico Instance

Hard Probes conferences allocate substantial programme time to poster sessions, where early-career researchers present results from ALICE, CMS, ATLAS, and STAR heavy-ion programmes. Navigating 120 posters by topic or experiment is difficult from a standard Indico timetable view.

The conference used the Münster University Indico instance, adding another non-CERN deployment to the mix.

How HEPCon Helped

HEPCon synchronised with the Münster Indico instance and provided a dedicated poster browser that allowed attendees to filter posters by track, search by author or keyword, and mark posters they intended to visit.

For the oral programme, track-based navigation with push notifications for schedule changes kept attendees informed throughout the week. The PWA worked well in the university buildings where mobile coverage varied between lecture halls.

Outcome

The poster browser received positive feedback from early-career researchers who could share their poster location directly through the app. Organisers valued the smooth connection to their university Indico instance, confirming HEPCon's flexibility across different institutional deployments.