How the Institute (RI-MUHC) modernized a 28-year tradition and increased scientific exchanges
After managing research days manually for 28 years, the events grew so much in size that a technological transformation was required. Discover how Fourwaves automated tasks and helped increase scientific exchanges.
Student research days and symposia
2018
Less manual work, more exchange of scientific knowledge
Inga Murawski helps manage the operational heartbeat of one of Canada’s most prestigious research environments.
Based in the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (The Institute), Inga oversees a robust calendar of scientific gatherings, from the annual RI-MUHC-wide Summer Student Research Days to specialized symposia like the Respiratory Research Day.
Her responsabilities include fostering a sense of community for students and principal investigators and managing the logistical complexity of academic events.
The growth paradox: more researchers, more manual work
For nearly 28 years, the Respiratory Program’s annual research day was organized entirely by hand.
In the early days, with only around 10 oral presentations, this was manageable. But as The Institute’s reputation grew, so did the number of researchers attending the events.
The breaking point arrived when the event expanded past the 50-abstract mark and started to include poster sessions. The workload became hard to manage:
- Manual formatting: The team had to manually copy, paste, and format presentation content received via email to create the program and the abstract book.
- Chaotic last-minute edits: Students frequently requested updates, such as modifying their abstracts or changing the author list. If formatting had already begun, every change required a manual correction, increasing the risk of errors, not to mention the time spent managing all these requests.
- Fragmented data: Tracking registrations and submissions through Excel files and emails meant the team had to constantly double-check lists to ensure no one fell through the cracks.
Manually formatting abstracts was by far the most time-consuming and frustrating part. This heavy burden diverted energy away from more meaningful aspects of event planning.
Program Manager, The Institute (RI-MUHC)
Saved by a scientific events platform
Inga and her team started using Fourwaves to streamline the process for a single research day. Quickly, they adopted it for many other events.
From the first event, the 2018 Summer Student Research Day to the upcoming 2026 Respiratory Research Day, the team has now powered nearly 20 events with the platform.
A significant impact for the staff and for students
Doing more with less
For a program manager handling recurring annual events, starting from scratch every year is inefficient. Inga highlights the event cloning feature as a critical time-saver.
By duplicating the previous year’s configuration, forms, review logic, and website structure, the team can launch the next edition in a fraction of the time.
Stress elimination
By eliminating Excel spreadsheets, the team's daily reality has completely changed. The ability to track registrations and abstract submissions in real time was a "major turning point," removing the anxiety of missing a participant.
Peace of mind
When managing time-sensitive events, software issues can cause enormous stress. Inga emphasizes that the human element at Fourwaves, specifically the support team's responsiveness, sets the platform apart.
Increased scientific exchange
By freeing up time to focus on the event format and making content accessible online even after the sessions ended, participant interactions flourished, creating a more dynamic research environment.
Fourwaves is extremely responsive. Whenever we have a question, they respond quickly and proactively and always have the solution.
Program Manager, The Institute (RI-MUHC)
What matters: the exchange of scientific knowledge.
Today, the Respiratory Program is celebrating the 35th edition of their research day. The manual grind of the first 28 years has been replaced by a scalable, automated system.
By centralizing registration, abstract submission, and peer review, Inga and her team have reclaimed their time. They no longer spend weeks formatting abstract books; they spend that time facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge.