The PGIS Research Congress (RESCON) was initiated to promote and strengthen the research culture of the Postgraduate Institute of Science (PGIS), University of Peradeniya, and in turn to contribute to the expansion of research activities of the institute and the country. As a premier event in the academic calendar of scientists in the country, the PGIS RESCON 2020 provided the opportunity for researchers to disseminate their findings and update their knowledge on the cutting-edge scientific research in Sri Lanka. After six extremely successful events from 2014 to 2019, its seventh Research Congress 'RESCON - 2020' was successfully held from 26th to 28th of November 2020.

The congress was inaugurated ceremonially at the Postgraduate Institute of Science by the Chief Guest, Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) on Thursday, 26th November 2020. The Guest of Honour for the occasion was Prof. Upul B. Dissanayake, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya. Prof. S. H. P. P. Karunaratne (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Peradeniya) delivered the keynote address at the inauguration. The inauguration ceremony was followed by the Congress Dinner, which was held at the Earl’s Regent Hotel, Kandy. The inaugural session was telecasted live on YouTube.

Virtual Technical Sessions of the PGIS Research Congress were held in four online parallel sessions during 27th and 28th November 2020, and over three hundred and fifty scientists participated. RESCON 2020 has brought together a rich diversity of researchers from almost all the state universities, non-state universities, research institutions and industries to share ideas and new perspectives on a wide range of topics. Two hundred and thirty (230) research articles were selected from among the 283 articles received to be presented at the congress following a peer review process. The 230 abstracts were published as proceedings of the PGIS research congress and presented online. There were 30 virtual technical sessions conducted in four video conferencing rooms during the two days and each session was chaired by two senior academics. A team of 30 young academics served as ‘academic coordinators’ facilitating the smooth conduct of online presentations by interacting with chairpersons, presenters and the technical team. All the abstracts were orally presented under five broad themes: Earth and Environmental Science; Information & Communication Technology, Mathematics and Statistics; Life Sciences; Physical Sciences; and Science Education. The online sessions of RESCON 2020 provided an excellent platform for postgraduate students and researchers from many disciplines to interact among themselves.