In today’s post, I’m sharing the best tips for surviving your first academic conference as a grad student! As a grad student, it can be overwhelming to attend a conference for the first time. I remember the first conference I attended during my PhD, and I had no idea what I was doing or what the norms were, even though I was with my research group. In my experience, they didn’t really prepare me well for my first conference, which is why I’ve put this post together! 

Academic or scientific conferences are a completely different world than anything else you experience in grad school. They’re great opportunitie to share your research with other experts in the field, network, and learn the latest research topics. So it’s important to understand how they operate and how to navigate conferences if you’ve never attended one before. And if you’re a more introverted person, they can be a little stressful and anxiety-inducing. So in this post, I’m going over how to prepare for a conference and how to navigate being an attendee or a presenter! This is going to be Academic Conferences 101, and after reading through this post, you know what to expect at your first conference.

Everything You Need to Know about Attending Your First Academic Conference 

What Happens at an Academic Conference? 

Academic conferences are national or international scientific meetings where leaders in a scientific field, professional society, or network come together to share the latest in research. Almost all disciplines and subspecialties offer some type of conference. 

Academic conferences typically have 3 similar components – technical sessions, or oral talks, poster presentations, and the exhibition or exhibit hall. The technical sessions will be grouped by topic. Usually, talks are anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes long. Poster sessions are typically a few hours long, but instead of formal talks, these are where researchers will stand by their posters and give informal and more conversational presentations on their work. Lastly, the exhibit hall is that part of the conference where vendors and organizations will have a booth to share their technology, work, or equipment. And they usually give out free stuff like candy, pens, notepads, and more! 

So, when planning your schedule, go through the entire technical program and highlight what you want to listen to or see! 

In addition to the technical program, there will usually be networking sessions, social events, and short courses (or training sessions). These can vary depending on the conference. It’s good to check these out because they might be something you’re interested in attending. And sometimes, they require pre-registration or tickets to attend. As a student, a lot of conferences will offer student related events, so definitely plan to attend those! 

What to Do Before You Leave for the Conference 

Some of the most important preparation for an academic conference comes before you even leave. Most of the time, conferences are located at satellite locations across the globe, so I will also talk about preparing your travel plans.  Planning accommodations, transportation, and meals ahead of time will make navigating the conference venue and area way easier. Most of the time, academic conferences are held at hotels or resorts. If this is the case, I prefer to book the hotel where the conference is located. even though this tends to be a more expensive option, it will make it more convenient in the sense that you won’t have to worry about getting transportation or walking to the conference venue every morning or back to your hotel in the evening. Typically, the conference hotel will book quickly, so it’s important to book your accommodations as early as advance as possible. If you have to fly to your destinations, getting your flights early is good because prices are cheaper.

Sometimes conference venues will also provide transportation to and from the airport, so you should check if they’re offering that before you leave. If transportation is not provided, you’ll have to figure out if you will need to rent a car or get a taxi or Uber to the conference venue. Planning meals is another important part of pre-planning for a conference. conferences are extremely busy days, and you’ll want to know when and where you’re going to have your meals so you’re not in a situation where you’re super hungry and don’t know where to go. 

In addition to planning all of the logistical aspects of your trip, if you’re traveling somewhere new for a conference take some time to look at touristy things to do in the area as well. You’re going to be spending a lot of time at the conference, but you might want to take a break and do something fun so try to look up some things that you might want to do in your free time or during a break

After getting all of your travel plans together, take a look at the technical program and schedule of events for the conference. You don’t want to arrive at the conference without knowing what sessions you want to attend or what will be going on during your stay. I like to plan out my schedule ahead of time, so I’m not feeling lost when I arrive.

Many larger conferences now offer a mobile app download that includes the technical program and schedule of events. if your conference offers something like this, definitely do it because a lot of them have a feature where you can create your schedule, and it will send you notifications and how the location of different events.

What to do When you First Arrive at a Conference 

When I first arrive at the conference venue, I will check in and get my badge. A lot of conference venues are extremely large, and it can be a little overwhelming trying to navigate the venue for the first time. Eefore I even start to try attending sessions, I usually just walk around the venue so I can find where different things are.

At this point, depending on where I’m staying, I’ll then either get transportation to my hotel or I’ll go check into the hotel directly. If you arrive at the conference venue before your hotel, check in a lot of times. Either the hotel or the conference venue will offer luggage storage, so you don’t have to worry about carrying your bag around all-day 

If I’m presenting, I like to find my conference room first, so I know where I’m going for my presentation. Some conferences have different procedures if you’re a presenter, such as they want you to upload your presentation to a computer ahead of time or they want you to arrive before the session starts. Make sure you know what is expected of you. 

If you’re unsure of anything at a conference, the people working the registration will be at the registration booth to answer questions.

After getting settled in like this, I’ll either start to attend sessions or, if it’s already at the end of the day, I’ll just go to dinner, relax, and then be fresh and ready for the next full day of the conference 

What Should I Actually Do at a Conference as a Grad Student 

What do you actually do when you’re at a conference? 

Attend Technical Sessions

technical sessions across disciplines usually operate in a similar way. There are scheduled talks, a break, more talks, then a session conclusion. It’s ok to come and go from sessions like you aren’t committed to a session once you sit down! Just be respectful if you are getting up and moving around .The session moderators or organizers lead the sessions. They introduce the speakers and moderate questions. After a presenter is done, there is time for questions, and if you don’t get a chance to ask a question, it’s ok to approach people during the break or at the conclusion. That’s the whole point of the conference! Don’t be afraid to talk to people.

Networking Sessions & Social Events

Conferences offer networking and social events, and some might be specifically for graduate students. I highly recommend attending because there is usually free food and they are casual. 

Exhibit Hall

while you aren’t going to be actively buying anything at a conference, take some time to walk through the exhibit hall. You might get free stuff and see some cool scientific technology or learn more about professional societies and more. They’re fun to walk around! 

Poster Presentations

Poster sessions are my favorite part of a conference because they’re an opportunity to have more information conversations with presenters about their research. These sessions are usually around 2 hours, and you can walk around to the posters. More students tend to present at poster sessions, so it’s a great way to network with other grad students. 

Most of the time, people are ok with you taking a picture of their poster if you need to reference it later. 

Handling Social Anxiety and Feeling Awkward at Your First Conference

As someone more introverted, conferencs can be anxiety and stress-inducing. It can be hard for me to socialize and feel comfortable in a larger crowd, especially if I don’t know anyone else. Sometimes I chose to not socialize, which is ok. simply being at the conference and listening to talks is a good and enriching experience. I understand it can be hard to walk up to people and just introduce yourself. If you’re not comfortable doing it, you don’t have to! If you’re attending a conference with a group, it’s okay to follow the group’s lead. I find it much easier to socialize with new people when I’m with someone else I know.

One way to connect iwth people is to look at their badge and check the institution that’s listed. Most conferences include it on badges so you know where other people are from. this can be an easy talking point, especially if you’ve been to the school before or know someone else who attended. Things like “I did my undergrad at X school,” “I consider X school for grad school,” or “My sister is an alum of X” are easy ways to introduce conversation. then I usually follow up with “What year are you?” or “What field are you in?” And at that point, the conversation will usually start. 

What to Bring to an Academic Conference 

When packing for an academic conference, you want to come prepared. You’re going to be doing a lot of networking, so it’s a good idea to get business cards made so that you can hand them out to people when you’re talking so they can have your email, LinkedIn, and other contact information. Some conferences now have a feature where on your badge, you’ll have a QR code that will automatically link to your contact information, but not all conferences do this, so it’s a good idea to have business cards as well. if you have never made business cards before, you can see if your university has a business card template that they have that you can use, or you can easily make your own on Canva and print them at a local office store.

For conferences, I’m always taking my laptop. I prefer to take notes on my laptop using Notion, so I need to have my laptop with me to do that. But throughout the day, it’s nice to have my laptop when there are breaks or when I’m in between sessions, and I want to step away and reply to emails, or maybe I want to look up a paper or a speaker’s information. It’s pretty normal that I had a conference venue. You’re going to see a lot of people out and about with their laptops doing meetings and working on other things while they’re at the conference, so don’t feel like you can’t have your laptop or be working on other things if you need to  

What Should I Wear to an Academic Conference 

Some conferences may have a dress code, and if they do, they’ll likely have it listed on the conference’s website. if there’s no dress code, it really depends on discipline, the location of the conference venue, and just the general culture of the field. Typically, I see a range of people at conferences either wearing business professional, business casual or jeans and a polo.

I personally feel like if you are unsure of what to wear, you should pack a range of clothes that includes business professional and more casual so then you have options. And I’m personally someone who always tends to get cold and conference menus, so I like to take outfits that allow me to have layers, and then I don’t have to worry about being cold, even if the conference venue is located in a warm weather climate.

Are you Ready to Attend Your First Conference?

I hope this post gives you a good idea of what to expect when you attend your first academic conference for grad school! Academic conferences are great experiences for grad school and I highly recommend attending if you have the opportunity. They can be a little overwhelming, so hopefully, this guide helped you to prepare.