--- layout: post status: publish published: true title: Is it worth presenting at postgraduate conferences? wordpress_id: 1459 wordpress_url: https://www.martineve.com/?p=1459 date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxODoyNTozNCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxODoyNTozNCArMDIwMA== categories: - Conferences - Academia tags: - academia - PhDchat comments: - id: 6529 author: Andy Coverdale author_email: andy.coverdale@gmail.com author_url: http://phdblog.net/ date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo0NDowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo0NDowMCArMDIwMA== content: Some good points here Martin, though it's worth remembering that 'bigger' conferences  often employ tracks for doctoral students, therefore providing the peer-based supportive environment you mention, but possibly limiting opportunities for connecting with senior academics. Best keep us separate in case we misbehave :) - id: 6530 author: Guest author_email: guest@gmail.com author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo1MjowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo1MjowMCArMDIwMA== content: I find it amazing there should be doubt whether it's "worth" to present at postgraduate conferences. Attending postgraduate conferences is an essential element in the experience of being a scholar. There's many things that are wrong in academia (including how little funding there is for PG students to attend conferences), but I find worrying that students should be asking this question. What's the definition of 'worth'? Sad times...  - id: 6531 author: Martin Paul Eve author_email: martin@martineve.com author_url: https://www.martineve.com date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo1NzowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAxOTo1NzowMCArMDIwMA== content: In a utopian spirit, I'd totally agree, but the question arose as a result of the time pressure that is put on postgraduate students. We teach, we publish, we research, we present at conferences. Some of us also work part-time. With so little time available, the "worth" is in terms of time trade-off against benefit for one's research, for one's career and, as I should have mentioned above, for one's audience. In an ideal world, we would have enough time so that presenting at a postgraduate conference would make no incursion into that, enough time to present everywhere, but that's not how things are. - id: 6532 author: JS author_email: jemima.sandhu@gmail.com author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjowOTowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjowOTowMCArMDIwMA== content: With regard to your point about connecting with academics, it seems we are in the middle of a huge upheaval in how, when and where we connect with people in general. Connections can be more easily made through social media so the gatekeeping functions of the "tracks" you mentioned are mitigated somewhat, or a lot. - id: 6533 author: Jemima Sandhu author_email: jemima.sandhu@gmail.com author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjoxMzowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjoxMzowMCArMDIwMA== content: ! 'I think the whole idea of conferences (PG and non-PG) needs to be critically examined anyway. Are they really the best means for stimulating discussion? Are they perhaps exclusionary to those who perhaps do not thrive in that environment? ' - id: 6534 author: Jemima Sandhu author_email: jemima.sandhu@gmail.com author_url: '' date: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjoxNjowMCArMDIwMA== date_gmt: !binary |- MjAxMS0wOS0wNiAyMjoxNjowMCArMDIwMA== content: ! 'I agree with MPE. There is simply no time to everything that could potentially be "useful" and many students are working part-time while carrying full course loads. There is also a lot of rethinking going on about what is "essential" to being a scholar and what is not. ' ---

I've just been asked on Twitter as to whether it's worth presenting at postgraduate conferences and thought I'd share my thoughts in a short post.

Answer: it depends what you want to get from a conference. If you are looking to meet intellectually stimulating people, get experience presenting and genuine feedback on your work, then a postgraduate conference is great. You'll meet peers with whom you can collaborate and you are likely to receive more attention than presenting in a small parallel session at a bigger conference.

What you are unlikely to receive are the career progressing networking opportunities afforded by conferences that span the whole field. Grim as it is, knowing the right people can go a long way in academia and your fellow postgraduates will most likely not afford you the recognition in your area that is required to get an academic job. This isn't always the case, consider that you could meet a peer with whom you could co-author a published paper, which would certainly advance your career prospects, but it's worth considering.

Featured image by atmasphere under a CC-BY-NC-ND license.