5 "spook"tacular tips for making the "ghost" of your conference experience
Between long hours in the lab and long hours spent working from home, grad school can be a pretty isolating experience for many. This is even more true as we roll into our third year of the global pandemic that's only marginally abated in and some respects, more worrisome than the initial acute phase of a couple years ago. But I digress. Conferences (although very much still affected by COVID) can serve as a great way to connect with fellow researchers, whether virtually or in-person. Since 2015, I've been to several conferences, including the Geological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting, as well as multiple Lunar and Planetary Science Conferences (LPSC). This year, I attended my first Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) annual meeting, held in beautiful London, Ontario. As a result, I've picked up a few pieces of advice over the years, and hopefully if you have yet to attend a conference, these can help you find your way a bit more. Note: I'm going to focus more on tips for attending a conference, as opposed to attending and presenting. That would require a whole separate blog post.
1. As a student, you shouldn't have to pay for much of the cost of attending a conference. Talk to your advisor or an administrative assistant in your department about what the options are for covering the cost of travel, conference registration, lodging, and meals. Funding for attending and presenting at conferences is (like many aspects regarding academia) something that departments don't necessarily do a great job of talking about. Additionally, be on the lookout for grants through other institutions (such as NASA, SETI Institute, etc) that can cover travel and/or conference registration.
2. Look at the schedule! Most conferences have a program or schedule where panels, sessions, talks, and other events are listed for each day. Historically, I've definitely spent quite a bit of time wandering the halls between sessions, unsure of where to head next. You don't have to plan out each day to the minute--in fact, it's good to allow some time for random interactions with peers and friends-- but I'd recommend picking a few events or sessions for the morning and afternoon by which you can base your time around.
3. If you've never attended any scientific conference before (or, never attended this specific conference), check to see if there are any events that are focused on first-time attendees, whether undergrads, grad students, or early career researchers. I've both attended and volunteered as a mentee at these types of events and found them to be helpful and welcoming.
4. If you're going to be away for a conference, make sure you tie up any loose ends as far as research or TA work. Even if the conference (hypothetically) happens to be in the same city as your institution, you should try to be as free as possible during the conference so you can make the most of it.
5. Get some free swag! Arguably, conferences are the best place to load up on stickers to slap on your laptop or water bottle.
I hope these tips prove useful. They are generally tailored towards in-person conferences, as I only attended a couple talks at this year's DPS meeting virtually and have not attended any other hybrid or fully virtual conference. For tips on those, try reading other posts about conference advice writing by other members of the Neish Lab!
