Hello!
Conferences are one of the most exciting ways to interact with other researchers. Different societies typically organise annual meetings where scientists can gather to present and discuss their latest studies, collecting first-hand an impression of the state of research in the field. Indeed, I recently had the chance to participate for the first time in the annual congress of the European Calcified Tissue Society, consisting of nearly five days of exhausting but stimulating sessions. However, as a doctoral student in our group, the journey to a conference begins months earlier with the submission of an abstract of a project which, if accepted for a presentation, grants us a trip to the meeting. Therefore, in this post, I would like to share my experience with the crucial steps of this process, from abstract submission to the presentation at the conference.
2. Poster or oral presentation
3. Knowledge transfer and networking
Abstract preparation phase
As hinted before, one of the critical motivations for doctoral students and post-docs to attend conferences is to present their recent work. Hence, meetings that include oral and poster presentations are targeted at these groups and involve submitting an abstract that will be reviewed by a scientific committee and, hopefully, accepted for some form of presentation. Novel and exciting findings are rewarded with oral presentations, which usually have limited slots but provide much stronger exposure to the work. At the same time, the remaining accepted abstracts may be presented as a poster, placed in the poster exhibition area in a sea of hundreds of other posters. Therefore, preparing an engaging abstract that can conquer a coveted oral presentation slot is a worthy challenge.
Usually, the organisers provide a template for the abstracts, which may vary between conferences. Still, given the unreasonably high number of submissions and time required to review them, they often have strict word limits and may include up to one or two figures. These constraints truly push our creativity to effectively convey the significance of the work, highlight key findings and discuss future directions. Furthermore, depending on the type of conference (engineering/methods- or biology/basic research-oriented), it is vital to adjust which sections should be emphasised.
Often, I begin by identifying the main result I would like to present, which will usually be strongly connected with the title of the abstract and the figure panel, if allowed. This central message should also help formulate the knowledge gap we aim to fill with the study, which is essential to include in the introduction section. The background and methods are often flexible depending on the space required by the results and discussion. On this note, the discussion section lets us emphasise the study’s success and indicate how it impacts future steps. An important note of caution is that abstracts often include preliminary data from ongoing experiments, in which case, it is vital not to overpromise results that may not hold as the experiment is completed. Eventually, after a few rounds of revisions from all co-authors, the abstract is ready for submission.
Poster or oral presentation
Hundreds of abstracts are often submitted to conferences, with only a few spots available for oral presentations and slightly more for poster sessions. Several months after submission, the organisers communicate the highly anticipated results and the instructions for each format.
I believe posters are easier to prepare since the submitted abstract already provides a valuable baseline, and we often have templates from the organisers or the university that we can use. Still, given that there are over a hundred other posters in the exhibition area, it is vital to structure information in an easily understandable way, as most visitors will only spend a few minutes per poster to get an overview of the study. Typical practical tips include concise and clear titles, having a well-defined area with the aim of the work, leveraging schematics and figures to describe the methods and preparing a large figure panel for the results that can communicate a story by itself. Indeed, having a well-structured result figure can dramatically help readers quickly grasp the essence of our achievements.
Conversely, oral presentations usually allow more flexibility and time to expand into the details of the study. Nonetheless, as conference programmes are packed with sessions tailored for audiences with different scientific backgrounds, it is still essential to prepare slides that are understandable by such a diverse set of researchers. Besides, conferences can be exhausting, challenging our ability to follow complex explanations. Hence, focusing on visually appealing and accessible slides can make a difference in successfully conveying our results and stimulating a fruitful discussion.
Importantly, for both formats, we should always provide our contact information, such as an email or a Twitter handle, allowing the audience to interact with us if they have any further questions.
Knowledge transfer and networking
At last, conferences create a great environment to identify researchers working on similar topics or tools. On the one hand, chasing and establishing interactions with such scientists can foster productive discussions that advance our work or bring new perspectives into our analysis. On the other hand, it may give rise to successful collaborations through a mutual contribution of tools, datasets, or experimental protocols. Crucially, conference programmes also include multiple seminars and technical sessions where invited speakers, often well-established researchers in the field, give long-format presentations on relevant topics. Ultimately, this arrangement of presentations from new investigators and senior scientists creates a diverse and appealing schedule that stimulates positive scientific interactions.
Conclusion
Conferences are an exciting opportunity for young researchers to travel during their studies and share the most exciting findings of their work. I have been fortunate to attend a few conferences since I started my doctoral studies, and each has provided valuable experiences on how I communicate my project and establish connections with other scientists. I am looking forward to participating in my next conference and continue improving my science communication skills.
Please feel free to share your thoughts on scientific conferences!
Have a great day!