Key components of scientific conferences:

• Research talks
  • Selected from abstracts 
    • Some shorter (10-15 min) others longer (30 min or so)
    • Typically close-to-publication or recently published (or in preprint)
    • Often given by Postdocs & PIs (heads of labs) 
  • Invited speakers
    • Usually 30 min – 1 h
    • Sometimes in conjunction with receipt of an award 
    • Sometimes called “keynote” or “plenary” lectures  
    • Usually given by “big name” scientists – prominent people in the field
      • Plenary talks are often given by the really big ones, often at a later stage in their career about a sort of overview of their work to a wider audience 
  • Flash talks (sometimes)
    • 5 min or so, often in conjunction with a poster (so a sort of preview to get people to come to your poster)
  • At large conferences, there will be lots of talks going on at the same time, so plan out your schedule ahead of time (based on abstracts) to make sure you get to the ones you really want to see
    • The talks are usually arranged into “tracts” so related research is presented in the same room so you don’t have to try to race across the conference center to see another talk only to find out that the session isn’t on time!
• Poster sessions
  • Usually present works-in-progress 
  • Often given by students and Postdocs 
  • At large meetings, there are poster sessions over multiple days and you’ll just have your poster hung up for one of them
    • Typically posters are up all day and then there are specified times where the people who have even-numbered posters stand by theirs and other times where the people who have odd-numbered posters stand by theirs
  • If you’re presenting:
    • Consider making a QR code taking people to PDF version (if PI is okay with it being public), video walk-through, preprint, etc.
    • Keep your nose out of your phone no matter how awkward you feel! 
    • Try not to make your poster too cluttered
      • Let figures and graphics do the heavy lifting rather than text
        • Use bullet point summaries
      • Include a graphical abstract  (overview in infographic form)
    • Use your poster as a visual aid to support your scientific story-telling, not something you just read off
    • Dress business-casual
  • If you’re viewing:
    • Scout out ahead of sessions (through abstracts and walking halls when people aren’t around)
      • Make note of ones to return to when the presenter is there
    • Ask people to walk you through their poster – especially students – and especially people whose posters aren’t getting much traffic 
• Formal networking and career development events
  • Workshops on CV preparation, job searches, etc.
  • Meet-ups of people at similar training levels and/or research interests
• Workshops
  • Learn how to use equipment, techniques, teaching activities, etc. 
• Informal networking
  • Meet people at poster sessions, in hallways, etc.
  • Try to connect with people you’ve met virtually or through friend-of-a-friend connections 
• Exhibit halls
  • Vendors try to sell you stuff – but also give you discount codes and SWAG
  • Can be a fun way to learn about techniques and fancy equipment you know you will probably never have access to – as well as stuff you might!

More on preparing and presenting posters: Scientific research posters – what they are & advice for preparing and presenting them