Although typically found lurking in libraries or travelling in small packs of like-minded scholars, academics do sometimes get together to discuss their work. Gatherings like this are more commonly known as ‘academic conferences’.
Different conferences cover different subjects for students and professional academics. But if you’re not sure whether you should attend one, these points might help you make up your mind.
1. Pushing Envelopes
One reason for attending academic conferences is that you’ll see presentations on cutting-edge work in your field. Consequently, they’re good for inspiration when you feel like you’ve exhausted the usual sources.
(Photo: New Zealand Tertiary Education Union)
2. Developing Your Ideas
If you’re working on something and present it at a conference, you’ll almost certainly receive a lot of helpful feedback. Attending conferences is therefore a great way of developing your ideas and work (it looks good on your CV, too).
3. Publication Opportunities
Presenting your work at a conference could also get you published. To be specific, many academic conferences publish a collection of the papers presented (online, in print, or sometimes both). This is known as the conference proceedings.
Even if you’re not looking to get published yet, conference proceedings are a great source for research and make it easier to cite a paper you saw presented in your own work.
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4. Making Friends and Networking
Conferences let academics of all levels meet and talk to one another! This is especially useful if you spend a lot of your time working alone or with a small group in your faculty.
(Photo: Sebastian ter Burg/flickr)
As well as offering an opportunity to get out of the library, networking with other academics is a great way of making contacts and advancing your career.
5. Not Just for Postgrads…
A lot of this might make it sound like conferences are just for postgraduate students and professional academics, but that isn’t always the case!
The ACUR, for example, is specifically aimed at undergraduate students. So if you like the sound of conferences but don’t know where to start, it’s definitely worth a look.