A Beginner's Guide to Academic Conferences

Having just returned from my first full conference, I thought now was the perfect time to share what I've learned about how to approach them. As an undergrad, I always found them slightly mystifying; I knew they were something you were meant to attend as an academic, but nobody had shown me how to go about it. It's still early days for my conferencing career; I gave a speed-talk at the BIAZA Research Conference last summer, but only attended for the one day, so ASAB (Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) Spring was my first time getting the full conference experience. It's been a bit of a learning curve, so I wanted to share the tips and tricks I've picked up to help you feel conference confident (who knew part of being an academic is knowing how to roll up an A0 poster?)

I Part 1 of this series, I will cover the steps required to get you there - from finding a conference and submitting an abstract through to applying for travel grants.

Step 1 - Finding a Conference

When one of my supervisors first advised me to start attending conferences, I realised I had no idea where I should be looking. If you are connected with a research institution, such as a university, it can be helpful to ask around and keep an ear out for what other people are applying for. This also means there should be at least one familiar face when you get to the conference, which can make things a lot less daunting as you start to find your feet. You can also consider buddying up with them for travel and accomodation.

It is also a good idea to speak to your supervisor, or anyone else in your research field, about the learned societies they are a part of. Learned societies are organisations which exist to promote an academic discipline or profession, and most of them will run at least one conference. For example, ASAB and ISBE (the International Society for Behavioural Ecology) both support the study of animal behaviour. ASAB is running three conferences in 2026, and ISBE holds an international conference once every two years. Be aware that you will normally need to pay for membership of these societies. Most offer a discounted student membership fee, but be aware that this almost always requires a letter of support, usually from your supervisor, confirming your student status. Once you have membership you will be on the society's mailing list, which is a great way to hear about their conferences, training courses, awards, and other opportunities.

If you can, I would recommend attending a student conference first, as they tend to feel a bit more relaxed and welcoming. ASAB Spring is traditionally a postgraduate and early-career researcher focused conference, whereas the BIAZA Research Conference had a mix of experienced researchers and zoo staff alongside student researchers. I definitely felt more at ease at the ASAB conference, and found it a lot easier to network as most attendees were at a similar stage to myself. As Professor Elva Robinson pointed out during her keynote lecture at ASAB, networking with your peers still counts as networking, because these are the people who will one day go on to take up those senior positions.

Your university/organisation's mailing lists are also a great place to spot any local opportunities. This is where I found out that the University of Plymouth was giving away free tickets worth £1,000 for Anthropy 2026 at the Eden Project - where I got to meet Lizzie Daly and Steve Backshall! Eventbrite can be another place to check for smaller, student-led conferences.

Step 2 - Abstract Submission

There is absolutely nothing wrong with attending a conference where you are not presenting. It is an excellent opportunity to network and hear about all the amazing research that is happening in your field, which can be a lot easier if you aren't spending the whole time subconsciously worrying about your talk/poster. It is also a chance to learn about what makes an outstanding presentation, so you will know exactly what to do when you are ready to present.

With that said, you don't need to have a complete piece of research to submit an abstract. Both times I have presented, I've submitted a 'descriptive abstract', detailing the background and methods for research where I was currently in the process of data collection (I found this article helpful when writing my first descriptive abstract). The key thing is to be careful with your use of tense to make it clear that the work is not yet done, and to be careful if stating what you expect to find so as to not promise a particular result. 

If you are at the start of a PhD or Masters, a conference can be a great place to outline the work you are planning to do, and to get expert feedback to improve your research before you even get started. Your research also doesn't necessarily need to be experimental; it is perfectly valid to present the findings of a meta-analysis or literature review. 

As part of your abstract submission, you'll probably be asked whether you want to present a poster or a talk (with some conferences offering both short and long presentation slots). This in large part comes down to personal preference. I know people who struggle with repeatedly talking people through their research in an intense hour-long poster session; I also know people who find standing up to present to a crowded auditorium full of academics to be a terrifying prospect. If this is going to be your first conference, I would advise choosing whichever medium you will feel most comfortable with. 

You should also consider which medium suits your research best. A poster might be more appropriate if you want to present an overview of what you are planning to do in your PhD, while a talk can be good for telling the story of a completed piece of research. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a poster is the 'easy' option - in my experience, they take a lot longer to produce! Full-length talk slots tend to be the most competitive, so do not be surprised if you get offered a format that is not the one you initially applied for.

I personally find that conferences only cross my radar a few days before abstract submission closes. My advice is to have abstracts ready to go for any current and near-future projects, so that you don't have to try and write one in a last-minute panic. If you are writing one in a last minute panic, please double-check the word count. I made the mistake of editing one of mine down to 150 words, only to realise that I'd misread and that the word count was actually 250!

Step 3 - Travel Grants

Many of the societies that host conferences also offer travel grants to help cover the cost of conference attendance for those with limited funds. Make sure you check the eligibility criteria as there may be different grants available to different groups e.g., students, unwaged postdocs, citizens of low or middle income countries, those in need of childcare, and those with accessibility requirements. Also check whether presenting is a condition of eligibility (and if so, whether this refers only to talks) and whether you need to apply before or after getting a decision on your abstract. 

You will almost certainly need to be a member of the society to apply for the grant, and many require that you have been a member for longer than one-year, or have purchased a multi-year membership. For some travel grants, you need to have already paid the registration fee before you apply, and this registration fee may not be covered by the grant. 

Most grants will ask you to pay for everything up front yourself, which can then be claimed back after the conference; if this is the case, make sure you keep hold of all receipts and save everything as you go, as you will need them to be able to submit your expenses form later on.

Many travel grants require only some basic personal details and a breakdown of the finances you are requesting. Others may need an abstract of your research, and a justification of why it is important for you to attend the conference. They will often also require a letter of support from your supervisor; try to give them as much advanced notice of this as possible!

For both abstracts and grant applications, the common advice is to find people who have been successful in the past and ask if they are willing to share what they submitted. This is fairly easy for abstracts, as most conferences will upload an abstract booklet, which can usually be found with a quick Google search. Grants are a bit harder, but you can try asking around your office, checking whether the society requires past grant winners to write a blog reporting on their experience at the conference, or a little bit of LinkedIn stalking.

Societies are not the only place to look for travel grants. Your university will also often have schemes in place to support its students to attend conferences. If you are being funded for your research, it's also worth checking if your funder will support your attendance. 

Step 4 - Wait to Hear Back

Most conferences will give you a deadline for when you can expect to be informed of the outcome of your abstract and travel grant submissions, but do not worry if you have not heard anything back by this date - conference organising teams are busy people and often volunteers, so it's fairly common for there to be a short delay. 

If you know you will attending the conference regardless of the outcome of your abstract or travel grant, it can be worth booking your travel and accommodation as early as possible, as the more affordable options are likely to sell out quickly as your fellow conference attendees all do the same thing.

Hopefully you get the outcome you were hoping for. If not, try again! We often don't share our 'failures' as researchers (not that I believe getting an abstract or travel grant rejected should be seen as failure) but I promise it happens to all of us pretty regularly, across all career stages. Josh Arbon at the ASAB Conference shared that he likes to go out and celebrate his failures in the same way he would his successes, reframing it to be proud of the effort he put in and the fact that he tried - I suggest that you go ahead and do the same.

When you finally get that success and you're ready to head off for your first conference, I've got you covered with Part 2 of this series (coming soon), where I will be covering getting prepared for the conference, including tips and tricks I learned for making (and transporting!) a poster.