How to know whether a conference is right for you

After coming to a UK conference, which looked interesting, Carme Arnan Ross, a laboratory manager and research technician, was worried in -Centre for genomic regulation in Barcelona, ​​Spain. The program was organized by a private UK company, which was similar to a reputed university, although he was not concerned. She could not ensure that it was not a ‘hunter conference’ – a one that is usually weak on organization and educational qualifications, instead focuses on profitability. Sometimes, these conferences come with misleading claims to woo researchers to participate.

So Arnan did his research: He verified with the program that the conference was being held there. He contacted some declared speakers and companies who would be present. He also sent e-mails and messages on professional networking platform LinkedIn, who had earlier attended the conference.

The results were mixed. She could not get the program for the previous year’s conference or an online online, which worried her. A previous participant did not recommend paying to present a poster “because the meeting is more intended for networking for scientific discussions”. Another participant “told me that the meeting was good for implemented and translated science rather than basic biology”, Arnan said. Even after talking to many people about the conference, she was still not certain.

Given that scientists have limited time, energy, money and probably carbon budgets to attend international conferences, how can they decide which parts are worth taking? Some experienced conference-goes give some suggestions.

Check scope and focus

Like many researchers, Rose Jowdi wants to optimize her conference journey. And their employer, a non-profit organization in CARYA, Calgary, Canada, which offers carer aids, consulting and other programs to strengthen families and communities, usually does not travel fund conferences.

Jowdi was looking for opportunities to learn about European Gerontology and presented his research on Carrie’s project on misuse of older people in minority ethnic communities. So he planned to attend the conference of the British Society of Zerontology in Newcastle in Newcastle, UK last July. But when a colleague of LinkedIn later told him about a Zerontology Conference in London, which would be only one week after Newcastle One, it seemed like a lucky opportunity to give his point twice.

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The incident was also included in the European Conference on aging and Gerontology, an non-profit organization-one in Nagoya, Japan, run by the International Academic Forum (IAFOR). Nature Reporters investigating various types of academic conferences.

Jowdi already approached the organizer of the conference, and his communications were promising, he thought. This was not until a few days before the incident, when she was reading the presentation abstract to decide which part, she was confused. In a variety of subjects, one who continued to increase children’s education. “I thought, ‘am I watching the right conference timetable?” So that I get caught by the guard. ,

IAFOR’s conference models often include several common conferences that are in one place and overlapping schedules. Non-educational presentations can be given, and IAFOR members get a discount on registration fee. The attendees often find themselves in conducting some of the conference administration: they review each other’s abstraction, help each other interaction and chair in multi-speaker sessions.

At the London conference, there was a combination of subjects including Geminentology, education, language learning and art and humanities – and hosted several hundred people. In the first two days of the conference, several main speeches were given by academics working for IAFOR or who were on the duration -centered conference committees. In the poster sessions of this part, however, zerontology subjects were included. In one case, in exchange for a poster, a researcher printed his research manuscript on the A4 paper and pinned it to a board. Because in these first two days almost nothing was relevant to him, Jowdi did not last long. Finally, she thought, “I love London, and there are many other things that I can do now, searching and just wandering and appreciating the weather. And I thought ‘I am going to do this.”

These first two days after the joint kenote and poster sessions, after two in-day in-day presentations spread a day of ten rooms (with the audience of about 7-25 attendees) and online presentations. Only one of these days, and one of the conference chambers, focused on zerontology. “I came from Canada to think that it was purely zerontology,” Jowdi says. “When you invite hundreds of people from different types of subjects who are not necessarily overlap, I think it’s a bit difficult.”

Jawadi was not only dissatisfied zerontologist in appearance. A medical researcher from India who attended the same conference told Nature In his opinion, it was not a good value for money. (On-site registration is usually cost for those who were not IAFOR members between £ 350 (US $ 453) and £ 450.) This phenomenon may be useful for initial career researchers who want to network, they thought-but for more installed professionals, they did not have enough scientific materials. And a New Zealand doctor also spoke Nature Was angry. He was most upset that he felt that it was not clear during registration that this conference would focus on multiple areas simultaneously, although some communication about the conference was seen by some communication seen by some communication. NatureJournalists of K’s overlap indicated.

However, many attendees of this conference, and others were satisfied by IAFOR. IAFOR sees its -interdisciplinarity as a property, not a barrier. Education -This conference was particularly well represented -but some of them used to talk NatureJournalists felt that the highly general, interdisciplinary model did not serve him well. IAFOR did not respond to requests to comment NatureS -Journalists.

More broadly, there are trade-bands between conferences that are more egalitarian and which are more selective. A major advantage of low elite conferences is more likely to be accepted for a presentation slot – although such a presentation can be given less attendant with low expertise in the region. And if people are speaking about that subject without deep knowledge in a particular field, then it is a worrying sign, David Kay, a legal scholar of Pennsylvania State University at University Park, says David Kay, who runs a blog Flaky academic conferenceThis blog was inspired by them Forensic-science blogWhose readers were interested in discussing the quality of the conference.

Moss uses the word ‘squeak’ because he is reluctant to support or decrypatta magazines or conferences. There are many conference practices, which he calls ‘borderline’, such as listing invited speakers such as they have committed. “Just because a conference is of low quality, it does not mean that practices are hunters,” they note. For high quality conferences, some selectivity that speaks is needed, the argument of the work.

Check the organizer

Olivier Sandre, a researcher at the organic polymer chemistry laboratory in Bordeaux, France, is lucky. He traveled to two or three international conferences every year, it was necessary for his career. But now that he is promoted, he does not feel this pressure and attends almost an international conference every other year.

He is in some conferences that he describes as suspicious. In 2017, he attended a conference on Nanocines, which was poorly organized, they say, and broader sessions (eg ‘energy materials’). But he and his fellow attendees managed to organize themselves, eventually made the conference a fruitful.

Hunter conferences are increasing. Here are five ways to deal with them

Sandre recommends students to be vigilant from unfamiliar conferences, recommending them to install, on which they may be confident about making useful contacts. “When you are small, you need to make your name in your community,” he recognizes. “I think it is part of the job of scientists to present the results of its work.”