Why It's Important For You To Present Your Data at Scientific Conferences
by Kelly Dunn
As graduate students, we are often encouraged to present our research findings at regional and national conventions; however, the value of these presentations is not always explicitly clear. Listed below are the top 5 reasons why it is important for you to participate in conferences.
1. Contribute to and learn about the most recent advances in YOUR field
Conference presentations allow you to present your data during many stages of development, (e.g., preliminary findings, recently collected data, or data that is waiting to be published). This will allow you to present your most up-to-date findings and receive feedback from colleagues, which will help you when you ultimately write up your study. Additionally, you have the opportunity to attend numerous exciting talks and poster sessions while at the convention. As these presentations often represent the most cutting-edge research available, they can provide you with valuable information far earlier than if you had waited for the publication.
2. ADVOCATE FOR YOUR SCIENCE
Perhaps one of the most important benefits from conference presentations is the ability to advocate for your science. Representing your field of interest allows researchers in other disciplines, policy-makers, and the public to become aware of the innovative research being generated in your particular subfield. As scientists, it is important that we share our research findings with people outside our specific discipline to increase the visibility of our research and provide interested individuals with more information.
3. Learn how to talk about your data
Conferences provide a way to practice your presentation skills and can help you develop the expertise needed to discuss your research in a clear and meaningful way. Learning how to answer specific questions and present your data to a range of individuals (who may or may not be familiar with your field of research) will help you in other endeavors, including future conference presentations, masters or dissertation defenses, and classroom teaching.
4. Contribute to your overall research profile
When on the job market, graduate students often compete against other students for ideal jobs or post-doctoral positions. A history of conference presentations will show potential employers that you regularly disseminate your research finding to colleagues as well as keep up-to-date on the cutting-edge research of the field. Moreover, many conferences offer travel awards, which if won, can be added to your list of awards and honors. These lines on your vita may be the deciding factor between you and other potential job candidates.
5. Meet other researchers in your field and potential contacts for future positions
The presentations that you give and attend are likely to be frequented by researchers with similar interests, giving you the opportunity to discuss your research and learn valuable information from people working with similar techniques, populations, or statistics. Establishing contacts with other scientists will foster friendships with motivated researchers who can be resources for you at any stage of your career. An additional advantage of meeting researchers with common interests is that you may be able to create contacts for future employment or post-doctoral placements, allowing you to learn of available positions sooner than those who wait for advertisements to be posted. Furthermore, making yourself recognizable to future employers can increase your likelihood of being considered for a position.
Why should you go to all the trouble to present a poster at a conference? Even if your main goal is to listen to the presentations, there are many good reasons to do so.
- Posters offer the opportunity to engage with other conference attendees interested in the same subject and application as yourself. You might strike up a conversation with someone about your poster that may lead to future collaboration or even a job offer! One-on-one conversations about your poster enable you to talk about very specific aspects of your research that may not be possible in a presentation.
- A poster session is a good way to disseminate your work, particularly if your research falls within a narrow field of specialization. It also gives you the opportunity to actively engage with others during the conference in a way that networking alone does not, since by its very nature the poster defines the topic of conversation.
- If your topic does not fit within the conference organiser’s themes for the tracks, a poster is a good way to present research that doesn’t fit into one of the track categories well. That’s not to say your research doesn’t fit the conference or the audience, it just may not be a good fit for the agenda. Certainly posters can offer a strong supplement to the conference agenda, as well as provide you with a means to present your research.
- Another good reason to present a poster is that you can expect to receive compliments on your work and critiques that can help you in the future. An insightful, impartial discussion of your work by a peer can often provide ideas for improving your work downstream.
- Sometimes a poster session is better than an oral presentation due to time constraints in the latter. During a typical oral presentation you will have 10-15 minutes for questions and comments while a poster session typically lasts several hours, allowing for more in-depth discussions. Moreover, not all people will manage to make it to your oral presentation because there will probably be concurrent tracks.
- Poster sessions offer the opportunity to practice your presentation skills. One advantage of presenting a poster is that it enables you to try explaining a concept in different ways, and see which explanation is most well received. At the same time that you’re honing your ability to communicate verbally, you can also hone your ability to present information visually in a simple way.
- A poster session is ideal for the early stages of the research, when you may not have much more than an idea, and you stand to benefit a lot from discussing your idea with other researchers from the same field.
If you’ve conducted ground-breaking research, used “best-in-class” techniques, deployed successful processes, or developed unique procedures in the field of test and evaluation, work that your peers would be interested in learning, presenting at ITEA Workshops is an important part of your professional development, by providing you with an amazing opportunity to learn from your peers, share your experiences, and contribute to advancing the Test and Evaluation profession.
Presenting at ITEA Workshops provides you the chance to:
- Represent your field of interest, allowing researchers in other disciplines, policymakers, and the public to become aware of the innovative work being generated in your particular area of expertise;
- Practice your presentation skills;
- Help you develop the expertise needed to discuss your work in a clear and meaningful way;
- Learn how to answer specific questions and present your work to a range of individuals (who may or may not be familiar with your field of research);
- Contribute to your overall professional profile by showing others that you regularly disseminate your work to colleagues, as well as that you keep up-to-date on cutting-edge and best practices in T&E; and,
- Help you establish contacts that will foster friendships with other motivated T&E professionals who can be resources for you at any stage of your career.
