“I am at a conference in Milan.”
It sounds fancy to tell people that you are travelling abroad for work. And I believe that it is a privilege to be able to visit new places and meet interesting people from all over the world. But is it really working time, or rather holidays?
The purpose of a conference is to bring people from related research areas together to discuss a specific topic. In addition, conferences help to create a bridge between research and the clinic. And I think it is very effective: the casual, friendly atmosphere at most conferences makes it easy to build personal connections with other researchers and even to meet those well-known professors whose papers you have been reading over and over again. The personal bonds made in this easygoing environment are incredibly helpful to start collaborations, which are key to share different expertises and move the field forward.
Conferences come in different shapes and sizes. Some are small (+-150 attendants) and located on a university campus in the middle of nowhere, so there is no “escaping” to the outside world and participants are indulged in science.
Other conferences are big (10 000 attendants or more) and take place in exciting locations, to attract more people. Conferences like this can be really overwhelming: There are parallel sessions, all day long, and it is harder to network inbetween the seminars since everyone follows their own schedule of interest. However, the good thing is that you can make new connections while going out to explore the city in the evenings.
Last week I attended one of those big conferences, called EASL Congress. It is buzzing and chaotic, non-stop science talk, discussing career options, and a constant feeling of FOMO to miss a good talk because there is always two interesting sessions scheduled simultaneously. Still, for me personally, conferences provide a massive inspirational boost and drive me to keep pushing my research project. The intense social time can be exhausting, but most of all, it is refreshing to meet so many passionate people. To be able to share a nice dinner with old colleagues in the evening makes it into an even bigger success.
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