How to Find Academic Conferences

This article is intended to spread awareness among young researchers, students, scholars and academicians, the different ways of discovering academic conferences to attend relevant to their specific field of study. It is a well-known fact that it is immensely important for young students and researchers looking to achieve success in their work and career, to go to international conferences in order spread awareness about their research and also to connect with peers. But the question as to what the best methods to find an academic conference are still remains unanswered to a large extent. There are usually two kinds of conferences. The first category includes all conferences that are organized by the same group of conference organizers and held each year, perhaps in a different place or with a slightly different theme from preceding years. The other type of conference is a unique and isolated event. One is likely to use the same sources of information to learn about both sorts of conferences, but they are without a doubt more likely to know when an annual conference will be held each year. This can be done by registering to become a part of the mailing lists of popular conference organizers.

Explained in detail below are the various ways in which one can get to know about academic conferences that have been scheduled and ready to take place.

●     Conference Announcements

There are usually two types of conference advertising. The first is a call for paper submissions - inviting interested parties to submit proposals for their research papers. This is done anywhere from a year to a few months before the conference, depending upon the nature of the conference. Then, when the list of speakers has been finalized, another series of advertisements inviting delegates to register is circulated. These advertisements typically offer information on the conference itself, accommodation, travel arrangements, etc.

●     Word Of Mouth (Spread Of Info By Colleagues and Acquaintances)

As in many academic fields, one’s personal contacts (colleagues, thesis supervisors, and other academic authorities) are one of the best sources of information on either conference that they organize themselves or are relevant to your field. It is important to keep in touch with your colleagues and close associated with order to find out about academic conferences and also reciprocate by doing the same for them, in case you get to know about a conference yourself!

●     Academic Departments

Anyone who is employed at a university department is likely to have access to information on upcoming conferences that are scheduled to take place. Many conference organizers advertise their events by contacting university department heads or their administrators. Most academic departments maintain their own bulletin boards or noticeboards where these ads are posted and can be read by department members. Staff members of certain departments also sometimes use (if the university regulations permit) the doors and walls of their offices to announce upcoming conferences that are of interest to their students and other department members. So, it is vital to take time to look at all the department notice boards or even pay a visit to the corresponding department of your university, to acquire up-to-date and accurate details about upcoming academic conferences in your field.

●     Conference Alerts Websites

There are a number of websites these days that have e-mail lists that you can sign up for that will send you messages about conferences that you are interested in. But, it can be pretty difficult to find a conference alerts website that offers accurate, reliable and up-to-date information! International Conference Alerts is well-known and widely recognized across the world, in places like Germany, Italy, the United States Of America, Canada, Dubai, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and more, as a trusted conference alerts website. At internationalconferencealerts.com, one can find detailed lists of all the conferences that are scheduled to take place in their field of interest. One can choose to subscribe to conference alerts via email that are absolutely free of cost, as per their preferred location as well as preferred field/fields of interest. There is also the provision for conference organizers to post information about their upcoming events, to our existing list of conferences.

●     Registering With Known Conference Organizers

Most conference organizers maintain electronic mailing lists that help in keeping their members informed of upcoming events that are scheduled to take place in their field. They often send newsletters at regular intervals or simply send emails as and when new information arrives.

●     Regularly Perusing Through Popular Journals and Publications

This is perhaps one of the best ways to find out about conferences because if there are ads in a magazine that one subscribes to or is interested in, then they are more likely to be interested in conferences that advertised within. However, it is crucial to check out only the latest issues because journals can take a long time to reach libraries and their subscribers. This means that more often than not, by the time the journal reaches its subscribers, not much time is likely to be left to respond to a conference advertisement. For those who peruse through such journals in a library, the latest issues are often kept elsewhere on a separate shelf, so it is important to ask the librarian if you cannot find them.

Now that you are aware of the numerous ways to find out about upcoming conferences in your field of interest, near your location, you must know about how to spot a good academic conference that is worth attending. Listed below are the details that one needs to pay attention to, in order to decide upon good international conferences to attend.

●     Location

Much like in real estate, the venue of an academic conference may carry more weight than the content that is likely to be presented at the event. A place with too many local attractions could indicate low content, as organizers rely on tourist distractions to compensate for the low quality of the content and speakers at the event.

●     Shorter Conferences Are More Effective

Academic conferences, in particular, face the challenge of having so many potential presenters that the event can last several days. International conferences generally tend to be longer in order to justify the extended travel time that most participants endure. In such cases, the content can be easily managed via parallel tracks with the availability of presentation materials for missed sessions after the conference. However, when it comes to academic conferences, those with shorter and more concentrated sessions should be sought after!

●     Effective Use Of Technology

With parallel runs, delegates most often find that it is impossible to attend each and every session. A decent academic conference makes effective use of modern technology to facilitate high-quality presentations as well as the availability of articles, PowerPoint presentations, and more, after the end of the conference.

● Look For Conferences That Present More Opportunities For Networking Than Cramming Unnecessary Content

Most delegates at academic conferences are there to meet people and exchange ideas, not to be crammed with a bevy of unnecessary and mundane presentations. Every good academic conference offers participants numerous opportunities for networking. Even in this digital age, productive collaboration can still depend on face-to-face interaction.

●     Keep Your Ultimate Goal In Mind

The best academic conferences never lose sight of the fact that everything is about the delegates. If you have clear goals to reach and have requested budget approval in order to attend an academic conference that you are interested in attending, it is important not to compromise when it comes to -

1.    Keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in your field/fields of interest,

2.    Networking with like-minded peers who share the same passion as you do,

3.    Finding potential research collaborators who are involved in similar research work as yours,

4.    Acquiring potential financial partners with vested interested in your work.

It is important to remember that if you cannot find an academic conference that meets every one of the needs mentioned above, then it is best that you consider waiting for the next year. Wasting precious money and time on conferences that will contribute very little to the furtherance of your career and your research work, by failing to pay attention to details can prove to be detrimental to the career of a young researcher, scholar, and student.