going-to-conferences.md

Submitting and going to conferences

Related documents: Giving talks

Most of this goes for undergraduates and graduate students alike. The "spend authorization" part is only for graduate students.

What's the point, anyway?

Often, in our field, conferences are not a major way to establish impact in a field (as opposed to machine learning, for example); there are some exceptions (SC papers are one). Instead, conferences are a way to learn and talk with colleagues about research. For newer students, it is a way to see how the research community operates as well! If you and I both go, I will try to introduce you to people relevant to your work. If you go alone, I can give you some folks to "hunt down" while you are there, as they might be familiar with our work.

Am I going?!

You may be the lead author on a conference abstract or "short paper" but not attend the conference. Sometimes, you will attend the conference, but I will not. Other times, we will all go. Which of these occurs depends on several factors, including the research sponsor's expectations, the number of other abstracts the group submitted to that conference, its location, available funding, and whether I (Spencer) was formally invited to give the talk. Some of these factors will be quite opaque to you, though I encourage you to ask me much ahead of time what conferences I anticipate you attending. I try to convey these things as quickly as possible, especially if you are going (so I can make sure you register and book flights in time). But, sometimes, I get quite busy, and things fall through the cracks. If you do not know what's going on, I encourage you to ask me!

Can I go to observe? (without a paper or abstract)

Sometimes, students go to conferences to "observe." They do not have a talk to give or an abstract or poster to present. This can be a nice learning experience, and I would love to send all students to all conferences (more or less). However, this can be extremely expensive (more than you might realize). This can also hinder my ability to later send you to more conferences where you will have papers to present. As a result, I do not support "observation" conference attendance with my own research funds, though sometimes you can win a conference attendance grant (these are conference-specific, and PURA Travel is not sufficient for undergraduate researchers).

Registration, flights, and hotels

I cover all of your conference costs via grant funds. As such, you will not incur any personal costs for attending a conference, including registration, flight, hotel, and meals. If you want to spend money on something else while you are in the conference area, do go for it, though this will be your own expense.

• Always get early bird registration. There is no sense in paying extra money for registration, which already has a high fee. We know we are attending conferences many months in advance, so there is little excuse not to get the early bird rate. Of course, there are exceptions, and sometimes we decide to attend a conference at the last moment.

• Hotels: For conferences multiple students attend (APS DFD is a typical example), pair up in a two-bed hotel room with someone else. Hotels are getting quite expensive, so this saves a surprising amount of money. If you are uncomfortable rooming with other folks, please let me know. The conference will often offer a special rate for hotels nearby. Sometimes, this is a very good rate, and you should take advantage of it (it will expire once the full hotel block is taken, so be quick). Other times, the hotel rate is similar, and you can book any reasonable hotel near the conference venue.

• Flights: Book your flights reasonably early-at least one month ahead.

• Per diem: You will be reimbursed for your meals via the per diem rate for the conference location.

Spend authorization

If you are a graduate student employee (on a GRA: Graduate Research Assistantship), you need a spend authorization to be approved by Georgia Tech before going to a conference. To file a spend authorization, go to Workday, log in with your GT credentials, and type Create Spend Authorization in the search bar at the top of the page. This should take you to a web form to fill out.

An example of how to fill this out

• Start Date: A day before you leave for the conference
• End Date: The day after you return from the conference
• Description: Travel to attend and give a talk at X conference
• Business Purpose: Conference/seminar (should autofill)

Click Add under Spend Authorization Lines

• Expense item: Miscellaneous - Domestic or Miscellaneous - International (depending on if international or not)
• Total amount: about 20% more than your actual planned expenses
• Grant: I will give you a number to copy-paste into here, then link 'Enter,' and it should auto-populate most other fields.

That's it! Ask your colleagues if you have questions, and ask me if they don't know the answer.

Actually going to the conference

Once you have identified the conference you want to attend, the next steps are:

1. Write a conference abstract following the group docs writing guidelines. If the submission portal asks you to choose between a poster and an oral presentation, discuss this choice with your advisor.

2. The abstract submission deadline is usually months before the conference itself. Use this time to work on the research and write your paper. Start early, and remember that your presentations are due to me weeks before the start of the event. Spencer is rather busy and does not have time to help you with your slides in the days just before the conference.

3. Prepare a nice visual slideshow/poster that keeps your audience engaged and interested in your work. Your goal is to make everyone read your papers and consider using your methods. Practice your presentation multiple times; I recommend at least 10 practice talks with yourself. Don't wait until the last minute to do this: The conference is a time for listening to other people's presentations and making connections, not for practicing your presentation or doing homework.

4. Before you go to the conference, check the session schedule and decide which ones you want to attend. Look for interesting papers and authors. Look for networking events and learn as much as possible from your colleagues. Be proactive (and don't forget to have fun).

5. You will be assigned a presentation time and location. Get familiar with the conference venue and, on the day of the presentation, attend your session early on, load your slides into the computer (if required), and check that everything works as it should (in particular, videos). There is no reason to be nervous. You know more about your work than anyone else in the room. The worst-case scenario is admitting that you don't know the answer to a difficult question, which is perfectly acceptable. Enjoy the moment, and try to gather feedback from as many people as possible. Use this opportunity to build your network!