Tips on Attending Conferences

These are our suggestions for funding, arranging travel, and what to do at the conference. Also, this is a list of our Conference Highlights.

But first... Why go? You are going to this conference to do some of the following things:

a) present your work to the community

b) find out what research is going on the the community

c) meet the people in the community, so that when you apply for jobs with these people they actually know who you are ahead of time

For more reasons to go, visit either this article about what is a conference, why go, and how to get the most out of it or The Young Mathematicians Network JMM Page.

Funding Sources

• The Conference Itself
  
  Typically the organizer(s) will mention that they have funding for grad students, postdocs, etc. You should go for this as soon as you know you are going, since it puts no strain on departmental resources.

• Your Advisor
  
  Some professors have money earmarked specifically for travel and graduate student conferences so you should always try to help them spend it. Also, you need to be open and up front with your advisor about your interest in attending conferences. This ensures that they now that you are interested in going and they will help you get there.
• Departmental Travel Awards
  
  Application: find the application form at http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/grad/forms
• VIGRE Travel Awards
  
  Application: find the application form at http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/grad/forms
• GSA Travel Awards
  
  Application: Application period is twice a year. Once in January (for travel between July of previous year and June of current year) and once in June (for all travel during current year).
  
  40-50 available for entire grad student population. Very competitive.

  Application available at https://gsa.ucdavis.edu/funding/travel-awards/

• Graduate Studies Awards
  
  Application available at http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/forms/

• Consortium for Women in Research Travel Awards
  
  More info and application: http://cwr.ucdavis.edu/awards.htm

• Association for Women in Mathematics Workshops
  
  More info and application: http://awm-math.org/workshops.html

Arranging Travel

Most conferences have some information about travel (usually under something like "local information"). This can be helpful for figuring out which airport to fly to, and transport options from the airport to the conference site. You can book your flights directly through AggieExpense. This is a good option because flights are sometimes cheaper than the airline advertises, and you often get bumped up in boarding order (which is great if you're traveling without a checked bag and really need to make sure you get on early enough that your carry-on fits in the overhead storage space). Another advantage to doing this is that it makes reimbursements from Davis easier, since you already have all the receipts in the system. The only thing to make sure of if you do book travel through AggieExpense is that you find someone to cover your discussions/office hours/calc room; the university can see that you're traveling and it is possible they ask you about your missed duties.

Aside: you can also use AggieExpense to book flights for personal travel (but definitely don't do this if you are a first year trying to establish residency and are traveling for long periods of time or over the summer).

Tips for the Conference : what to do once you get there

• Tips on Networking (TBA)
  • Striking up a conversation
  • Lunch/Dinner
  • Taboo topics
  • Why "What you do in Vegas, stays in Vegas" does not apply
• Job Hunting Tips (TBA)

• Presentation Tips (TBA)
  • Abstract Submission: Ask your advisor to look over your abstract before you submit it.
  • Poster Sessions:
  • Oral Presentations: As soon as your talk is scheduled or confirmed by the organizers, respond by thanking them for the opportunity to share your research and ask about what is available in the room! In particular, if you plan to do a chalk talk ask about how many blackboards/whiteboards there will be, and of what type (a single smallish blackboard is much different than two panels of sliding blackboards, and so you will have to prepare a different kind of talk!). If you plan to do a slide talk then confirm what kind of setup they will have (should you bring just a usb, email your slides to the organizer, bring your computer with a specific adapter, etc). Also, confirm the amount of time you have for talking and for questions (a 30 minute talk with built in extra 15 minutes for questions before the next talk is different length than a 30 minute window that includes question time, and sometimes both are advertised as a "30 minute talk"). Once you know what kind of talk you can give, practice practice practice! You should plan on giving a practice talk to some kind of audience at least once. (This audience could be just your advisor, it could be the Student Run Research Seminar, or it could be a couple friends in the grad program). Practice will help you iron out the stumbling blocks and give a better talk at the conference when you have potential future collaborators or hiring committee members watching!

Conferences Highlights

If you are a graduate students who have been to various conferences sponsored by various organizations, then we invite you submit a paragraph about that conference and the highlights for the location.