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The Electrochemical Society (ECS) National Meeting in National Harbor was another great learning experience for my academic career. Here, I was given the chance to listen to scientists through a range of disciplines talk about battery, solar, catalysis, and sensor research. The theme of this meeting was #FreeTheScience. ECS is promoting an open access campaign to provide more people with access to scientific research.

Life as a Graduate Student

During this meeting, I learned more about being a graduate student at an academic conference. At this conference, I attended the daily speaker sessions in my field and keynotes. As a graduate student, it’s important to keep up to date with research in your field and create a professional network. For me, this conference was much busier than the last one I attended because I was attending all-day sessions and talks.

How to Prepare for A Conference

Upon reflecting on this conference, I have some additional advice for conference attendees.

Bring a backpack or tote bag. This was something I completely forgot. Since I was in sessions all day, I needed my laptop, a notebook, and space to carry all of the handouts I received. It would have been helpful to have a bag to carry everything in.

Make business cards. While networking, it is important to have business cards to hand out to people when you want to exchange information.

Bring snacks. Some conferences don’t offer a lot of free food, so bring some snacks so you can stay alert between meals.

If you want more advice on conferences, check out my other post on academic conferences!