Last week I attended the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan to present a paper I worked on about smart maintenance of satellites. This was the first conference I’d ever attended as a PhD student, as well as being the first time I’d ever presented a piece of academic work!

This conference was 5 days long, and attended by over 11,000 space professionals, researchers and students. 120 countries were represented, and attendees had the opportunity to network with others, listen to fascinating talks about space exploration, and learn about current research in the field.

I had an incredible time at the IAC. Walking into the conference centre on the first day, I was like a kid at Disneyland! Throughout the week, there were so many brilliant exhibits to look at, including a spacesuit designed by Prada and Axiom Space, a piece of the asteroid Bennu collected by NASA, and lifesize models of lunar vehicles. I attended talks by the heads of national space agencies, my fellow PhD students, and astronauts from the European Space Agency and tried to absorb as much knowledge as my brain could handle! I also got to meet a range of inspiring people from around the world, working in space law, satellite technologies and planetary geology. There was so much to do and take in!

On the final day of the conference, I presented my research to an audience of people all interested in space technologies. The first presenter in my session was a woman from NASA, and I had a little ‘pinch me’ moment: I can’t believe I get to present alongside NASA! My presentation went really well, and I was really pleased with how the conference had gone overall. I will say though, by the end of the week I was exhausted! Having all of these exciting exhibits and talks to see and hear is brilliant, but having that energy all week ends up taking a lot out of you. (It was 100% worth it though!)

Having never been to a conference before as a PhD student, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it, so I wanted to share some of my top tips for a PhD student attending a conference.

My Top Tips

• Take a Business Card
  Conferences are all about networking with others and building new connections that might help with your research, or allow you to help others. Handing out a business card is a great way to pass on your contact details. If you want a more tech-savvy option, watch my tutorial on programming an RFID tag into a business card! Make sure you follow up with any new connections afterwards by messaging or emailing them.
• Prepare for Your Talk
  If you’re presenting, make sure you are prepared! Session chairs are strict with presentation timings, especially at larger conferences like IAC, and you will get cut off if you go over time! Make sure you practice your talk beforehand and write a script to help you. If you’d like advice on speaking at a conference, you can read my blog post all about it!
• Take Breaks
  Multi-day conferences take a lot of energy. You’ll be doing a lot of learning, socialising and networking, and its easy to get burned out by the time the final day comes around. Use your time wisely: prioritise which sessions you’d most like to attend, and schedule in some rest periods for lunch, and just taking a short bit of downtime to recharge so that you can get the most out of each day.
• Wear Comfortable Shoes
  This might seem silly, but take a pair of trainers with you! During the 5 days of IAC I walked a total of 65km (or 1.5 marathons!). Conference centres are bigger than you think! It’s good to take smart shoes that are appropriate for the dress code, especially when you’re presenting or networking, but for any time where you may just be exploring or attending talks, comfier shoes will be a lifesaver.
• Go With a Group (if you can!)
  One of the things that made my IAC experience so great was having people I know there to explore with me. There was a large cohort of Strathclyde students at this year’s IAC, and we made sure to attend each others talks, take photos of each other presenting, and we often went round exhibits together and had lunch together. If you don’t know anyone attending, before you go see if you can find any groups online where you can chat to people and meet up when you’re there!
• Take Photos of Slides
  You will watch a lot of presentations at a conference. There will be a lot of information to take in, and you can’t be expected to remember it all! Take photos of key slides you find interesting so you can refer back to them later.
• Explore the Host Location
  Take some time, maybe during an evening, lunch break or quieter time, to go and explore where the conference is being held. This is especially important if the conference is abroad and somewhere you may not visit again. One of the benefits of a conference is they give you an opportunity to travel the world, so make the most of it! Book tours in advance, find good places to eat and take in the culture and sights of where you are!