Like my colleagues I attend one or more conferences each year. Of these, I have a certain fondness for the eponymous 'research conferences'; ESF and Gordon being two good examples. Fewer participants (about 100-150), absence of parallel sessions and total confidentiality are what make these meetings special, somewhere between a 'school' and a conference. That they are held during peak summer at some of the most beautiful locations (such as, an old Oxford college with its summer bloom or a Spanish seaside resort) of course, helps!
The week-long conferences typically start with welcome drinks and dinner on a Sunday evening. All participants live at the venue and have meals together. Fewer participants, a residential arrangement and enough free time lead to lots of informal interactions. At the last meeting, I met a potential collaborator, got introduced to a new research area and received plenty of good advice from academics on making it into academia. All of this happened over coffee and drinks.
Compared to other conferences talks are few and given by invited experts. An invitation to speak at one of these conferences is quite prestigious. Each talk is followed by long (15-30 minutes) discussions and students get priority over senior academics when it comes to asking questions. The rest of the presentations (about 100 or so by group leaders, postdocs and students) are in the form of posters. I find this arrangement a good way to learn about new areas and meet people.
These two conferences function on a confidentiality agreement, which means no proceedings will result and no citations may be made of any of the presentations. The presentations themselves do not count as 'disclosure' before a future patent application. The idea is to encourage people to share new results freely.
While there are talks in the morning and after dinner, afternoons are kept free for hikes, bike-rides, excursions into nearby towns or simply lazing around the beach! I remember trying my hand at punting during such a meeting at Oxford. Talks resume after dinner, followed by poster sessions. Discussions are carried on well past midnight, usually with an open bar to go with it.
In my opinion, the informal environment of these conferences also acts as a social equalizer, even though quite a lot depends on the personality of the conference coordinator. Future coordinators are elected from the participants. Postdocs can also be coordinators of ESF conferences, while current participants of a Gordon conferences can decide by a secret ballot whether to continue that particular conference or not.
The week-long conferences typically start with welcome drinks and dinner on a Sunday evening. All participants live at the venue and have meals together. Fewer participants, a residential arrangement and enough free time lead to lots of informal interactions. At the last meeting, I met a potential collaborator, got introduced to a new research area and received plenty of good advice from academics on making it into academia. All of this happened over coffee and drinks.
Compared to other conferences talks are few and given by invited experts. An invitation to speak at one of these conferences is quite prestigious. Each talk is followed by long (15-30 minutes) discussions and students get priority over senior academics when it comes to asking questions. The rest of the presentations (about 100 or so by group leaders, postdocs and students) are in the form of posters. I find this arrangement a good way to learn about new areas and meet people.
These two conferences function on a confidentiality agreement, which means no proceedings will result and no citations may be made of any of the presentations. The presentations themselves do not count as 'disclosure' before a future patent application. The idea is to encourage people to share new results freely.
While there are talks in the morning and after dinner, afternoons are kept free for hikes, bike-rides, excursions into nearby towns or simply lazing around the beach! I remember trying my hand at punting during such a meeting at Oxford. Talks resume after dinner, followed by poster sessions. Discussions are carried on well past midnight, usually with an open bar to go with it.
In my opinion, the informal environment of these conferences also acts as a social equalizer, even though quite a lot depends on the personality of the conference coordinator. Future coordinators are elected from the participants. Postdocs can also be coordinators of ESF conferences, while current participants of a Gordon conferences can decide by a secret ballot whether to continue that particular conference or not.
