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Schemes for Engineers in Research and Development
International Travel Grants: Reporting on your first major conference - a checklist
Introduction
The Royal Academy of
Engineering has provided assistance with
your travel expenses for which it is
accountable. In return, it requires that you
submit a report on the conference when you
return. This is circulated and assessed by
the referees who approved your grant in the
first place.
To help you with this
task, we have compiled this checklist which
we recommend you read before going on your
trip – it contains the fruits of much
experience.
When writing your report
The following hints on
content may be helpful, but they are not
intended to be prescriptive:
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What was the scope and
purpose of the conference? In your own words
– try to avoid transcribing the publicity
material en bloc.
-
Why was it
useful/important for you to attend? You may
have said all this in your application;
nevertheless, a concise statement covering
these first two points should be included as
a reminder and for the sake of completeness.
-
Describe your plan to
make the most of the conference at the
outset. International conferences are large
and sometimes diffuse. Targeting the
sessions and the individuals likely to be of
most interest beforehand is a good idea but
don’t be dismayed if your plan has to change
when you arrive.
-
How did you cope with
the problem of parallel sessions that
inevitably bedevil most such meetings?
-
If you are making a
contribution orally or by poster, how was it
received? Was it well attended? Were there
any other contributions on the same theme?
How much interest was aroused and what was
the main thrust of the questions/comments it
provoked?
-
If you are a user of
experimental techniques rather than an
innovator in that field, what potentially
useful advances did you spot in those
sessions devoted to experimental methods?
-
Conversely, if you are
involved in technique development, what
trends or changes in user interests were
there that could impact on your work?
-
What contacts were
added to your international network that
could lead to future collaboration or an
exchange of visits?
-
What opportunities did
you take to talk to leaders in the field?
You will have set out
with a fair idea of the areas of uncertainty
in your field – things you knew you didn’t
know. Keep alert for what are often just as
significant – the things you didn’t know you
didn’t know! Often, apparently casual
observations by others can assume great
significance when put together with
something you know and they don’t. They can
provide unlooked-for insights and may hold
lessons for those other than you. Any such
unexpected benefits are the real pay-off for
attending such conferences and should be
highlighted in your report.
It is always valuable
to stand back at the end of the conference
and review what you have observed. You
should identify the contributions that made
the most impact, sift out the emerging
trends, try to predict the way in which the
field will develop and identify what are
likely to be the hot topics in three years’
time. Your views on this broader scene are
likely to be of interest to your colleagues
and certainly to any industrial contacts or
sponsors you may have. The latter will be
particularly interested in any contributions
their competitors may have made at the
conference.
Finally, have you
returned with any new or different
perspective on your own work? What useful
lessons have you learned? What will be
different in the way you approach your next
major international conference? Not all
international conferences are worthwhile. If
you think this one wasn’t, don’t hesitate to
say so!
In conclusion
Remember to keep your
report professional. Comments on the quality
of the conference organisation are
legitimate but try and resist the temptation
to wax lyrical and at length on the cuisine
at the conference dinner, the service at the
hotel, the leisure facilities provided and
the splendour of the scenery. Such issues
often contribute greatly to the enjoyment
and memorability of the occasion, but are
not the reasons it was decided to award you
a travel grant.
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