What are my chances of being selected to present?

[Adelaide9216]

Hello! I've applied to present at a conference, this time, in France. It's a five-day conference and they have gotten approximately 400 proposals. What are my chances of being selected in your opinion? Is it assumed that once you apply, it's almost sure that you get selected?

[ltr317]

Your question is too broad.  Do you know the specifics or history of the conference?  Do you know the number of presenters they will select?  In terms of rate, if you know the number then you can calculate the percentage--e.g. 40 presenters out of 400 equals 10 percent.  But knowing the rate doesn't mean you would be one of the 40 chosen. 

[DataCrusader]

Also depends on the submissions process: if you submit a 200 word abstract and a 100 word bio, you can bet that details in the bio (program prestige, prior publications, experience) will factor into the decision.

[Hope.for.the.best]

On 10/18/2017 at 1:42 AM, Adelaide9216 said:

Hello! I've applied to present at a conference, this time, in France. It's a five-day conference and they have gotten approximately 400 proposals. What are my chances of being selected in your opinion? Is it assumed that once you apply, it's almost sure that you get selected?

As others pointed out, it is not an easy question to answer. It really depends on which field you are from, and whether you are after a poster or an oral presentation. Speaking from my field, as long as you submit an abstract that can be easily understood and fits with the conference theme, you will be selected for a poster presentation as a minimum. If your work is outstanding enough, then you will be selected for an oral presentation. Conference organisations earn a great deal from registration fees, so they tend to accept abstracts if possible. 

If you are keen to present or it is a requirement for your program, I would suggest that you have a list of other conferences handy, so you can apply for others if your application is unsuccessful. 

Hope this is of help. 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 9:42 AM, Adelaide9216 said:

Hello! I've applied to present at a conference, this time, in France. It's a five-day conference and they have gotten approximately 400 proposals. What are my chances of being selected in your opinion? Is it assumed that once you apply, it's almost sure that you get selected?

I applied to present at the Hemingway Society's Biennial Conference in Paris next summer, and was accepted. I know there are hundreds presenting at that conference as it lasts 7 days. My attitude about conferences is not to worry what the odds are. If my abstract fits exactly into what their CFP is looking for, I will usually get accepted. If not, then I won't. It's good practice to simply apply. You get better and better at writing abstracts and improving on your bio and it's always a pleasant surprise to get accepted at a prestigious conference that improves my CV. I get to go to Paris (where I have never been) with my university paying for a good portion of the cost. I try to go to at least two conferences a year.

[TakeruK]

As others said, this is a very general question that is very hard to answer. Just to provide some examples from my field:

The big US conference for Astronomy is a 4-day conference with 3000 attendees. However, almost everyone at the grad student level and higher has a very good chance of an oral presentation slot because these presentations are 7 minutes long (10 minute slots when including questions) and there are fifteen(!!) parallel sessions. 

Another big US conference is for Planetary Science and it is a 5 day conference (happening this week actually). There are about 1000 attendees and it is the conference culture to not have very many parallel sessions so that people aren't always bouncing from one room to another. They usually have 3 parallel sessions. Talk lengths are the same, so while the number of people is 1/3 of the first conference, there are 1/5 of the talk slots, making them more competitive. 

These two conferences are run by the national society for each respective field, and one of their policies is that all members have the right to present once a year. Therefore, if you are a member, then you will get a poster presentation if you are not selected for an oral slot. However, they try to encourage as many presenters as possible and most non-members are undergrad students so to encourage junior members to get involved, they will fit in as many posters as they can find space for. (Note: non-members do need to be sponsored by a member in order to attend/present though).

The above are general conferences. We have specialized conferences on a particular topic that are usually been 150-300 people. These are 3-5 days and have only one single talk session (i.e. everyone sees every presentation). The presentation slots are much longer, typically 15-20mins. This leaves room for 30-50 talks per conference, usually. Being selected for an oral presentation is competitive! Often at these conferences, it is professors, postdocs and grad students in their final 2 years that are selected for talks, unless you have some really exciting results. These conferences are often very fun and very productive because I get to meet the small international community that cares about the exact same things as I do. However, one big downside is that the same big names often are selected for talks and some of these big name people give the same material over and over and over again. On one hand, this is because they have contributed key developments that everyone in the field must know about. But on the other hand, many of the attendees overlap and the fame/prestige doesn't mean much to these already big names. Lots of more junior people have good ideas too and it will be harder for them to share their results. 

So, one strategy to evaluate your chances of being accepted for a presentation is to look at how many attendees and how many talk slots. Then, look at the themes of the conference. If you are applying to a specific topic conference and you're a little on the outside of the field, then it will be harder to get a talk. Getting a talk selected is certainly a great accomplishment worthy of celebration (I save all of my emails notifying me of this in a folder of successes to encourage me when I feel down). However, it's not just merit-based if you don't get a talk. There are many factors outside of your control. The organizers may have specific themes in mind that aren't well communicated. Or, there just happens to be a few other people submitting the similar topics and they want to have diverse topics, so even if your work is "better" than another person in a different subfield, their talk might be selected for diversity of topic. 

As other said though, it is certainly a good idea to consider many different conferences and if you are limited in which ones you can attend, it's okay to prioritize the ones that select you for a presentation!

[Adelaide9216]

I was selected to go present my master's thesis topic in France in August 2018!!!! 

[TakeruK]

Congrats!!

[cowgirlsdontcry]

55 minutes ago, Adelaide9216 said:

I was selected to go present my master's thesis topic in France in August 2018!!!! 

You go Girl!