Postgraduate conferences: What to expect and why you should give them a go

Here in the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (CERIC), we’re busy preparing for our annual Doctoral Conference, taking place on Friday 15 May 2026.

This year’s organisers – Laura Rosa Berro Yoldi, Yuqi Ji and Yunus Emre Öztaş – are putting together a great call for papers; our keynote speaker is preparing his speech; rooms are booked; and catering is being organised.

The CERIC Doctoral Conference is a long-standing feature of our academic calendar, with the one-day event usually taking place in May. It brings together postgraduate researchers (PGRs) from across the discipline and provides them with the space to present their work to their peers and leading experts in their fields. If you’re new to being a PGR or new to academic conferences, you might find the answers to these questions useful:

I am only in my first year, and have not even had my transfer yet, so is it worth me submitting a proposal, or even just attending?

Absolutely. No matter what stage you are at, conferences add value to your time as a PGR. They provide networking opportunities, or to put it another way – you get to meet lots of people, perhaps some of those people you’ll end up working with in the future. You might meet someone who works with you at a later stage, or you might just meet genuinely lovely people. It’s good to mix up your routine sometimes.

If your work is at an early stage, then you’re in a great position to get early feedback on it. You also might find inspiration strikes. CERIC Project Officer, Dr Hilary Potter, recounts how attending a conference sparked her thinking:

I was writing a journal article at the time, but I felt it was lacking, that my argument wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t looking for a breakthrough at the conference, I was just genuinely interested in the topic. As I sat listening something the presenter said made things click in my mind, and quite unexpectedly, that missing piece of the jigsaw fell into place. I furiously scribbled down my thoughts. I have to confess I didn’t really hear the rest of what was said, I was in my own zone, but I’ve never forgotten how valuable that conference was for my work.

I’m really nervous already - presenting feels like such a huge thing to do!

Nerves are normal, and they’re healthy. It shows you care about what you’re doing. Flip things around - imagine if you weren’t nervous at all. Do you think your work would be as good? Almost everyone feels nervous, so, you’re not alone. That feeling you get after presenting- the positive encouragement, and the interest in your work, and in you, makes the nerves beforehand worth it.

Remember, too, you’re in a supportive environment. Everyone is there to be encouraging, helpful and kind. Doctoral conferences are nurturing by design. If nerves kick in as you’re about to present, remember there are some practical things you can do:

• Take a few deep breaths - this will help ground you and calm you
• If you feel like you’re talking too fast, pause, take a sip of water. This will slow you down and give your listeners thinking time – it’s a win-win.
• If, during the Q&A, you get a question you don’t feel you can answer, be honest – remember this is about developing your work, so not knowing can lead to learning
• If, during the Q&A, someone asks you a long question that’s hard to follow, your first response can be to check you’ve understood them – you can, for example, phrase it something like this: If I have understood your question correctly, you are asking… This gives you thinking time rather than having to answer immediately. If you forget part of the question, ask them to repeat the question.  

PGR and Conference co-organiser Yunus Emre Oztas talks about his experiences:

I’ve received really encouraging feedback at every conference I’ve attended so far. One of these was the CERIC PGR Conference, which I joined for the first time last year. I hadn’t started my fieldwork yet, and presented my literature review and theoretical framework, and the discussion was incredibly helpful. I’m really looking forward to returning this year to share insights from my ongoing fieldwork in this friendly and supportive environment.

I’m presenting in another language - what if I make mistakes?

You’re presenting in another language – wow, that’s awesome. You have additional skills. That is something to be celebrated. If you make mistakes, it’s not a problem – remember it’s not a language proficiency test. Your audience will be able to follow your argument, and it’s your argument they’ll be thinking about, not verb conjugation, tenses or prepositions. If your listeners are monolingual, they’ll likely be in awe of your abilities. Also, we all make mistakes even in our first language, sometimes through tiredness, sometimes through learned errors. The trick is to just keep communicating.

If all of this has yet to convince you, this is what Gabriella Alberti, Professor of International Labour Migration, and PGR Co-Director in CERIC says by way of encouragement:

This is a great opportunity to receive feedback on your work in progress from both fellow PhD students from all around the country and internationally, as well as senior academics from CERIC. Whatever stage your research is at, you are welcome to present. You will benefit from an intellectually challenging but friendly and supportive environment, and a great space for networking!

Details of the call for papers and how to submit an abstract can be found on our website. The deadline for submissions is Friday 10 April 2026.