Hello all,

I have two weeks to submit an engineering abstract for a conference in March 2011 and my supervisor has not put any pressure for me to submit at this occasion, but feel it would be good for me to do this if I can. It is my first conference submission, to be honest I don't really have any interesting work or results at the moment, but can put together an interesting abstract I guess?

Anyone have an experience/advice on this?

Thanks

What a fab idea, and without the push of your sup too.  well done. Go for it. 

The abstract is an initial offer for sale, it'll be picked up if it shows you can write something that can grab attention.    Now, whether what you actually submit in the paper is exactly the same as offered in the abstract is another story. It's all part of the reflexivity of emergent themes - if you could foresee the outcome what's the point of doing the research ;-) 

so, with that in mind, many abstracts are way off the final paper... but it is expected and in some way respected.  You will add a new abstract at the top of your final paper and way to go.

Well done again, hope you enjoy and your sup appreciates your efforts.

Best.  Chuff

Hi - I found myself in the same situation with my own first conference and abstract - I knew I wanted to do it but did not feel at the time that I had results in place.

My sup helped me to put the whole thing in context by telling me that there are actually three conference papers. The one you say your going to present (i.e. the one you sell to the organisers in your abstract); the one you should present (i.e. the conference paper itself); and the one you actually present (i.e. whatever you decide - or at least the bits you remember - in the presentation and your 15 mins of fame).

This proved true for me, the abstract which I intentionally made very broad as results weren't yet in, differed greatly from what I actually presented which was much more focused - but the experience throughout was invaluable! In addition, having done some great networking and learnt more about what others were doing in my field - I also realised that conferences are about more than just 'standing up and presenting'.


Hope it all works out for you - but in terms of advice 'go for the interesting abstract' as you suggest but trust that the interesting paper and presentation will follow(up)