Begin: Mon, 09. of Jul 2012 ( 9:00 AM)
Location: University of Warwick
UPB student Kathlen Kohn attended at this year’s ICALP promoted by the gender equality policies of the SFB 901
Even though I’m just in the sixth semester and haven’t even started to write my Bachelor’s Thesis, attending the conference was well worth my time. The benefits were on many different levels. First, I had the opportunity to get a taste of the atmosphere at such a large conference: For me, this included learning things like “How tight is the schedule? What do you do during the breaks? How is the mood among the participants? How technical are the presentations?”
One might be concerned that an undergraduate student is capable of understanding all of these things. But I can put these concerns to rest. Those in the audience who were not experts in the field of the topic being presented often did not understand all of the fine details either; no matter what their age and general experience. What’s more important is to understand the basic motivation and fundamental idea behind the presented results. Besides, any student who has already taken an advanced course on the presented topic or read a paper or book on it can follow the presentation just as well. And if you find a presentation particularly interesting, there’s always the possibility to read the corresponding paper afterward in order to fully understand the details.
Many of the clever ideas that were presented were very exciting, and I found it fascinating to see what problems theoretical computer scientists are researching right now. Open questions were introduced at the end of each presentation, so the sheer wealth of interesting presentations definitely gave me enough ideas for topics in my own future papers and research.
Besides all of the presentations, another advantage was getting to know some of the other conference participants. At such a large conference like ICALP, PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers and professors come together and, among these, some very famous and significant scientists. There is always an opportunity to start up a conversation with one of these pioneering scientists. For me, the greatest surprise was eating breakfast with Christos Papadimitriou at the hotel on the very first morning of the conference.
Because the conference participants came from so many different backgrounds and academic positions, all of the discussions were very interesting. And from all these different angles I got plenty of advice for my own career. I even exchanged contact data with some of the participants. This can be quite useful: Now I can ask for advice any time on decisive questions and make new contacts easier. Moreover, it’s highly likely that I will see many of these participants again if I stay in scientific research.
In addition to all of the points I mentioned, the activities accompanying the conference were also quite nice. For example, we visited Bletchley Park, a sight well worth seeing, and were given a guided tour there. And the conference dinner was held in the wonderfully beautiful Stoneleigh Abbey.
All in all, I got to know very many interesting people and exciting topics. The conference helped me continue discovering which topics interest me the most, helped me make new contacts, and strengthened my conviction that scientific research is a good place for my professional future.
Kathlen Kohn
