Rosanna Maletta, Psychology, University of Liverpool (2021 Cohort)

As I began the second year of my NWSSDTP funded PhD at the University of Liverpool, I started to think about attending conferences to disseminate my initial findings. My PhD focuses on discrimination, disadvantage, and mental health in the UK, and it makes use of secondary datasets. When looking into which conference to attend, I thought it would be valuable to attend one linked to a dataset I use. So, earlier this year I sent an abstract to the Understanding Society conference, which provides an opportunity to share work using this dataset. I was happy to find out I was accepted to give an oral presentation. After registering for the conference, and booking my travel and accommodation, I began to think about what I should expect from my first conference experience. I spoke to other PhD students and academics about their experiences. Their positive stories reduced some of my nerves about presenting my research. However, unlike many of my colleagues’ experiences, I was travelling to this conference independently and I did not know anyone else who was attending. This made me apprehensive, as I knew I would have to go out of my comfort zone to meet others.

On Monday 10^th July I completed the 4+ hour journey to the University of Essex’s Colchester campus, where the conference was based. I settled into my on-campus accommodation that evening, getting prepared for the upcoming days. I was selected to speak on the first morning of the conference. This was a relief as I knew I would relax more after my presentation was complete. After listening to a keynote speaker early on Tuesday morning, I went to the lecture theatre to present my work. I was speaking in a parallel session about ‘Discrimination’. Before my talk I heard about other interesting projects being completed in my research area. After practicing my presentation repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the conference, including at a departmental lab meeting, I felt prepared. My talk was based upon the first published research from my PhD (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115094), which looks at social inequalities in perceived discrimination and mental health in UK adults during 2019/2020. I hoped to highlight one of our key findings, that perceived discrimination in part explained some social inequalities in mental health. I presented this research to the room of attendees, receiving encouraging smiles and nods throughout. I successfully kept to the time limit, something that I was initially concerned about. Although I was nervous about the Q&A element, I followed the advice of my colleagues to take time to think about my answers before responding. I received a few comments and some unexpected questions, but I was able to address all of these with confidence.  

After the session I networked with academics in my field and it was great to hear more about their research plans. This was something that I was apprehensive about initially, but I really enjoyed the opportunities to meet other colleagues. There was a wide variety of individuals who attended the conference both from academic and non-academic backgrounds, local and international institutions, and from within and outside my research field, which really allowed for interesting discussions. I received positive comments and feedback on my own research, and was able to learn more about other research areas using the dataset. The conference also arranged evening networking opportunities including a free reception dinner and BBQ for our two evenings there. While some stormy weather slightly disrupted the BBQ, these evening events were my highlight as it encouraged conversations with colleagues in a more relaxed environment (while eating some great food).

Over the remaining days I was able to attend more sessions, learning about the research being completed within and outside my field using this dataset. This included some really relevant talks on COVID-19 and mental health, which I intend to read more about.

Reflecting on my first conference it was a really positive experience. Despite my initial apprehension I was happy I went beyond my comfort zone to attend my first conference independently. If you are thinking about presenting your research for the first time at a conference, I highly recommend doing this. Even if you do not know anyone attending, there are so many opportunities to network and meet others that you quickly forget any worries. I can’t wait to attend the European Health Psychology Society conference in September next, and this time I will have colleagues attending with me.

Thank you to the NWSSDTP RTSG for providing funding for conference experiences and to the Understanding Society Conference for giving me the opportunity to share my research.