Ozioma Paul, Business & Management, University of Manchester (2021 Cohort)

One of the things I was very excited about when I started my Ph.D. in 2021 was the opportunity to present my research at conferences. My first major engagement in an international conference was in July 2022 where I presented my research at EURO 2022 conference, in Espoo, Finland. I had a few months before submitted an abstract which my presentation/talk was based on. In my second year, I decided to take it a notch higher and was encouraged greatly by both of my supervisors. We decided to submit a paper to another conference, GECCO 2023, Lisbon. It was a lot of work getting my experiments and the paper ready as the time frame I had before I submit was short. I made the deadline, but the paper came back with some recommendations. My supervisors then advised a rework and re-submission into another stream as a workshop paper rather than a full paper. This time, it was accepted!

So, in July 2023, I travelled to Lisbon for the conference. The conference started with a 2-day intensive summer school where I was opportune to meet other Ph.D. students from across the world. We were also divided into smaller working groups, and we had an opportunity to do some hands-on work on the mini-projects we were assigned to. The main conference began the day after the summer school ended and though it was a long week, it was really beautiful! I was greatly inspired by so many great researchers from across the world whose textbooks and materials saw me through my undergraduate days. Another significant highlight was an opportunity to present my work at the student workshop. I got very constructive feedback and ideas from different angles of my research. I also got a chance to explore the beautiful city of Lisbon. My favourite part was trying out new Portuguese cuisine and city experiences.

The entire experience was beautiful and left me with very important lessons for my research and career journey which I would like to share to encourage anyone on a similar journey as I am. Firstly, resilience as a PhD student is very important. As a matter of fact, I believe a key determining factor in the successful completion of a Ph.D. is grit. I had spent a lot of time and energy submitting the initial full paper. However, as the time was short, I knew at the time of submission that it might not get accepted. I still submitted regardless because giving myself that deadline within my second year gave me the needed drive to have a submittable paper draft early on my second year. Such that even if it was not accepted, I could rework it with the recommendations given and submit it to the workshop. Also, it would be a good starting point for one of the chapters in my thesis. 

Secondly, attending conferences as a PhD student can be an absolute game changer as you get to expand your network, beyond your university and level. In GECCO 2023, I met several academicians, ranging from Ph.D. students to professors, some of whom are potential future collaborators. It also exposes you to be able to see the trends and common gaps in your field. As I hopped from session to session, I saw several amazing presentations and sessions in my field by experts and fellow PhD students. This gave me some clarity on how to refine some rough edges in my work and inspired me to keep going. Attending conferences can also serve as a much-needed break from your thesis. As they are often in another university, city, or country, you can take the chance to break away from your thesis and return recharged. A break every now and again is always useful.

Thirdly, presenting to such an elite group of researchers taught me to be more confident. Imposter syndrome is a common challenge for a lot of Ph.D. students, but I have learnt to do things afraid. Often, the nervousness or fear does not disappear until you actually face what you fear, in my case presenting to a large crowd. Finally, attending GECCO 2023 taught me to always ask and seek opportunities. Often, there are resources available to attend conferences, trainings, and other similar events but because we do not ask, we are unable to take full advantage of them. As someone said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Do not say no to yourself before you give others a chance to say yes. I have learnt to always ask within my research group, faculty, and DTP whenever I come across an opportunity I would like to take advantage of. 

Overall, it was a beautiful and enriching experience. I am excited about all the work I will do in this new session, and I look forward to other opportunities to share my research at conferences.