What are the social and scientific benefits of participating at academic conferences? Insights from a survey among doctoral students and postdocs in Germany

Abstract Academic conferences are global phenomena. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many conferences now are being postponed or canceled. Usually, they bring together a complex network of academic and nonacademic professionals to discuss and disseminate new knowledge. The practice of ‘conferencing’ also includes activities that go far beyond the exchange of information. Conferences constitute social spaces where researchers encounter other researchers, establish new contacts, maintain old contacts, hold exploratory talks, and initiate collaborations. Academic conferences therefore can yield a plenitude of scientific and societal impacts. In the past, much progress has been made in measuring the impact of financial investments in science. There is, however, no shared understanding of how to measure the impact of academic conferences. Against the background of the time and money that is spent on both visiting and organizing conferences, it is important to understand the ways in which conferences generate impact. The coronavirus pandemic also shows that it is important to implement digital technologies like tools for virtual conferencing. This article uses qualitative and quantitative data to examine the conference activities of young scholars from German universities and to study how they profit from attending conferences. It is shown that conferences play a significant role in the qualification process. However, in terms of information and networking benefits, postdocs compared with doctoral students seem to profit more.