Academic Conferences for First-Gens

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Although this post isn’t necessarily related to grad school, I wanted to take a moment to highlight academic conferences that are great for first-gens (especially those from ethnically/racially minoritized backgrounds) to attend. The two that I want to mention are the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) and the National Diversity in STEM Conference held by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). These conferences are wonderful opportunities for undergrads and post-bacc students to not only present their work, but to also connect with other scholars. I was able to go to ABRCMS twice — in 2016 as an attendee and in 2017 to present my summer REU project. I had such a great time meeting other students and professionals both in my field and in other fields and would highly recommend attending at least once! Here are the websites for both conferences as well as some dates/deadlines to keep in mind:

  • ABRCMS
    • Website
    • Dates: November 15-18, 2023
    • Abstract submission deadline: September 8, 2023 @ 11:59PM PDT
    • 2022 program
  • SACNAS

Although the deadline has passed to submit an abstract for SACNAS, there is still time to submit one for ABRCMS! There are booths and exhibits to visit where students can find out more information about summer internships and grad programs (you may even be able to get fee waivers!).

I also wanted to give a shout-out to programs that seek to help underrepresented students in STEM get to grad school. These include Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE), Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC), and the McNair Scholars Program. I was a RISE scholar and wouldn’t have made it into any PhD programs without the great mentorship that I received. For anyone who comes across this post, especially those who are earlier in their undergrad career, definitely check to see if your institution has these programs. They offer a great sense of community and can also help you along your grad school journey!

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Published by enricab7

Fifth-year Communication and Media, and Developmental Psychology PhD candidate at the University of Michigan. Future media/developmental psychologist. Interested in the ways that media help us form our identities. My blog aims to help other first-gen students on their PhD journey!

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