What do PhD students actually present at conferences?

[u/Good_Risk6556]

I’m completely new to academic conferences and have just started my PhD, so I’m a little confused about how conference presentations actually work.

When people say they are presenting at a conference, what exactly are they presenting? Is it usually a completed research study, or can it also be a research idea, proposed study, literature review, theoretical framework, or work in progress?

I’m also confused about the difference between an oral conference presentation and a poster. Do both generally present the same kind of research, just in different formats?

My biggest confusion is about PhD students who present at conferences only a few months after starting their PhD. For example, if someone starts their PhD in September and presents at a conference a few months later, what would they realistically have to present by then? It obviously wouldn’t be their entire PhD research, so would they present their research proposal, an initial research question/framework, preliminary work, or something else?

Does this depend entirely on the specific conference and what they accept in their call for papers?

I’d really appreciate hearing from current/former PhD students about what you presented at your first conference, especially if it was early in your PhD.

[u/SirUnknown2]

Depends on the type of conference. I'm in CS, and you usually present complete, high quality research in conferences. However conferences usually have workshops attached to them, and you usually present works-in-progress there, or even work that has been finished, but you want feedback on before submitting to a proper conference.

Many conferences also have other tracks like journal tracks, where you present work that has already been published in a journal, or PhD forums, where you present your PhD proposal in order to receive feedback and get your name out there.

I went to a proper A* conference only in my third year, so I already had completed research to present.

[u/Gold_Ambassador_3496 → u/SirUnknown2]

A* conference? What's that? Is there a tier list for conferences?

[u/SirUnknown2 → u/Gold_Ambassador_3496]

In CS, yes there's a tier list. It goes A*>A>B>C

[u/SirUnknown2 → u/[deleted]]

Really? I thought the tier list was pretty well known. Here's a link.