Discover the Power of Symposiums: A Comprehensive Guide

If you are new to the academic world, and you are starting to assist in conferences, workshops, or symposiums and may feel a little lost, we can help you with that in this post.

Knowledge-sharing in the scientific community is crucial. Find out what a symposium is, its purpose of it, and the difference from conferences here.

What is a Symposium?

Symposia o Symposiums (known as both ways) can be a small conference inside a conference itself. Also, symposiums can be independent events, known also as workshops, panels, or sessions.

Specifically, a symposium is a small group discussion about a specific topic or ultimate developments in their field. So, is focused on being a smaller event, intimate and focused on one specific topic or theme to discuss.

For example, if at a conference there's a theme or topic that requires a deep discussion or different ideas from experts in the field and some attendees, this is what a symposium is perfect for.

Interest Fact: the origins of symposiums remain back to the 7th century when the high class of Greeks will come together to discuss different topics like politics, philosophy, or poetry.  

What's the Purpose of a Symposium?

Essentially, the purpose is to share and exchange valuable information. From these discussions, different recommendations or solutions can be developed, since this allows experts from a specific topic to gather together and discuss the topic in question and examine the problems and different trends about the theme.

The conclusions from these reunions can be really helpful to others in the same field of research and even encourage others to search for more findings and knowledge in the sector.

Difference Between Conference and Symposium

Conferences and Symposiums are both formal reunions of researchers and academics, where they present their work, discuss the latest developments in their field, and hear others' talks. The main difference with a conference is that a symposium is an academic event mainly focused on one theme of discussion, and because of it, they are usually smaller and shorter than conferences.

A symposium usually is a little less formal than a conference, since the objective is to spark more conversation. They often present the field experts in a panel discussion format, to help with recommendations from other experts or even people in the public about the topic in question.  

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If you found this article helpful, we recommend you to read ''How to Get a Speaking Slot | Academic Conference Edition''. And let us know in the comments if there's any other theme you would like us to talk about.

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