Benjamin Schwartz Conference Summary

Benjamin Schwartz
Ph.D. Candidate
Neuroscience

Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Annual Meeting

Chicago, IL
October 19-23, 2019

This was not only the first major neuroscience conference I have ever been too, but it was also the first conference I have been to overall. I was very nervous going into this experience, but as I’ve had time to reflect I shouldn’t have been nervous at all. I had an absolute blast at SfN in Chicago this year. It was such an eye opening experience for me. First of all, I felt right at home in a huge conference hall surrounded by people who were just as passionate about neuroscience as I was. The amount of posters that were presented over the course of 5 days was staggering. The amount of knowledge I gained about the brain, and different techniques people are using these days is so valuable. On Monday of the conference I was able to present my own research, which was a very invigorating experience. Sometimes when you focus on your own project for a prolonged period of time, it begins to feel stale. The feedback I got from conference attendees who came to my poster has given me a boost in confidence and excitement about my research. The feedback was really positive, I even got a business card from a senior editor at science magazine! On top of all the positive experiences I had at the conference itself, this was also the first time I got to explore the city of Chicago, which is an absolutely beautiful city. Overall I had a fantastic experience attending SfN, and I really hope this is the first of many neuroscience conferences I attend. I’m attaching a picture of me during my poster presentation, to this document.