The Student Futures & Research Conference

An online experience for all nature-based university students, brought to you by the Linnean Society & British Ecological Society.

We're currently in the process of arranging our 2024 Student Careers conference in partnership with the British Ecological Society. Check back with us over the coming months for more details to come!

Following the huge success of the first ever Student Futures and Research Conference in March 2021, we are delighted to be bringing #SFARConf 2022, with some exciting changes!

In this five-day conference , undergraduate, Masters and PhD students of the natural sciences and histories are invited to come together and engage with this online experience, celebrating the variety of careers available to students like you, interacting and networking with your peers and beyond, learning new skills, and having open conversations about personal struggles in research (and successes!).

The SFAR conference aims to be an accessible event to all. Please email learning@linnean.org to let us know if any services may help you or your peers access the content.

Your £20 ticket will include an all-access pass to all talks, workshops and competitions, as well as a private Discord server to facilitate open conversation between like-minded delegates. The conference has an attendee fund for those who require a lower ticket fee.

This conference has been produced in collaboration between the Linnean Society of London and the British Ecological Society, with the support of team of current students.

Click here to Book

Key details

The conference will provide up to 3 hours of daily live content each day, as well as pre-recorded content, competitions, reflective exercises and opportunities for sharing. All content will be processed and released on the same day for playback.

We are using Discord as a fun and flexible space to network, share interests and discuss ideas. Our server will be open 9-6 each day.

The full SFAR programme will be released to attendees only. A programme overview is provided below:

This is a Programme Overview for The Student Futures & Research Conference, brought to you by the Linnean Society and the British Ecological Society. All times given in this overview are in Greenwich Mean Time. Please note that all Zoom content will be re-released during the same day for playback, and all content will be accessible for six months after the conference. Please also note that the programme is subject to small changes. A full programme, including speaker profiles, will be sent out to attendees a week before the conference. The first day, Monday 7th March, will focus on welcoming attendees and settling in. The Discord server will open at 10am, and there will be an introductory session on Discord at 11am. At 1pm, there will be an hour-long session using Zoom called ‘Making the Most of the Student Futures and Research Conference’. At 3pm, there will be a session on Discord focussing on personal goal setting for the conference. The Discord server will close at 6pm. The second day, Tuesday 8th March, will focus on Careers. The Discord server will re-open at 10am. The first session will start at 10am on Zoom. This will be called ‘The Professions Panel’ and it will last one hour. Following this, there will be three consecutive sessions on Discord called Meet & Greet. At 1pm, there will be a session on Zoom called ‘Careers Kickstart’ and this will last one hour. There will be two further Discord Meet & Greet sessions starting at 3pm. The Discord server will close again at 6pm. The third day, Wednesday 9th March, will focus on Experiences. The Discord server will re-open at 10am. There will be two Meet & Greet sessions on Discord starting at 11am. At 1pm, there will be a series of speakers on Zoom talking about whether they think the natural sciences are inclusive. This will go on until 4pm. The Discord server will close again at 6pm. The fourth day, Thursday 10th March, will focus on Skills. The Discord server will re-open at 10am. There will be several workshops using Zoom throughout the day. These include CV Building at 10am, Publishing at 12am, Science Communication at 1.30pm, and Research & Finding Funding at 3.30pm. There will also be a Discord session called ‘Share Your CV’ at 11am, and a Meet & Greet session at 2.30pm. At 5pm, there will be a networking event for attendees using a platform called Wonder. This will last one hour. The Discord server will close again at 6pm. The fifth day, Friday 11th March, will focus on Reflecting. The Discord server will re-open at 10am. There will be a Discord activity at 11am called ‘reflective exercise’. At 1pm, there will be a session using Zoom called ‘Future Outlooks’. This will last one hour. At 3pm, there will be a session using Zoom called ‘Reflecting on your futures’. This will last one hour. At 5pm, there will be a session on Discord called ‘Competition Announcements’. The Discord server will close for the final time at 6pm.

Registration & further info:

Ticket numbers are limited. Please contact learning@linnean.org to discuss group bookings.
Registration will close when all tickets are allocated, or at the latest, the 4th March 2022.
This conference has an attendee fund available for those who are unable to pay for a full-price ticket. Click the "Tickets" button on the Eventbrite page to access this.

Reflecting on last year's conference:

In 2021, the SFAR conference brought together 360 students from across the world for a 17-hour experience, with 16 sessions, 22 speakers, and over £1,000 worth of prizes.

100% of attendees said they would recommend a friend or colleague to attend a future conference.

Feedback from an attendee: "What an amazing inspiring and useful event this has been. Extremely good and diverse advice shared. It helped me gain a new perspective and open horizons. A great choice of speakers, with different ecological/career backgrounds was eye opening."