General Comments / Chat, page-8790

A conference abstract is a short summary of the presentation (poster or talk) anywhere from 100 words to 1000 words (depends on the conference). The proceedings are usually a published longer form of the presentation published sometime after the conference which you can cite in other scientific publications.

There are usually four levels of conference presentations (in order of prestige): 1. Keynote Lecture; 2. Invited Oral Presentation; 3. Short Talks; 4. Poster Presentations. Bigwigs get 1, PhD students normally get 4. I have never been a Keynote speaker at any conference, but I have given a few Invited Oral Presentations, lots of Short Talks, and a heap of Poster Presentations.

A poster presentation is exactly what it sounds like - a presentation of a big poster (A0 usually) of your work on a wall somewhere at the conference along with hundreds of other scientists. You stand in front of it for a few hours at a set time (usually with a drink in hand) and chat to anyone wondering around who either thinks the work is interesting, or that you are hot.