A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter during battle, from the Latin congressus.
Meeting in the Hall of Knights in The Hague during the Congress of Europe, 1948
Chess congress
An academic conference or scientific conference is an event for researchers to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with academic or scientific journals and preprint archives, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers. Further benefits of participating in academic conferences include learning effects in terms of presentation skills and "academic habitus", receiving feedback from peers for one's own research, the possibility to engage in informal communication with peers about work opportunities and collaborations, and getting an overview of current research in one or more disciplines.
Conference on medicament-assisted rehabilitation in Oslo, Norway
Presentations form the core of most conferences
Panel discussions are intended to bring multiple perspectives on a topic
Presentations may be Plenary sessions designed for all attendees (shown here) or breakout sections designed for smaller groups.
