As a commencing PhD student, my attendance to the Complexity, Criticality, Computation (C3) 2023 Symposium in Heron Island (Queensland, Australia) was a great opportunity to meet and collaborate with fellow researchers in the field. Acquiring funding for conference travel as an international student remains challenging (even more so post-pandemic), hence I am grateful for institutions like ACM-W (in partnership with Oracle and Google) who are instrumental in providing opportunities and support for women to fully engage in and contribute to the field of computational science.

The C3-2023 Symposium is a biennial conference that covers emerging topics and ideas in complex systems, spanning across the universal principles of biological and physical phenomena, the emergence of language and consciousness, and the rise and fall of civilisations. Over the 5-day program, I was able to learn from and interact with several senior researchers who are pioneers in their respective fields. As an early-career researcher, I had the most to gain from attending the talks of experts on critical phenomena, brain and mind, socio-biology, crisis modelling, and complexity economics. It was an incredibly inspiring and humbling experience to be in the same room as the authors of the papers I am currently studying for my own research. And the best part? They were as enthusiastic as I was to share their knowledge and offer opportunities for younger researchers like myself.

The field of complex systems is a vast interdisciplinary area, making collaborations a necessity more than an option in any research journey. For this reason, the C3-2023 symposium was designed to bring together researchers of various disciplines, career stages, and cultures in the relaxed natural environment of Heron Island to foster collaborative discussions. The Heron Island Research Station staff were incredibly accommodating and welcoming as well. With their guidance, exploring everything the island had to offer was such a treat! Overall, I could not have asked for a better experience for my first conference as a PhD student.