What is the usual dress code for academic workshops? I'm attending my first academic/industry workshop next week and was wondering what is the convention with regards to the dress code. It's a three-day affair where each participant is required to present a 3 minute introduction to their PhD. Other than that the event consists mostly of talks by other people.

Normally, I'd go with formal business wear if I were presenting as a named part of the programme. If I was just attending I'd go for 'academia-casual'. That being said, I've never been to a workshop so I probably don't know what I'm talking about, especially with the inclusion of the 3 minute 'introduce yourself' presentation.

The workshop takes place in the United Kingdom and the field is engineering/computer science.
Academia casual, as you put it, is perfectly fine.

Basically, imagine yourself doing a TA in front of students. I would say, a similar kind of attire would suffice.

I've seen people doing an academic presentation in a T-shirt and slippers, and that was a damn fine presentation, too! Even if you'd rather want to wear some more formal footware than slippers and some jeans and not shorts, I think that my point is clear:


No beachware.
No three-piece suit.


I've worn a shirt and formal trousers to multiple conferences without feeling overdressed, but that's probably the most formal thing you'd wear if you are not the conference chair.