Someone in my group just fwded details about a conference taking place in Atlanta which is totally what my PhD is about. I would really like to go but obviously cannot randomly afford a trip to atlanta.

I was wondering if the uni would have money to send students to conferences (doubt it big time) or as I'm a CASE student, would the company pay for me to go? Anyone have experience of this as I feel a bit cheeky asking......

You have a much better chance of being allowed to go if you have some work to present. If you have just started then obviously that's going to be a bit difficult! If you do have some suitable work, how about drafting an abstract (you'll find the details on the conference home page) and then showing your supervisor? If not, no harm in asking anyway, the worst they can say is no (in which case aim for next year's conference when you'll have something to present!). Good luck!

ive just been to a conference today in london (im at brighton uni) and its paid for on my budget!!

admittedly its a one day thing but train fairs, admission, lunch and expenses all comes off my budget

oh and i only started last week!!

Sure, hopefully your supervisor would need less persuasion to pay your expenses for a one day meeting in the UK. It's when you want to jet off to somewhere exotic that you need to pull out all the stops and produce a collection of impressive abstracts! :o)

my mate went to a 4 day one in iceland on her phd all paid for!! in her 2nd year, some genetics or immunology thingy

Yay, I may get to go to the conference in Atlanta next year :D