Attending an academic conference is what type of travel?

I am a working scientist who has followed a link to this question from academia.stackexchange.com.

The correct Schengen visa type for attending a scientific meeting is "Business." This is a short interaction for professional purposes (graduate students are considered professionals as well), and thus falls into that category. If you hold a passport from a waiver country or qualify for one of the other exemptions, you can be automatically granted a visa of this type. Otherwise, you need to follow the full process.

All of the reasons except Business and Study are clearly and obviously not applicable to your case. Let's ignore them.

Is your main reason for attending to present, or to attend? If you're there to present, saying "study" is deceptive - you aren't there to learn anything. If you were already graduated, and employed (in academia or in private industry) I think you would check Business. Money doesn't have to change hands for something to be a business trip. For example, when I travel to attend a conference and learn about new things, it's a business trip for me. When I travel to meet people and discuss ways my company can help them in the future, it's business even though I don't charge for that conversation. And so on.

It's not like this single word is the only explanation you are able to provide, is it? You're going to be asked for a little more detail, surely? So go with Business, and explain what you're doing and why.

I had to apply for a short stay visa for attending a developer conference in The Netherlands and I selected "Other" as none fit the description. This is different than a "professional conference" (some certifications require you to attend a certain number of professional conferences a year).

During my interview process I explained that I was attending a conference, and I provided the following documentation:

1. Invitation letter from the organizers of the conference.
2. Travel ticket
3. Hotel reservation
4. Letter from my employer stating my employment status and salary (proof of funds)

I had no issues and my visa was granted. I was not presenting at the conference though, and if I were, this would only help the visa process.

It might differ between countries but for Italy, as an international graduate student in USA, I was told by the consulate that for attending a conference, it has to be tourism not business. I originally chose business and followed the document check-list for business stay. However unlike the tourism, the business check-list doesn't mention lodging confirmation so I didn't bring it to my appointment. Fortunately they just told me to email them the confirmation later and still accepted my application. Hope that this might be helpful for who will travel to Italy.