About e-Social Science 2007

Background

The UK ESRC funded National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS) was formed in 2004 to explore how new forms of distributed, computer-based infrastructure (known as the 'Grid' in the UK and 'cyberinfrastructure' in the US) can be applied to benefit the social sciences. Essentially, cyberinfrastructure is the computing and networking technologies that will enable the discovery, access to, integration, manipulation, analysis and display of the huge bodies of digital data that are becoming available. (See the report of the 2005 NSF workshop on cyberinfrastructure for the social sciences (PDF) for examples of potential impact.)

In 2005, NCeSS inaugurated the annual International Conference on e-Social Science to provide a forum for researchers to meet and exchange experiences and ideas on how the Grid might benefit social science research. (Programmes of the 2005 Conference and the 2006 Conference are online.) This year, the NSF and ESRC have joined together to bring the 2007 conference to the USA.

Dates

The Third International Conference on e-Social Science will be held October 7–9, 2007 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. The conference schedule will be posted on this site when it is finalized.

Location and Maps

The e-Social Science 2007 Conference will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the upper Midwest/Great Lakes region of the United States. Ann Arbor is a small city of just over 100,000 people and is best known as the home of the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, one of the largest research institutions in the U.S. Average daytime temperatures in the area in early October can range from 50F(10C) to 70F(20C). Local foliage should be ablaze in autumn colors.

Most conference sessions will be held in the Rackham Building, 915 East Washington Street, or the Michigan League, 911 North University Avenue. These buildings are separated by about 100 meters, across an open plaza.

The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) is the closest major international passenger airport to campus. (Other airport options are the Toledo Express Airport or the Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan). From Detroit Metro Airport, take I-94 West and then follow the directions to Central Campus  or the directions to North Campus .

The University of Michigan's School of Information  will host the conference.