GYA General Assembly Meeting 2013

The 2013 General Assembly will take place on 15-18 May 2013 at the beautiful premises of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale), Germany.

The theme of this year’s meeting is ‘Demography and Global Research’. Research is widely recognized as one of the most important engines of innovation, economic growth, socio-economic development and enlightenment for countries around the world. Early career researchers play a central role in a country’s knowledge economy because they represent an investment in the intellectual capital required to grow a strong national research and innovation system. Consequently, we will be considering the challenges and opportunities for the global community in supporting early career researchers. These include, but are not limited to: the changing relationship between age and research excellence and productivity; the challenges of balancing work and life, the shifting demographics of research and training globally, especially in the developing world where youth comprise between 60 and 75 percent of the total population; the increasing importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches to research, the sticky issues of access and attribution, and the gaps in scientific capacity and training that exist between the developed and developing world.

Call for Papers

Demography and research is a broad subject, but one that the GYA is well placed to weigh in on. GYA members are, after all, likely to be among the next generation of research leaders and many already have experience of these and related issues. In addition, the theme links with many of the ongoing GYA activities such as the Global State of Young Scientists project and other Working Groups including Women in Science, Unleashing Creativity and Curiosity, Science and Mobility, YSAP and Science Education as well as our endeavour to strengthen the status of young scientists in Africa.

We are therefore inviting you to participate actively in the meeting by delivering a scientific or policy-related talk related to the theme of the conference. Please use the registration form to specify the field and subject of your presentation, and send us a short abstract.

Training Workshops

For the first time, the GYA offers two training workshops immediately before the official start of the GA on 15 May: One on Science Communication and one on Collective Leadership. Please click here for detailed information and register via email by 14 April.

Travel Information:

The closest airport is Leipzig/Halle Airport. There are some international connections, but almost exclusively to Europe. If you plan to reach Germany via Frankfurt Airport, you might want to get a connecting flight toLeipzig/Halle (or alternatively take the train, which takes 3.5-4.5 hours). It is also possible to fly to Berlin (TXL or SXF) and then take a train to Halle Main Station (Hbf.) for 1.5-2 hours.

Trains from Leipzig/Halle Airport to Halle Main Station (Hbf.) take 12 minutes and run every half hour.