PolMeth XXV: The 25th Annual, Silver Edition Summer Meeting of the Society for Political Methodology

Dates: 9 - 13 July 2008 (Core Program: 10-12 July 2008)
Deadline for Applications: March 20, 2008
Location: The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

The 25th Annual, Silver Edition, Summer Methodology Conference will be held 10-12 July 2008, on the campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Sponsors of these meetings are the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan, the National Science Foundation, and the Society for Political Methodology.
 
To apply to attend the meetings, complete the application form at the Society's webpage by 20 March 2008:
 
  http://polmeth.wustl.edu/conferences/methods2008/register/
  
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 20 March 2008.
  
All applicants will propose to present a poster or a paper, and/or to act as a discussant, or simply to attend. Although graduate students may also apply simply to attend, they are strongly encouraged to propose a poster for the graduate-student poster-session, which is a venerated tradition and outstanding professional opportunity offered by the conference. Graduate students (and other eligible applicants) proposing and having accepted a poster (or a paper) will receive priority consideration for funding if they apply for it (see below).
  
To accommodate the continued growth of the conference in response to great and strongly rising demand--we expect a further approximately 50% increase in size from last year's expanded total of about 160 attendees--we have made a number of small adjustments in the format of the conference, requiring corresponding alterations of the application and registration processes.
  
SUMMARY OF THE REVISED PROGRAM-FORMAT
(much further information available at the conference web-site:
http://polmeth.wustl.edu/conferences/methods2008/):
  
The conference program will consist of:  

One day (Thursday, 10 July) of plenary sessions (i.e., sessions of the whole) of paper presentations, with discussant & open discussion.
 
 One day (Friday, 11 July) of split-sessions, split in two or possibly three, of paper presentations with discussant & open discussion or of poster session(s), but not both types simultaneously.
 
One day (Saturday, 12 July) of split-sessions, split in two, of paper presentations with discussant & open discussion or of poster session(s), but not both types simultaneously.
 
Also planned for Thursday: the traditional keynote lecture by a prominent, non-political-science, methodologist from U of M, and our business meeting, followed by a opening-evening reception.
 
Also planned for Friday: the traditional graduate-student poster-session, accompanied by an evening reception.
 
Also planned for Saturday: a closing dinner-reception.
 
A new tradition: NSF has funded also a dinner, reception, and/or other event for Women in Political Methodology, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday evening. (This will be the third such event.)
 
An even newer tradition: An add-on mini-conference/workshop or two may be held Wednesday PM and/or Sunday AM, on topics and of a format TBA. Announcements as those develop will go on  the conference web site.

The core conference begins Thursday morning and ends Saturday evening, so attendees should plan to arrive Wednesday the 9th and depart Sunday the 13th.

To accommodate the expanded size, we have increased the numbers of split sessions, and, also partly in response to that increased size, we intend to expand usage of the poster-session format. Poster presentations and split-session paper-presentations will be scheduled and treated as full equals in every regard with plenary paper-presentation sessions. Applicants may propose a poster or a paper, but the program committee will assign accepted paper-proposals to plenary-sessions, to split-session paper-presentations, or to poster-session presentations entirely on their own discretionary judgment regarding optimal conference design, balance, and flow.

NOTABLE REGARDING THE REVISED APPLICATION & REGISTRATION PROCESSES:

Following acceptance and upon registration, all conference attendees will pay or have paid for them the $200 conference registration fee. (This is the same amount as the faculty-registration fee last year, but now all attendees will pay it. This is also approximately equal to the variable cost per person of the conference.) The fee is collected in the registration process (via PayPal), and registration cannot be validly completed without payment.

Newly expanded this year, the NSF will fund the attendance of 55 (total) graduate students, women, minorities, and assistant professors. The acceptance committee will review applications for funding (which, procedurally, amount to the applicant indicating her/his wish to be considered for funding and then checking boxes for the categories by which s/he is eligible), and winners of funding will be notified along with their acceptance to the conference. Also new this year, all graduate-student applicants will be required to give the email address not only of a faculty recommender, which has long been required, but also to give the email address of a "guarantor of funding." The guarantor may be the same faculty member as the recommender, a different faculty member, someone authorized to commit an
institutional source of funding, or even the graduate student her/himself. The guarantor
commits to paying or having paid the registration fee for the graduate student in the case that student does not win funding. The option of the student listing her/himself as guarantor allows students wishing (or able and willing and needing) to pay their own registration to do so. The options, purposefully listed first, of naming a faculty or institutional  guarantor are intended to emphasize heavily the strong and good norm that faculty/departmental/institutional sponsors should pay for their students to attend the conference.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACCEPTANCES & OF FUNDING SHOULD ARRIVE AROUND MID-APRIL.

Following that, LODGING _MUST_ BE BOOKED/CONFIRMED BY END OF MAY.

Technical questions regarding the application & registration web-site should be directed to Stephen Haptonstahl (srhapton@wustl.edu). Substantive questions or comments regarding the application process, the conference, or the conference web-site should be directed to Rob Franzese (franzese@umich.edu) or the graduate-student assistant for the conference
& conference web-site, Bryce Corrigan (becorrig@umich.edu).

We look forward to seeing you in Ann Arbor this summer!