ALLEA General Assembly 2018: Registration is Now Open!

http://www.alleageneralassembly.org/2018/03/09/registration-is-now-open-2/

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Registration for the 2018 ALLEA General Assembly is now open! The conference will take place on 16-18 May 2018 in Sofia at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory for all attendees. Participants are requested to fill in this form. An email confirming your registration will be sent to you once the process is completed. If you are a representative of an ALLEA Member Academy, you are also kindly invited to register for ALLEA’s internal business meeting via the same registration form.

Programme

This year’s General Assembly is composed of three main parts open to the public. The conference programme will start with a light welcome lunch on 16 May at 11:30 and will continue with the opening of the scientific symposium “Science in Times of Challenged Trust and Expertise”, organised under the scientific guidance of the ALLEA Working Group Truth, Trust and Expertise. Leading experts from a wide range of scientific fields will present and discuss the various notions of trust in science and expertise in the so-called “post-truth” era.

On the same evening, ALLEA will award its 2018 Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values. The European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel will hand over the Prize to the 2018 laureate, whose name will be announced in the coming weeks. Following the award ceremony, all participants are invited to join a festive cocktail reception at the National Archeological Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in close proximity of the meeting venue.

On the 17 May, the European Academies’ consortium SAPEA will organise the science-policy symposium “Shaping European Science Advice: Insights and Experiences”. The event will bring together scientists and policy-makers to analyse and discuss experiences and lessons learned from the European Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) and other science advice systems.

In the afternoon, ALLEA will convene its annual internal Business Meeting (restricted to ALLEA Member Academies’ representatives).

On the 18 May the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences offers to all participants a post-conference cultural programme. During a guided day trip, attendees will have the opportunity to explore the city of Plovdiv, the 2019 European Capital of Culture. A participation fee of 35-45 euros will be charged.

Hotels

Please note that due to the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2018, a large number of international events will take place in Sofia simultaneously. As a consequence, there will be a high demand for hotel rooms during this period. We therefore strongly recommend to book accommodation as early as possible to ensure availability. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has kindly provided a list of pre-reserved hotels for participants of the ALLEA General Assembly. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Sofia!

Acknowledgements

The 2018 ALLEA General Assembly is co-organised and hosted by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

International partners include the Italian foundation Compagnia di San Paolo, and the European academies consortium SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies).

The Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria, representing the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is the local partner of the conference. The event also takes place under the patronage of the Municipality of Sofia.