AIESEP May Newsletter

Hello AIESEP Friends,

We are officially just days away from our 2024 conference in Jyväskylä! The AIESEP Board of Directors looks forward to welcoming you to Finland and to experience a great conference!

1. The final programme is live! You can see it here: https://www.jyu.fi/en/file-download/download/public/25294 Some notes:
   1. There is a get-together Tuesday evening after the last parallel sessions. I hope you will introduce yourself to someone new!
   2. All poster sessions are at the same time: 8:15am -9:45am on Wednesday (they will be in two locations).
   3. The general assembly is Wednesday at 15:45. All are welcome, and you will hear from the board members about upcoming initiatives and progress reports.
   4. On Thursday we will have our banquet in the evening. This will be held in two spaces for the dining portion (you will get your ticket at registration) and then we will unite for the afterparty and dancing.
   5. The closing ceremony will be held at 13:45 on Friday and this is where we will award the poster award winners, early career researchers, developing country scholars as well as our three fellows (Sara Flory, Leen Haerens, and Kevin Andrew Richards).

2. Posters: Please note that there are guidelines for posters on the conference website under “presentations”. The posters should be in Portrait (not landscape) format. Here is a sample poster. Oral Presentations: As you prepare for oral presentations. Remember that they are limited to 10 minutes followed by 2-3minutes for questions.

3. Weather: Much to the chagrin of the Finns, winter has once again fought back and won. Finns call this “taka talvi” which is “the back winter” this is not to be confused with “harhakevät” which means “false spring” —Jyväskylä experienced this last week when it was +20c. With that said, we suggest packing a warm set of clothes and a good jacket. There are evening events (fun ones), and you will be walking back to your hotel and it might get cold.

4. Swim, Yoga, Run: Each morning of the conference there are physical activities you can take part in. These are at either 8am or 7am and you can check the programme for specific times, places and activities. And yes, the swimming is in the lake, and yes, the lake is cold. BUT, there will be an instructor who will teach you how to embrace the cold and enjoy the swim!

5. Last minute tips for AIESEP Blog: There is one last blog in the series that talks about last minute tips to travel. You can read the fourth blog here this one talks about what to do in Helsinki from some locals. If you’re in town on Saturday night May 11^th, you might want to get tickets to see a really fun Finnish band! (link to tickets in the blog). *note this is not an AIESEP sanctioned event just an amazing live show!   There are other blogs also, the first blog is about “Booking travel to AIESEP 2024”. You can listen to an audio version of the blog here. The second  blog dives deeper into the “ins and outs” of Finland in general and provides some background on hotel recommendations. A summary of the second  blog is also available in audio format in this podcast. The third blog gives you some insider notes from locals on things to do, coffee shops to stop in, and restaurants to try in Jyväskylä

6. April #AIESEPConnect (our monthly session that disseminates research) has been running since the pandemic began. Are you interested in re-imagining this online webinar? We’re open to suggestions of different formats. Past sessions can be found here.

7. AIESEP is now accepting donations to support future developing country scholars as well as PhD students who have been selected to attend the PhD Summer School in Finland this May. We have created a page on the website that shares information about how to donate and how your donation makes a difference https://aiesep.org/donation/

8. It is not too early to start planning your travel to the 2025 AIESEP Conference which will be held in St. Petersburg, Florida May 18^th to the 22^nd, 2025. Some preliminary information is up on this website https://www.aiesepstpete2025.com/home Maybe you’d like to tag on a trip to Disneyworld, visit the Florida Everglades, drive on route 1 “the highway that goes to the sea, visit Little Havana in Miami, or relax on the endless beaches after a good conference!

9. AIESEP will announce the winner of the 2026 conference bid at the closing ceremony.

10. Want to host AIESEP 2027? The bids are now open to host the 2027 AIESEP conference and will close February 15^th, 2025. You can find the application here. We welcome bids from anywhere in the world with a connection to an AIESEP individual or institutional member. You can reach out to wallhead@uwyo.edu for more information.

Sincerely,

Risto Marttinen

Secretary General AIESEP

Associate Professor

George Mason University

rmarttin@gmu.edu