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Objective
The objective of the ISCRAM Summer School on Humanitarian Information Management is to provide participants with an intense interactive learning experience on the use of information management in humanitarian crisis response. Lectures will introduce students to aspects of crisismapping, crowdsourcing, and the design, use and evaluation of information systems in humanitarian crisis response. The program of the Summer School consists of a week of in-depth lectures, case workshops, dinner talks, as well as a great social program. All lectures are taught by experienced international experts in the areas of humanitarian information management, humanitarian action, disaster response, and information systems. The participants work in small groups and interact with the lecturers throughout the Summer School. The language of the Summer School is English. Since its inception, more than 100 students from over 20 different countries and 40 lecturers from international universities and organisations have participated in the Summer School. Previous editions of the ISCRAM Summer School were rated very highly by the participants. Lecture presentations, videos, pictures and comments from previous years can be found on http://www.iscramlive.org
The 2012 ISCRAM Summer School Program Directors are Dr. Paulo Goncalves (University of Lugano, Switzerland) and Dr. Bartel Van de Walle (Tilburg University, the Netherlands).
The 2012 edition of the Summer School is hosted by Tilburg University on its campus in Tilburg.
Clearly, a more elaborate analysis is critical in understanding the trans-formative effects of social media and the manner in which the humanitarian response community should, or could, adapt. Calling for increased use, or the investment in and the development of policy and guidelines for social media use in humanitarian response, only makes sense if we better understand what social media are and how they contribute to a more effective and efficient response.
Some testimonials from past participants: The ISCRAM summer school was one of the most encouraging thing that happened during my doctoral studies. I got to meet people with the same interest in crisis management, either techies or people oriented, but all sharing this same passion. Gathering students, academics and professionals from everywhere, all driven "to make a difference", no wonder the atmosphere was just "AAA" and the exchanges were outstanding. I know it's sometimes hard to organize the time and money for a summer school during your PhD, but my advice is...fight for it, it's worth it! If you study humanitarian issues from a purely academic point of view, the Summer School is a great opportunity to expand your outlook and get a sense of how the actual humanitarian practice looks/feels like. This thanks to the highly experienced practitioners invited to the Summer School to give talks and also to some practitioners that enroll to the Summer School... Dont worry, youll also find academicians there :P If you are into crisis management and open for new ideas, other perspectives and curious what others do, you definitely should join the summer school. The talks are one aspect but more important is your story. And all the other stories from other participants. What are they doing? And why? What problems do you have, whether in academia or in the field. Just by bringing all the interested people together will start so many discussions and will give new insights, new solutions, etc., which you will never experience by staying where you are. For almost ten days you will be trapped by/in this group. It forces you to think in a different way. But at the end of every day a fantastic dinner and Belgium/Dutch beer waits
2012 ISCRAM Summer School Call for Participants Page 5
How to apply
Applications are invited by Monday morning April 2, 2012 according to the instructions described below. Admission will be limited to a maximum of 30 participants.
Requirements:
PhD students should have completed course work and developed a dissertation proposal. Ideally, they should have completed one year of dissertation work with at least one year remaining (at the time of the summer school) before completion. Humanitarian practitioners should have at least one year work experience in humanitarian response and should possess a university degree. Applications based on significant professional experience will be considered.
Important Dates:
April 2 2012: Application deadline April 16 2012: Notification of nomination acceptance/rejection May 1 2012: Registration deadline August 15-24 2012: 2012 Summer School
any other faculty member who is familiar with the student's research (e.g. PhD program director or thesis advisor). Practitioners must be nominated by their organisation. A letter of nomination (with your institutions or employers official letterhead) should include the following: The title of your PhD dissertation or current position in your organisation;; Information on the nominating faculty member or superior: name, address, department/institution, email address, phone and fax numbers. All applicants will be evaluated by the Program Director and applicants will be informed of acceptance by Monday April 16 2012. Upon acceptance of your application, you will be asked to complete your registration by May 1st, 2012. Only upon successfully completing your registration in time will you be admitted to the Summer School.
Location
The Summer School is organized on the campus of Tilburg University. With a population of nearly 200,000 inhabitants, Tilburg is the Netherlands' sixth largest city and is located in the South of the country, close to the Belgian border, in the Province of North Brabant. Tilburg University is nicely situated in a forested area on the outskirts of the city. Tilburg University is a relatively small and internationally oriented university with around 12,000 students in total and 750 international students from 65 countries. The university is internationally renowned for its research, especially in economics through the international research center for Economic Research CentER.
Paul Pattynama
Ron de Milde