4th ISCRAM SUMMER SCHOOL ON HUMANITARIAN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND LOGISTICS: THE CASE OF THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE

Tilburg University, the Netherlands 

17-26 August 2011, Tilburg, the Netherlands

http://www.iscram.org/live/summerschool2011

IMPORTANT DATES:

    * June 1 2011: Application deadline
    * June 15 2011: Notification of nomination acceptance/rejection
    * June 30 2011: Registration deadline
    * August 17-26 2011: 2011 Summer School 

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INTRODUCTION

We are pleased to announce the 4th edition of the ISCRAM Summer School for emergency management improvement on Humanitarian Information Management and Logistics. The ISCRAM summer school series successfully started in 2006, offering a top level program at Tilburg University for students from all over the world.

The objective of the ISCRAM Summer School on Humanitarian Information Management and Logistics is to provide participants with an intense interactive learning experience on the use of information management to logistics decisions, logistics collaboration and coordination in humanitarian crisis response.

We are inviting PhD students and experienced practitioners to join us for one 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 crisis management, information systems and logistics. The participants work in small groups and interact with the experts throughout the Summer School. The language of the Summer School is English. 

Over the years, close to 100 students from over 20 different countries and 40 lecturers from international universities and organisations have participated in previous editions of the Summer School.  Previous editions of the ISCRAM Summer School were rated very highly by the participants. 

The Summer School is intended to be an intellectually and socially stimulating environment, and expected to result in active networking long after the summer school is over.


ORGANIZERS AND FOUNDATIONAL PARTNERS

The 2011 ISCRAM Summer School is an initiative of the ISCRAM Association, an international non-profit organization, formally established in Belgium in 2009, which aims to:   

    * Promote research and development, exchange of knowledge and deployment of information systems for crisis management. Both the social, technical and practical aspects of all information- and communication systems used or to be used in all phases of management (mitigating) of emergencies, disasters and crises are treated.

    * Promote and facilitate cooperation between all parties involved in this domain, including researchers, practitioners and professionals, technical experts and other experts, policy makers, involved in the management or evaluation of emergency conditions, disasters and crises.


For this 4th edition of the Summer School, the ISCRAM Association has partnered with two academic institutions and selected international organisations to further develop the international reach and impact of the summer school.

The two academic partners are Tilburg University (the Netherlands) and University of Lugano (Switzerland), respectively in charge of the humanitarian information management and the humanitarian logistics research aspects of the program.

The international partners of the ISCRAM Summer School are UN OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), the European Joint Research Center in Ispra (Italy), the Institute of Disaster Prevention in Beijing (China), the ICT4Peace Foundation, the Global Risk Forum (GRF) in Davos, and the Belgian First Aid and Support Team B-FAST.

The 2011 edition of the Summer School is hosted by Tilburg University on its campus in Tilburg in the Netherlands. The Local Organizing team is chaired by Jan Otten. 


PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

At the Summer School, we will reflect on the international humanitarian response and on the current (lack of) recovery in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake. In particular, we will focus on the role of information management and logistics during the response and recovery phases. The program consists of: 

 * Interactive Lectures with leading experts from academia, NGOs, the United Nations, and practice
 * Social Activities
 * Dinner Talks by Special Guests
 * Site visit to NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (Germany)
 
The 2011 ISCRAM Summer School Program Directors are Dr. Paulo Goncalves (University of Lugano, Switzerland) and Dr. Bartel Van de Walle (Tilburg University, the Netherlands).


LECTURERS:

Lecturers at the summer school represent a diverse range of expertise from academia, research organisations, governments, and NGOs.

We can already confirm lectures from Sanjana Hattotuwa (ICT4Peace Foundation), Naomi Morris (MapAction), Tom de Groeve and Beate Stollberg (JRC Ispra), Paulo Goncalves (University of Lugano), Jaap van de Herik (Tilburg University, the Netherlands), Geert Gijs (B-Fast, Belgium, Peter L.J. Bos (Chief USAR the Netherlands), Ioannis Dokas (Dublin, Ireland) and Jules Pieters (WHO).  Other speakers are being confirmed, and all biographies, lecture topics and other updates will be posted on the iscram.org website. 


WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

The target audience for the Summer School is both PhD students and experienced Practitioners to attend the 2011 ISCRAM Summer School.

    * Students in PhD programs in Information Systems, Computer Science, Organization Research, Management Science, Supply Chain Management and Operations Research or in other fields with research interests related to crisis management are eligible for nomination. The nominee should have completed course work, developed a dissertation proposal and preferably have completed one year of dissertation work with one year remaining (at the time of the summer school) before completion.

    * Practitioners and full-time professionals active in the humanitarian sector. The Summer School is particularly interested in humanitarian practitioners with significant field experience looking for possible ways to improve their day-to-day practices through the use of frameworks that formalize and extend the practical competence they already possess. 

All participants will gain insights from information systems and logistics for crisis response and management with excellent opportunities to discuss their work with other researchers and practitioners. 


HOW TO APPLY:

Participation is by invitation only, following evaluation of applicants’ credentials. Applications are invited by June 1st 2011 according to the instructions described below. Admission will be limited to 30 participants in total.

PhD students (in one of the relevant PhD programs described above) 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. 


SCHEDULE - COSTS - ACCOMODATION:

All participants are expected to attend the entire duration of the Summer School, although per day registrations are allowed for local practitioners. 

A Certificate of Attendance will be delivered at the end of the Summer School. The cost of participation for the 2011 Summer School is 600 EURO (750 EURO after the registration deadline). This registration fee will cover all lunches, dinners and coffee breaks and materials provided for the lectures or cases. Wireless internet access will be provided at the university for the duration of the summer school for free. 

Please note that travel expenses are not covered by the registration fee, and neither are accommodation costs. A special hotel rate has been negotiated with Hotel De Postelse Hoeve in Tilburg, which is the dedicated hotel for the Summer School.  The rate per night in a standard single room is 83 Euro and for a double room 105 Euro, breakfast included. Rooms have to be paid upon checkout. 

CONTACT:

Questions on the 2011 ISCRAM Summer School can be sent to [log in to unmask]