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Social Studies of Science Student SectionThe Society for Social Studies of Science Student Section (6S) exists to facilitate interactions among students and junior scholars of science studies, and to promote the interests of students within 4S.
6S Organization6s is run by a committee of students selected at each annual meeting and by two student representatives to the 4S council. 2007 Annual Report
Student Section of the Society for Social Studies of Science (6S) Annual Meeting Activities (October 11-13, Montreal Canada) Submitted by: Matthew Harsh (4S Student Representative 2005-07) Report on 6S Annual Business Meeting We are very pleased with this year’s attendance. 31 students attended our business meeting on Saturday (October 13) who were fed a great lunch thanks to the generous support of Chemical Heritage Foundation. Unfortunately we had a very short window for our meeting (just one hour) and so we moved through our schedule very quickly to insure that we had enough time to discuss new business and have committee meetings and reports. Following introductions, Teun Zeiderant-Jerak (Representative from the 2008 4S Program Committee) offered a brief presentation about the forthcoming annual meeting in Rotterdam, Holland. He stressed that the program committee is keenly aware of the increased costs associated to this meeting and are already taking steps to reduce the costs to graduate students. Following his presentation, Michelle and Matt did a quick overview of some of the results of this year’s 4S Publications Committee Meeting and 4S Council Meeting highlights included: 1) Changes to the Technoscience editorial position(s) including: reducing the three positions to two with more extensive workload and pay increase. Students indicated an interest in further feedback regarding the Technoscience position and so it was decided to form a group during committee discussions to generate further suggestions for this job description. 2) 4S discussions about potentially increasing the amount of student travel funds that would not necessarily have the same restrictions (e.g. travel on a US airline). Students also asked for this to be taken up in the discussion groups. 3) The Mullins Prize Committee reminding students to apply for awards/prizes. This year there were low submissions for some of the awards including the Nicholas C. Mullins Award. In 2006 there were 33 submissions, in 2007 just 9. The prize committee was happy with their selection, but stressed that more students should apply. 4) Potential changes to the policy on paper selection. As the conference continues to grow, 4S is considering new approaches to paper submissions including potential changes such as: self-identification of academic level on abstracts (undergraduate, graduate student etc), extending the length of abstracts etc. Matt and Katherine Thomson reported on the mentoring program, and the coordinating committee members reported on their respective activities during the past year. Small-group discussions followed on the topics of diversity, the mentor program/cost reduction and logistics for 2008 conference, and the Technoscience editor positions. It was decided that nominations for the editorial positions at Technoscience would not be taken at the Business Meeting to allow for a larger job description to the distributed. Gareth Edel will serve as the next 4S Student Representative (2007-09), replacing Matt Harsh (2005-07) who completed his two-year term. General Report on Conference Activities 1) Mentor Program As approved by the 4S Council in 2005, 6S launched a pilot mentor program in 2006. As conceived in 2005, the goal of the mentor program was to match junior scholars (graduate students, postdocs, junior faculty) with more senior scholars. Following the pilot mentor program at the 2006 conference (Vancouver) expectations for the 2007 mentor program focused primarily on having mentors and mentees meet at the conference. This year, participants received an email with information about the mentoring program when they registered for the conference (wheras in 2006 mentors and mentees were matched at the conference). Prior to the conference, a student volunteer (Katherine Thomson) paired participants based on their career stage. This year we were lucky to have many mentors sign up and we were able to match everyone in advance of the conference. Mentors and mentees were encouraged to make arrangements to meet at the conference and many chose to do so at the junior-senior mingling event on the opening night of the conference. Thanks to the great work of students and faculty, we are seeing the start of a great mentoring program. In 2006, we were able to match 50 people. In 2007 we matched 80 individuals.
2) Thursday Faculty Panel (lunchtime session) The 6S co-chairs organized a lunch panel entitled "Getting Your First Academic Job” Professors Ana Viseu, Anne Pollock and Dave Conz served as our panelists and approximately 30 students attended. This was a short panel but extremely lively. We thank the panelists for their great insight and honesty.
3) Logistics and Community Building In our ongoing efforts to reduce the costs for students traveling to the conference, we arranged for students to stay at the Montreal Hostel. This gave students a discounted accommodation option as well as helped build the graduate student community by having students stay in one central location. Following last year’s decision by the 4S Council, discount banquet tickets were made available to graduate students. 6S co-chairs actively reminded students to take advantage of this offer throughout the year. In 2007, many graduate students attended the banquet due to this subsidized program by the Council allowing graduate students to mingle with faculty and peers at this wonderful annual event. Thanks to the hard work of Wes Shrum, Rick Duque and Matt Harsh, many students were able to attend the conference this year without paying the registration fee. This year a pilot program was started that allowed graduate students to volunteer for a five hour shift at the registration table in exchange for having their registration fees reimbursed. This was a great way for students to reduce their costs while also meeting a vast array of fellow grads and faculty. We hope the council will continue the program next year. Finally, on Saturday night we hosted our traditional annual student party and are happy to say that not only did people mingle….they danced! 4) Preparations for 2008 Conference During the Junior-Senior mingler, Matt Harsh and Michelle Stewart (6S co-chairs) met up with Niki Vermeulen (Former Student Representative from EASST) and Teun Zeiderant-Jerak. Discussion included preliminary planning that Niki and Teun had been doing to lower accommodations costs, assurances regarding scheduling about key 6S events (6S business meeting, faculty panel etc) with a focus on having lunchtime events each day that bring graduate students together. 2006-2007 Coordinating Committee
2007-2008 Coordinating Committee
2006 Annual ReportStudent Section of the Society for Social Studies of Science (6S)Annual Meeting Activities (November 1-5, Vancouver , British Columbia )
Submitted by: Jason Delborne (4S Student Representative 2004-06) Matthew Harsh (4S Student Representative 2005-07) 6S Annual Business Meeting 18 students attended our business meeting on Friday (3 November), and we were again grateful to the Chemical Heritage Foundation for providing lunches for all attendees. Jason and Matt began the meeting with introductions and by thanking the Coordinating Committee. Jason reported on the mentor program, and the coordinating committee members reported on their respective activities during the past year. Small-group discussions followed on the topics of diversity, the mentor program, and cost reduction and logistics. Matt reported news from the 4S Council Meeting (held on Wednesday 1 November). Highlights included announcing the locations of the next four 4S conferences and that Sage Publications will now publish ST&HV articles on its website before they are printed. Matt also reported that the council will be more selective about to whom they give travel grants to attend the meeting, based on participation in other events at the conference (beyond just giving a paper). The council may also restructure the travel grant program to give fewer awards, each of a greater amount. The student section agreed to poll students about this possible change. Finally, the council expressed interest in having students proofread and edit ST&HV articles written by non-native English speakers. Students would be paid for this service. There was general support for this idea from the students attending the meeting. Nominations were taken for the position of Contributing Editor, Web Publications for Technoscience and Listserve Administrator (a paid position) and for the position of 4S Student Representative (2006-2008). Candidates spoke of their interests and qualifications, and one email nomination was read aloud. Election by secret ballot determined that Dave Conz will continue as the Contributing Editor, Web Publications for Technoscience and Listserve Administrator for a second two-year term and Michelle Stewart will serve as the next 4S Student Representative, replacing Jason Delborne who completed his two-year term. Mentor Program As approved by the 4S Council in 2005, we launched a pilot mentor program in association with this year's conference. As conceived in 2004-2005, the goal of the mentor program was to match junior scholars (graduate students, postdocs, junior faculty) with more senior scholars. Expectations of the mentor-mentee relationship included one face-to-face conversation in Vancouver and two conversations (most likely by phone) during the following year. Participants received an email with information about the mentoring program when they registered for the conference. Prior to the conference, a student volunteer (Chai Choon-Lee) paired participants based on their career stage. Due to a shortage of mentors we encouraged more experienced graduate students to serve as mentors for less experienced students. While we were able to match approximately 25 pairs of mentors/mentees prior to the conference, we still lacked enough mentor volunteers. At the conference, participants checked in with Jason and Matt in order to learn of their assignments. This process took place primarily at a mingling event on Wednesday night (see below) and at the first coffee break between conference sessions on Thursday morning. We also matched additional participants who had not registered for the mentor program 'on-the-fly,' which proved to be very chaotic, especially at the first coffee break (where the small physical space inhibited the procedure). After the first coffee break, the list of mentors and mentee matches were posted in a central location along with instructions about how to independently check-in to the program and find the matched mentor/mentee. We successfully matched approximately 15 pairs at the mingling event and approximately 5 more at the first coffee break. Only a few pairs were subsequently matched using the independent posted lists. Although implementation of the program included a number of frustrations, many mentors and mentees offered very positive feedback to us at the conference. We are currently developing a means to more formally survey participants about their experiences of the program. Several changes to the program are already planned for next year: (1) providing a more detailed web form for registration; (2) encouraging participants to serve as both mentors and mentees; (3) starting recruitment earlier with a clear cut-off date so that all participant pairs can be notified via email prior to the conference. We hope to improve the logistics of the program broadly, will reconsider the method of 'on-the-fly' matching, and may attempt to match pairs based on geography or research interest. Junior-Senior Mingling Event 6S co-sponsored this event along with Jane Summerton ( Linköping University ) and Gwen Ottinger ( University of Virginia ). Held on Wednesday evening in the conference hotel, it served as the official kickoff of the mentoring program and a chance for junior scholars to informally mingle with senior STS colleagues. Approximately 60 people attended. We thank Jane and Gwen for their organizing efforts including their intensive recruitment of senior scholars to participate. Accommodation and Community Building We arranged for students to stay at the Vancouver Downtown Hostel. This gave students a discounted accommodation option as well as helped build the graduate student community , by having students stay in one central location. Approximately 25 graduate students stayed at the hostel. We also encouraged students to have dinner together at a local restaurant on Wednesday night (attendance was low as it conflicted with the Fireside Chat - an event scheduled after we had made plans for the dinner). On Thursday evening we coordinated a small group of students to attend an exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery , and on Saturday night we hosted our traditional annual student party. Thursday Faculty Panel (lunchtime session) On behalf of 6S, Francisco Dóñez organized and chaired a lunch panel entitled "STS Careers Inside and Outside of Academia." Professors David Winickoff, Roli Varma, and Richard Worthington served as our panelists and approximately 30 students attended. Saturday Lunch Panel: STS Engaged 6S co-sponsored a lunchtime panel along with Benjamin Cohen ( University of Virginia ) and Wyatt Galusky (SUNY-Morrisville) on Saturday. The panel was titled 'STS Engaged: A conversation on the future of STS expertise and the participatory turn.' The event served as a means to obtain graduate student feedback on a pending NSF grant to run a workshop with the same theme in March 2007. Approximately 30 students and several junior and senior scholars attended. 2005-2006 Coordinating Committee • Jason Delborne (University of Wisconsin-Madison): 4S Student Representative • Francisco Dóñez ( University of California , Berkeley ): Diversity Leader and organizer of faculty panel session • Matthew Harsh ( University of Edinburgh ): 4S Student Representative • Karen Smith ( University of Toronto ): Vancouver 'Advance Team' Leader • Michelle Stewart ( University of California , Davis ): Student Cost Reduction Leader 2006-2007 Coordinating Committee • Francisco Dóñez ( University of California , Berkeley ): Diversity Leader • Matthew Harsh ( University of Edinburgh ): 4S Student Representative • Michelle Stewart ( University of California , Davis ): 4S Student Representative • Katherine Thomson ( University of California , San Francisco ): Mentor Program Leader
2005 Annual ReportDavid Conz (4S Student Representative 2003-05) Jason Delborne (4S Student Representative 2004-06) Annual Meeting Activities (October 2005, Pasadena , California ) : We organized and hosted a lunch panel entitled "Transitioning from Student to Faculty: Landing and Starting an Academic Job." Shobita Parthasarathy, Torin Monahan, Chris Henke, and Patrick Feng served as our panelists and approximately 30 students attended. The annual student party was held at the Bodega Wine Bar on Friday evening following the banquet. Business Meeting: Twenty-seven students attended our business meeting on Friday 21 October, and we were again grateful to the Chemical Heritage Foundation for providing boxed lunches. Dave and Jason began the meeting with a report from their attendance of the 4S Council meeting on Wednesday 19 October. Highlights included the expansion of pages and issues of STHV , Technoscience transforming to a monthly digital publication, and the difficulty/expense of providing LCD projectors for conference sessions. After a brief discussion of the Graduate Student/Jr. Scholar Survey (see below), we focused on a number of programmatic and logistical goals for the coming year. First, there was strong energy around finding lodging options for the next annual meeting that would be less expensive and encourage more social contact among young scholars, as was experienced at the 2004 annual meeting in Paris . Second, we discussed the importance of securing additional financial assistance for young scholars, especially international scholars, to attend and participate in the 4S annual meeting. One idea that was suggested was to offer a lower registration fee in exchange for providing some service during the conference. Third, we discussed possibilities of increasing the diversity of participants by reaching out to pools of students who otherwise might not know of 4S. Like good social scientists, we agreed that collecting some data on diversity would be an important first step. A number of participants volunteered to work on these three issues, including Karen Smith (accommodations in Vancouver ), Michelle Stewart (funding and financial issues), and Francisco Doñez (diversity of participants and research sites). Jason then reported on the 4S Mentoring Program (see below). We discussed the importance of improving our ability to network as young scholars. Several participants volunteered to help with the process of matching mentors and mentees for the 2006 annual meeting. Two students were nominated for the position of Student Representative. Matthew Harsh, a graduate student from the University of Edinburgh , was elected to serve from 2005-07. Graduate Student/Jr. Scholar Survey: Prior to the annual meeting, the student representatives became aware of a number of logistical difficulties encountered by students in registering for conference activities and making lodging arrangements. They distributed a survey to ascertain the extent of the problem. Although there were only 35 respondents, it seemed noteworthy that over one-third experienced problems in registering for the conference and one-third had difficulties in reserving a hotel room. Other comments included: concerns over the high hotel rates; desire for a more integrated and functional website that would enable registration, paying of fees, and online abstract/session submissions; and frustration with the lack of LCD projectors for conference sessions, a practice that has become the status quo in other comparable professional organizations. Mentoring Program: One outcome of the 2004 student business meeting was an interest in creating a mentoring program at the society level for 4S members. Prior to the 2005 4S Council meeting, Jason and Dave drafted a proposal on behalf of the student section for Council approval. The program envisions the matching of young scholars with more senior scholars who would have initial contact at an annual meeting and some follow-up contact during the year. Ideally, signing up would be integrated into the conference registration process. The 4S Council enthusiastically endorsed the idea, and Jason agreed to work with the conference program chair to implement a trial of the mentoring program. Listserve: Because the current STSGrad listserve is housed at Cornell and maintained by Shobita Parthasarathy (who is now a faculty member at UMichigan), there is a need to find an alternative institutional host and moderator. The student representatives will explore several options in the coming months to transition the listserve. 2004 Annual ReportDavid Conz (4S Student Representative 2003-05) Stefan Sperling (4S Student Representative 2002-04) Annual Meeting Activities (August 2004, Paris, France): We jointly organized and hosted a lunch panel with the EASST graduate students entitled "Across the Atlantic: Working and Studying Abroad." Approximately 30 students attended from 4S and EASST. The annual student party was held at an outdoor cafe near The School of Mines on Friday evening following the banquet. Business Meeting: Approximately 15 students and one 4S council member attended the annual 6S business meeting. Through a generous grant, the Chemical Heritage Foundation provided boxed lunches. Dave and Stefan began the meeting with Dave's report from the 4S Council meeting on Wednesday. Highlights included the report from the publications committee that STHV was thriving and was requesting a page increase from the publisher. In addition, the print version of Technoscience would no longer be produced an in its place the official website of 4S would be launched, 4Sonline.org. Rather than spend $12,000 to continue Technoscience in print form, three paid Contributing Editors, Web Publications positions would be formed. Each editor would get paid $3000 per year. Content responsibilities would be divided among the three editors. One of the editors would be responsible for job and postdoc postings. This position would be appointed by 6S and would last two years. The first appointed editor to this position was Dave Conz, since he had been maintaining a similar site since before the Atlanta conference. Steve Coffee will oversee the new webpage. One student was nominated for the position of Student Representative. Jason Delborne, a graduate student from the University of California, Berkeley, was elected to serve from 2004-06.
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