Call for Proposals

2024 Data-Intensive Research Conference

July 31 - August 1, 2024 | Minneapolis, MN & online

NDIRA, a collaboration between IPUMS and the University of Minnesota Life Course Center, is currently accepting submissions for the 2024 Data-Intensive Research Conference, to be held in person in Minneapolis, MN; key components of the program will also be available to virtual participants. The conference theme is Harnessing the Power of Linked Data to Study Aging. The deadline to apply was February 1, 2024.

Harnessing the power of linked data to study aging

Data linkages open up novel opportunities for understanding and contextualizing aging and life course processes. Linking people over time allows for the examination of transitions and trajectories and linking contextual information to data on individuals allows researchers to situate them within their environments. Analyzing associations that leverage these linkages is one way to get more out of our data and extend scholarship on aging and the life course. We are interested in a broad range of aging and life course processes and conceive of linking broadly, including longitudinal linkages, linking identified data with external resources, situating individuals within contexts, or linking places to reframe context.

We welcome submissions that leverage large-scale population data with a linking component to examine aging and life course processes in the U.S. and global contexts. We are particularly interested in submissions that use data from IPUMS, including papers that link complete count census data to aging surveys (e.g., HRS, PSID), or EdSHARe, and are informed by a life course perspective, especially those with an emphasis on aging. Potential topics include health and other outcomes as influenced by contexts at multiple levels, such as:

  • Early life conditions and later life outcomes
  • Situating individuals at the nexus of work, family and community participation
  • Later life-course population trends 
  • Role of structural disparities in life course processes and outcomes
  • Place-based conditions and policy impacts

All submissions will be considered for both paper as well as flash and/or poster sessions. We strongly encourage submissions from new and early stage investigators, scholars who identify as being members of systemically excluded groups, and from new interdisciplinary teams.

Instructions for submitting a proposal:

Authors are asked to submit a short abstract (150 words) and either an extended abstract (2-5 pages) or a completed paper; we will only consider abstracts submitted in English. Please clearly reference the data you are using in your abstract. Submissions will be considered for paper sessions as well as flash and/or poster sessions. Note that if your abstract is selected for inclusion on the program in an oral session, your session will be recorded and posted to the conference website.

We will offer travel support to attend the conference for some selected presenters. Recipients of travel support will receive reimbursement for some or all of the following expenses: domestic airfare, ground travel, lodging, and meals. The abstract submission form allows authors to report interest in travel support. Funding will be awarded with consideration for NDIRA’s emphasis on increasing diversity in aging research with specific attention to supporting early career scholars, scholars from systemically excluded groups, and researchers outside of R1 institutions.