The Joint Sessions of Workshops have been referred to as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the ECPR and are recognised as one of the main highlights of the world’s political science calendar.  The Joint Sessions have taken place annually in the spring since 1973.

The main aim of the workshops is the participation and equality of endeavour between advanced students, younger and newer members of the profession and well-established professors. In order to achieve this, the size of each workshop is strictly limited. Each participant is expected to be carrying out research in the field of the workshop, so that he or she can present a paper or research document for discussion, as well as take part in the discussion of the other papers presented. Participants may attend only one workshop and should stay for the duration of the Joint Sessions.

Venue: The Joint Sessions of Workshops in 2008 will be hosted by Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Rennes, France.  All conference facilities (registration, book exhibition, information desk) and workshops will take place at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques building and the Law Faculty.

Timetable: Participants should arrive and register on Friday, 11th April, after 15:00 hrs.  Workshops will begin on Saturday, 12th April at 0900 hrs. and will end on Wednesday, 16th April at 1200 hrs.

Social Programme: The (provisional) social programme includes an informal social gathering in the book exhibition and registration area.  The official opening on Saturday at 18:30hrs and will be followed by reception in the IEP Cloister.  The Stein Rokkan Lecture will be given by Daniel Gaxie of Paris I (Sorbonne) on Monday, 14th April at 17:15hrs in the Faculty of Law. This will also be the occasion of the presentation of the Wildenmann Prize for the best workshop paper by a young scholar presented at the 2007 Joint Sessions.

Accommodation & Excursions:  The local organisers have appointed the Office du Tourisme to handle hotel reservations and bookings for excursions.

Transportation: Participants who fly should plan to arrive at either Nantes or Rennes airport or via Paris and then direct train to Rennes.  More travel information will be sent out to participants from ECPR by email.

Finance and Conference Fees: Where no other source of finance is available, the ECPR will contribute toward the travel and accommodation costs of participants from ECPR member institutions. The exact amount reimbursed varies from year to year, depending on the overall budget and the number of people making a claim. Unfortunately, it is not possible to extend support to non-ECPR participants.  However for this year only we are waiving the normal conference fee of £300.

Further information: Please see links to left for more information on the above.