2016 Effective Altruism Global Research Meeting Call for Abstracts

Location: August 5th to 7th, University of California, Berkeley
Abstract Deadline: July 10th
Contact: researchmeeting@centerforeffectivealtruism.org

Overview
The 2016 Effective Altruism Global Research Meeting is an opportunity for Postgraduate students and early stage academics from a variety of disciplines to present research relevant to Effective Altruism. The meeting will take place on August 5th to 7th, 2016 at UC Berkeley alongside the Effective Altruism Global conference. The meeting will consist of two events, an academic poster session and a number of short oral presentations. Presentations will be awarded to the most exceptional submissions. Participants selected for presentations will still have the option to present a poster.

The Effective Altruism movement, which promotes the use of reason and evidence to determine the most effective ways to improve the world, has grown rapidly over the last three years. It is an interdisciplinary movement which has gained traction amongst academics in a wide range of fields, including Philosophy, Economics and Health. Last year’s Effective Altruism Global conference welcomed renowned philosopher Peter Singer and behavioral economist Dan Ariely, as well as 1000 attendees. This year, our speakers include Philip Tetlock (author of Superforecasting), Cass Sunstein (legal scholar and former Administrator of the White House OIRA), Thomas Kalil (Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation at the White House OSTP), Jaan Tallinn (Co-Founder of Skype) and Irene Pepperberg (noted animal cognition scientist).

Effective Altruism Global's featured topics include discussions of the replication crisis, prediction markets, decision making under uncertainty, CRISPR, our obligations to the global poor, as well as a number of other topics that are important to shaping the future. The Research Meeting will run alongside Effective Altruism Global to give academics access to the large audience of interested attendees, and expose the more than 1,000 expected philanthropists, CEOs, and students to research relevant to Effective Altruism.

Goals
The 2016 Effective Altruism Global Research Meeting aims to promote and stimulate research that helps individuals and institutions make better choices on how to do the most good. We will present the most interesting Effective Altruism-related research from a wide variety of disciplines to facilitate discussions among Effective Altruism-minded academics. The event also seeks to connect academics with an interest in doing good effectively with one another, philanthropists and policymakers.


Topics
The 2016 Effective Altruism Global Research Meeting is interdisciplinary, so submissions are expected to be from a range of different fields. Represented fields may include but will not be limited to: Decision Theory, Epistemology, Ethics (particularly Applied Ethics), Health Economics, Development Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and Psychology (particularly Animal Behavior).

To give you an idea of what kinds of research presentations we are looking for, here are some possible examples:


The moral relevance of the long-run outcomes of actions
Comparative study of successful and unsuccessful historical social movements
International policy goals for preventing global catastrophic risks
Managing the spread of antibiotic resistance
The psychology of speciesism


Submission Details
Participants should submit an abstract and a CV to researchmeeting@centerforeffectivealtruism.org by July 10th. Abstracts should aim to be between 300 and 500 words. Submissions will be selected by the Center for Effective Altruism based on their relevance to Effective Altruism, quality of research, originality and potential impact. Please note that since the event is interdisciplinary, submissions should be aimed at informed non-specialists. Applicants will be notified if they have been accepted by July 15th. Applicants selected for presentations will also be notified at this time. Travel grants will be available on a limited basis. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for a grant in your application.


Important Dates:
Abstract and CV submissions: July 10th
Notification of acceptance: July 15th.
Poster session: August 5th and 7th
Presentations: August 7th