Register Now

Dear Members / Delegates

We look forward hugely to welcoming you to Manchester for the 47th Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology, hosted by the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Salford from 4^th – 6^th July 2018.  Early Bird registration deadlines are fast approaching – you will need to register by 26^th April to secure advantageous rates.

We have finalised the scientific programme which is looking really great, with almost 500 papers and posters across the conference themes with delegates from near and far.  Reflecting contemporary concerns from researchers, scholars, practitioners and older people around the world about the injustices associated with ageing unequally, the general theme of the conference is Ageing in an Unequal World: Shaping Environments for the 21st Century, with sub-themes including  Unequal ageing  Environments for ageing in the 21st Century  Ageing in a global context  Social participation, citizenship and the welfare state  Health and social care practices and contexts  Theories, methods and critical perspectives  Technology and innovation  The arts, leisure and consumption Connections and relationships &  Work, retirement and the economy.   We are delighted to welcome our Plenary Speakers: Professors James Nazroo, Armando Barrientos, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Francie Lund, and Susanne Iwarsson  who will all address the main conference theme, and in addition, we have three Flagship Symposia, special symposia from our BSG special interest groups, and we are very pleased to introduce the inaugural Annual Age UK Averil Osborn Symposium on Participatory Research.    A special thank you too to our sponsors and exhibitors whose support is always so essential to a successful conference. 

The conference is a great place for Phd students and early career researchers, and the Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA) Committee have organised a fabulous programme, with a pre-conference event, and dedicated social events throughout. 

Drawing a motif from the famous Manchester Worker Bee emblem, our social programme,  #BeeTogether at BSG2018, offers a dedicated #BeeTogether area where you can meet people and get involved with some fun activities alongside and throughout the conference timetable. We will also have a pop up cinema with short films showing  as well as other scheduled and unscheduled activities.  Join us for an architectural walk around Manchester on Wednesday morning before the conference starts, and later as we host a welcome reception with food and drink on Wednesday evening, and the Gala Dinner at the famous Principal Hotel on Thursday evening.

Manchester will be a great place to be that week if you are interested in ageing with numerous Fringe events  – do come along a few days before and stay beyond the conference to participate in other things happening.  These include the MICRA Annual Lecture, which this year will be delivered on Monday 2^nd July 17.30 - 19:00 by Professor Christina Victor, recipient of the British Society of Gerontology’s Outstanding Achievement Award, the Society’s highest honour, in 2017. There is the EU Falls Festival 2018, New Solutions to Old Problems: ensuring sustainability of falls prevention interventions, from Monday 2 to Tuesday 3 July 2018, also the International Festival of Public Health, and, throughout Manchester, the Festival of Ageing.  We are also proud to co-sponsor the photography exhibition No More Wrinkly Hands  by photographer Mark Epstein which will take place in the vicinity of the conference and with a showing in the renowned (and stunning) Whitworth Gallery.  For more details, see our dedicated Fringe pages.

And of course Manchester itself is a fascinating city and is surrounded by some of the most beautiful natural landscape in the world with the Peak and Lake Districts a stone’s throw away.  We’ve put together our top things to do in the City and the Region and we do hope we can encourage you to stay a while and enjoy the things the North-West has to offer. 

The annual British Society of Gerontology conference is an excellent opportunity to showcase and learn from research across a range of gerontological domains, foster collaboration across a wide range of academic disciplines, exchange intellectual ideas, communicate across professional practices, and promote participatory methods involving older people and their wider communities.   Please do share this message with anyone in your networks who might be interested in attending, and do draw attention to the early bird registration deadline and sponsorship packages.

You can follow the conference on twitter @BSGManchester18  using hashtags #BSG18 #BSG2018 #BeeTogether – and closer to the conference on Instagram too. A special prize for the best Instagram image of a #ManchesterBee with all the conference hashtags taken anywhere in the City while the conference is on!

We look forward very much to welcoming you,

Professor Debora Price