Sheffield universities host 700 researchers for international academic conference

An academic conference of more than 700 international researchers took place in Sheffield last week.

The Association of Internet Researcher’s (AoIR) 25^th annual conference was organised in partnership with members from the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam, and saw some of the world’s most esteemed scholars from the field of internet research arriving in the city.

Attendees travelled from 42 different countries across six continents.

President of AoIR Nicholas John told The Sheffield Tab: “There are some really fantastic internet researchers in Sheffield, so it makes a lot of sense to come to a place where there is a group of people from the community of the association.”

“A bunch of people in Sheffield put together a nice proposal and were really keen for us all to come here, show themselves off, and host everyone in a city that they all seem to really love and are really proud of.”

The theme of the conference was “industry” – a nod to Sheffield’s industrial heritage.

“It invites us to think about the internet and social media as industries with corporations and business models. It invites us to think about data as a commodity. It invites us to think about non-material labour – the fact that an awful lot of people work in the world of the internet just by sitting at a desk,” Nicholas added.

“So that’s the theme of the conference – but really it’s an opportunity for internet researchers to present their work, get feedback, meet colleagues, and develop networks and connections.”

Talks and panel discussions took place on the University of Sheffield Campus in the Octagon Centre, as well as at Sheffield City Hall.

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Dr Mon Rodriguez-Amat, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, said he was “extremely pleased” to see the event being hosted in Sheffield, despite it having taken more than five years and “a massive amount of work” to get to this point.

“Having its 25th annual conference in Sheffield is a massive statement. It consolidates the city and the Faculty of Social Sciences and highlights, and confirms the work some colleagues here have done for more than a decade.

“Professor Helen Kennedy has been [Faculty Research] Chair of Digital Media and Society [since 2014] – and with her, very prominent scholars have made the University of Sheffield a key reference point for research on digital society and internet related forms of communication. Now there are world prominent scholars spread across the social sciences faculty: in the journalism school, in the information school, in the law school, in sociology. All of those could be part of this moment.”

He added: “It [was] also an opportunity for the city to show at its best – and to open a bridge between the two universities in Sheffield!”

The event began on Wednesday 30^th October and concluded on Saturday 2^nd November.

Previous conferences have been held in cities such as Philadelphia, Dublin, Brisbane, and Montreal.