The three-day event was hosted jointly by the Leibniz-Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) and the University of Bamberg. Program highlights were keynote lectures by Prof. Hans-Peter Blossfeld, European University Institute Florence, Prof. Jeylan Mortimer, University of Minnesota, and Prof. Sabine Weinert, University of Bamberg. During 60 sessions and around 200 lectures the participants discussed latest research aspects in connection with the diverse thematic field of longitudinal research.

Already on the day before the main conference, three workshops were offered: On the premises of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, the two half-day events “TwinLife – A Genetically Informative Study on the Development of Social Inequality” and “NEPS – A Comprehensive Large-Scale Data Infrastructure for Educational Research” took place. In the conference rooms at the Markusplatz, the researchers had the opportunity to discuss the topic “Social-to-Biological Transitions and Biomarkers”.

Moreover, several prizes were awarded: For the first time, the LIVES Best Paper Award for Young Scholars was handed out with a prize money of 2,000 EUR. Prof. Dario Spini, University of Lausanne, presented the award during the conference opening to Dr. Stella Chatzitheochari, Assistant Professor at the University Warwick, for her article “Doubly Disadvantaged? Bullying Experiences Among Disabled Children and Young People in England”. A further special highlight was the presentation of a surprise award to John Bynner, UCL Institute of Education. The award, which is named after him, will from now on be presented annually to honor scientists for their excellent work in the field of longitudinal educational research.

The SLLS poster award, sponsored by the infas Institute for Applied Social Sciences, was presented to Prof. Chris Taylor, Cardiff University, for his poster entitled “The Involvement of Grandparents in the Early Years: A Geographical Comparison” and also to Kerstin Hoenig, LIfBi, for her poster with the title “Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Social Capital in the Transition to Vocational Training in Germany”. The award was presented during the festive conference dinner at the Welcome Hotel Residenzschloss by Doris Hess, Head of Department  Social Research at infas, and Prof. Amanda Sacker, President of the SLLS, University College of London.