14th Supercentenarian Seminar Paris, November 2019

Call for papers

In the prolongation of the series started in Rostock in 2000, the 14th International Seminar on Supercentenarians will be organized by the Institut national d’études démographiques (INED) in Paris on November 28-29, 2019.

 

Collecting and analysing international data on supercentenarians (individuals who lived 110 years or more) is crucial to gather information needed to measure the age-specific mortality risks at very old age and to select the best models to adjust life tables at the oldest ages. Two challenges have to be faced: how to increase the number of observations at ages when they become very rare, and to strictly check the quality of the information at ages when age exaggeration can be frequent. For two decades an international group of researchers explored that field, by building the International Database on Longevity (IDL) and producing papers and books through their participation to the first 13 seminars. Time has come to open this collective work more widely to all interested researchers by launching a general call for papers for the 14th seminar. 

 

To be sure that most important items are covered the following list of themes (short, but not exclusive) is proposed:

  1. Country papers including an update of the current IDL list of cases,
  2. Validation of extreme cases,
  3. Around the Jeanne Calment controversy,
  4. The so called “blue zones” : myths and reality,
  5. What the analysis of “semi-supercentenarians” adds to that of supercentenarians,
  6. Comparing current vital statistics and validated data,
  7. Maximum life expectancies, maximum lifespans, minimum mortality rates, modal age at death, etc.,
  8. Mortality models and prospects at very old age, including the plateau hypothesis
  9. Causes of death among elderly,
  10. Any other relevant topics.

 

Please send proposals to super100_seminar@listes.ined.fr as soon as possible and not later than May 15 indicating the title and a short abstract (compulsory). Of course adding a longer summary or even a full paper if available is not forbidden!

 

A small scientific committee will select the most interesting proposals. It will make decisions before the end of June.

 

Please note that INED will cover collective expenses (meeting rooms, facilities, etc.) but not for individual travel and living expenses (with only very few exceptions under justified requests).

 

France Meslé, Jean-Marie Robine, Jacques Vallin and Jim Vaupel