In November 2010, retrospective life history data from the third wave of SHARE, the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, were made available to the scientific community (www.share-project.org/sharelife). Combined with the first two waves, the data give a detailed picture of the status of each individual in 2004 and 2006, plus a view across the entire life course in 2008, ranging from career steps, economic conditions, family history, health development, and housing back to childhood living conditions. SHARE(LIFE) thus provides a fascinating account of life in Europe over the past century.

The 3rd International SHARE User Conference shall provide a forum for 'old' and 'new' users to share their experiences with SHARE and to discuss ongoing research projects with an interdisciplinary and international audience. Submissions by colleagues at earlier stages of their scientific career are particularly welcome. We invite SHARE papers on all topics, including methodological issues and comparisons with ELSA/HRS. Preference will be given to longitudinal studies using the retrospective SHARELIFE data. We plan a special life course issue in a high quality journal, and thus encourage the submission of full papers on life course topics if available.

All submissions should include an abstract of 1000 words max (plus figures/tables) providing information about the research question, the variables used, and the type of empirical analysis. Abstracts should be submitted to Martina Brandt ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by 1 May 2011. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by 1 June 2011. There will be no conference fee, however, travel and accommodation should be covered by the participants themselves.

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