Call for Maps for the 9th Iteration of the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science Exhibit on “Science Maps Showing Trends and Dynamics” (2013)
Background and Goals
The Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit was created to inspire cross-disciplinary discussion on how to best track and communicate human activity and scientific progress on a global scale. It has two components: (1) physical exhibits enable the close inspection of high- quality reproductions of maps for display at conferences and education centers and (2) the online counterpart (http://scimaps.org) provides links to a selected series of maps and their makers along with detailed explanations of how these maps work. provides links to a selected series of maps and their makers along with detailed explanations of how these maps work.
Places & Spaces is a 10-year effort. Each year, 10 new maps are added, which will result in 100 maps total in 2014. Each iteration of the exhibit attempts to learn from the best examples of visualization design. To accomplish this goal, each iteration compares and contrasts four existing maps with six new maps of science. Themes for the different iterations/years are:
- 1st Iteration (2005): The Power of Maps
- 2nd Iteration (2006): The Power of Reference Systems
- 3rd Iteration (2007): The Power of Forecasts
- 4th Iteration (2008): Science Maps for Economic Decision Makers
- 5th Iteration (2009): Science Maps for Science Policy Makers
- 6th Iteration (2010): Science Maps for Scholars
- 7th Iteration (2011): Science Maps as Visual Interfaces to Digital Libraries
- 8th Iteration (2012): Science Maps for Kids
- 9th Iteration (2013): Science Maps Showing Trends and Dynamics
- 10th Iteration (2014): Science Mapping Frontiers
Places & Spaces was first shown at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in April 2005. Since then, the physical exhibit has been displayed at 220 venues in 22 countries, including 15 in Europe, as well as Japan, China, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and the United States. A schedule of all display locations can be found at http://scimaps.org/exhibitions.
Submission Details
The 9th iteration of the Mapping Science exhibit is devoted to science maps that show general trends and patterns in science and technology (S&T) and predict future developments of S&T. Micro to macro studies using quantitative and/or qualitative data are welcome, and mixed methods approaches are encouraged. Maps should be understandable by a general audience and might answer questions such as:
- Where do good ideas come from?
- Where are star scientists trained?
- How is funding correlated with scientific advance?
- Are download counts or news and Twitter coverage a predictor for citation counts?
- What should I study today to have a good job tomorrow?
- Where should I invest my money?
- Will we have another recession?
- How does science evolve over time?
The maps might show forecasts, see 3rd Iteration (2007): “The Power of Forecasts” or
- Trends in science funding and its impact on research and education.
- Differences between predicting physical and social systems—the former are not impacted by predictions while the latter are affected.
- Realizations of science fiction predictions—how far can one predict?
- Accuracy of Delphi studies or other predictions.
- Breakthroughs of the year by science magazines—picking the winners.
Maps should show a visual rendering of a dataset together with a legend, textual description, and acknowledgements as required to interpret the map. Maps can be abstract, geographical, or feature-based, but are typically richer than simple x-y plots. Data can be used to generate a reference system over which other data—e.g., career trajectories—are overlaid. Data can also be projected onto an existing reference system (e.g., a map of the world). Maps should present fully formed ideas and analysis; they should not be simple sketches of “what we plan to do.” See this PDF map collection for an overview of the 80 maps already featured in the exhibit. Given the theme of this iteration, links to interactive web sites, hands-on displays, or interactive tools are strongly encouraged.
Each initial entry must be submitted by January 30th, 2013, and needs to include:
- Low-resolution version of map
- Title of work
- Author(s) name, email address, affiliation, mailing address
- Copyright holder (if different from authors)
- Description of work: learning objectives addressed, data used, data analysis, visualization techniques applied, and main insights gained (100-300 words)
- References to publications or online sites in which the map appeared
- Links to related projects/works
- At least three keywords
Entries should be submitted via EasyChair by clicking here. Submit map as pdf file. Enter author info, a title, and three keywords. Submit all other information via the ‘Abstract’ field.
Review Process
All submissions will be reviewed by the exhibit advisory board and children aged 5-14. Submissions will be evaluated in terms of
- Scientific value – quality of data collection, analysis and communication of results in support of clearly stated learning objectives. Appropriate and innovative application of existing algorithms and/or development of new approaches.
- Value for decision making – what major insight does the map provide and why does it matter? Is the map easy to understand by a general audience? Does it inspire viewers to learn more about science and technology?
Final Submission
Authors of winning entries will be contacted early February and invited to submit final entries by April 30th, 2013. Each final entry should consist of:
- Title of Work
- Author(s) name, email address, affiliation, mailing address
- 24 x 30 inch, 300 dpi, landscape version of map using provided template at http://scimaps.org/exhibit/images/Matte_300DPI.psd (13.9 MB)
- Official map description (200 words)
- Biographies for all authors (about 100 words each)
- High resolution portraits of all authors that are no smaller than 360 x 450 pixels, or 1.2" x 1.5" at 300 dpi. Larger is always better since we can always crop them down to our specific needs for both print and web.
- Signed copyright and reproduction agreement
Map makers are welcome to use the expertise and resources of the exhibit curators and designers when designing and producing high resolution versions of final maps. The layout and production of the 8th iteration maps are expected to be ready for display by mid-June, 2012.
Important Dates
Submit initial entries: January 30th, 2013
Notification to mapmakers: February 28th, 2013
Submit final entries: April 30th, 2013
9th iteration ready for display: June 2013
Exhibit Advisory Board
- Gary Berg-Cross, SUNY Stony Brook
- Bob Bishop, ICES Foundation
- Kevin Boyack, SciTech Strategies, Inc.
- Donna Cox, Illinois eDream Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Bonnie DeVarco, Media X, Stanford University
- Sara Irina Fabrikant, Geography Department, University of Zürich, Switzerland
- Marjorie Hlava, Access Innovations
- Peter A. Hook, Law Librarian, Indiana University
- Manuel Lima, Royal Society of Arts, Microsoft Bing, VisualComplexity.com
- Deborah MacPherson, Accuracy&Aesthetics
- Lev Manovich, Visual Arts Department, University of California at San Diego
- Carlo Ratti, Professor and Director of SENSEable City Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Eric Rodenbeck, Stamen Design
- André Skupin, Associate Professor of Geography, San Diego State University
- Moritz Stefaner, Freelance Designer
- Stephen Uzzo, New York Hall of Science
- Caroline Wagner, Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy and John Glenn School for Public Affairs, Ohio State University
- Benjamin Wiederkehr, Founder, InteractiveThings.com
Please feel free to send any questions you might have regarding the judging process to Katy Börner (katy@indiana.edu) keep subject header.
