Scientific Highlights:
                   The series of Euro Summer School (2002-4) events entitled "Communication: Media, Social Interactions and Social
Representations" continue the 1995-2000 cycle on "Social Representations and Communication". These high-level, intensive international didactic seminars are an essential part of research training for post-graduate students enrolled in the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication and for Marie Curie Fellows. They are also open to a select number of young researchers from all countries. The 9° International Summer School on SR &C, entitled "Communication studies and Social Representations: a Theoretical and Methodological Dialogue through Research", follows the successful edition of 2001 on "New Media: Nets and Internet". Both events accomplished the identified goals of this cycle of International Summer Schools dedicated to "Communication: Language, Representations, Interactions":

* to widen participants' knowledge of the theories, methodologies and applications of Communication Studies in relation to the Social Representations paradigm
* to develop technological expertise on communication and interaction in "face-to-face", mediated and virtual contexts
* to provide multidisciplinary and multi-methodological research training for participants
* to maintain the Summer School's role as the leading European forum for state of the art research and research training

                   As regards scientific content, the 2003 International Summer School offered critical analysis and discussion of the relations between Communication, Media and Social Representations, developing a multidisciplinary theoretical framework and multi-methodological approach. Exemplary studies of different theoretical models were presented looking at the added value when social psychological empirical research on communication is examined in the light of organisational psychology, cultural studies, human rights, epistemology of knowledge, social psychology and media studies, experimental social psychology and political psychology.

Training:

The daily programme of the International Summer School followed a well-tested didactic formula that integrated:
* keynote lectures in the plenary session by internationally recognised scientists in multidisciplinary areas (like organisational psychology, cultural studies, human rights, epistemology of knowledge, social psychology and media studies, experimental social psychology and political psychology) to be transmitted in a later stage in streaming videos on the web and diffused in DVD-D digital support, 
* significant contributions by the scientific officer, as representative of the most important European Institution in the field of Research and Research training;
* parallel workshops focussed on presentations relating to current projects of researchers and related interactive training sessions based on open discussion and feedback. Three parallel group seminars were focussed on the specific topic of this International Summer School or dedicated to the presentation of research reports by students currently enrolled in the European doctoral programme (including the new outstanding candidates admitted for academic year 2003-2004), those selected as Marie Curie Fellows as well as a number of other young researchers enrolled in national doctoral programmes outside the network. Following the suggestion of Programme Director Serge Moscovici, this is the second year that the participants enrolled into the Euro Ph.D. programme will attend a special training session reserved for them to share advise about their projects, as a monitor system, and to reinforce their sense of belonging to our institutional scientific community. 
* different types of advanced methodological training, both on experimental and qualitative approach (like focus groups and the photolangage technique);
* presentations of the multimedia tools on the web site and advanced training session on meta-theoretical analysis of S.R. corpus; 
* live interviews with the protagonists of the scientific field, "Between autobiography and the biography of the Social Representation theory";
* individual and group tutoring and co-tutoring;
* presentations and evaluation of the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication dissertations' final reports by an International final jury;
* dedicated meetings among the European Ph.D. and the Marie Curie Fellows, Tutors and the Scientific co-ordinator;
* informal meetings among all the participants alongside the swimming pool at the Hotel La Meridienne or during the visits to Rome and the Roman hill towns of Genazzano and Palestrina;
* monitoring and evaluative sessions for the whole event.

                   As in previous International Summer Schools on Social Representations, face-to-face interaction between participants was a fundamental characteristic of the event. Indeed, one of the main goals of Summer School activities was to involve participants in different learning sessions, ensuring that they were not mere onlookers but also drawn into the learning method and sharing what they have learned from their training in their own country. The activities involved in Euro PhD Summer School, (i.e., parallel workshops, forum discussions, roundtable discussions, informal meetings, plenary lectures and additionally this year live interviews with the protagonists of the scientific field) are particularly conducive to this kind of interaction. Interaction between teaching staff and young researchers was particularly encouraged and the possibility of individual meetings between invited speakers and participants was programmed into the didactic structure. As a Multipartner Marie Curie Training Site, participation in the International Summer Schools, part of the training for the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication, was also offered to Marie Curie Fellows. In this sense, the International Summer School did benefit a select number of young researchers enrolled in doctoral studies on S.R. & C.. 

European Added Value (incl. Networking): 

                   The theory of Social Representations, the field of study of the Euro PhD Summer School, originated in and spread out from Europe. With its link to the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication, the International Summer School has reinforced the European character of the research field and can be seen as a permanent European forum for disseminating state-of-the-art research in what has now become a multilingual, world-wide field of research. 
                   The International Summer School's tie to the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication. has also ensured the participation of young researchers from the partner Universities of the Euro PhD network. In addition, a large number of young researchers have also come from outside the Euro PhD network and not only from Western and Eastern Europe, but also from outside Europe. This year again the participants came from a wide range of different Universities and research institutions (17) and nationalities (14), (34 from E.C. countries, 10 from other Associated states and 1 from North America). The need for the study of communication as a prerequisite for EU progress has never been stronger. The new media, particularly the Internet, have also shown how flexible collective and individual interaction has become and how out of date are the standard forms of mass communication. However, only a few networks, such as the Euro PhD on Social Representations and Communication network, have regularly been able to integrate open distance learning and virtual mobility with intensive seminars that include physical mobility. As recognised Marie Curie Multipartner Training Site and selected as a "best practice" for its European doctoral programme by DG Education and Culture, this network is a model for aspiring networks of a similar nature and needs to be encouraged and further developed.
                   Furthermore, the Marie Curie Fellows selected this year participated in the International Summer School as part of their doctoral training. In brief, the participants in this event are not only diverse in provenance (country and institution), but also have diverse research interests within the specialised field of Social Representations and Communication. 

Additional Information:
                   Chosen as the site of the event, Genazzano is located about 45 km from Rome. It is situated on the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful landscape and is distinguished by the presence of interesting medieval ruins and works of art and of the International Centre of Contemporary Art (CIAC) located at Castello Colonna. This year, for the second time, the International Summer School was held at the magnificent Castle of Genazzano, a remarkable example of Renaissance architecture formerly belonging to the noble Colonna family. The Castle has been made available to the Euro Ph.D. on Social Representations and Communication by the Mayor of Genazzano in agreement with the Rector of the co-ordinating university, the University of Rome "La Sapienza" for important scientific activities, such as the annual International Summer School. Informal communication and a friendly atmosphere were facilitated by the fact that guest speakers and tutors spent most of their time under the same roof as the conference participants, both for scientific activities at Castello Colonna and in the relaxing Hotel La Meridienne.

                   The recordings of the lectures and seminars of the 9th International Summer School will be made available online, in digital format, at:
http://www.europhd.psi.uniroma1.it/schools/ss9.htm

                   We wish to inform that the we are aware of the fact that slightly more than one third of the total number of participants are nationals of the same country (53 participants, 1/3 = 17,6. Number of participants from the same country= 19 Italians). This unbalanced situation is a result of the last minute cancellation of some candidates and of a few foreign invited teachers, due to unexpected health and personal problems. During the selection of applicants, we respected this criteria of nationality, but were confronted with this difficulty when selected candidates cancelled their participation, as we didn't want to have to cancel the participation of already accepted Italian candidates. 

                   The Scientific programme of the International Summer School on SR &C, entitled ""Communication studies and Social Representations: a Theoretical and Methodological Dialogue through Research"" accomplished the identified goals of this cycle of International Summer Schools dedicated to "Communication: Language, Representations, Interactions":

* to widen participants' knowledge of the theories, methodologies and applications of Communication Studies in relation to the Social Representations paradigm
* to provide multidisciplinary and multi-methodological advanced research training for participants 
* to develop technological knowledge about communication and interaction in 'face to face', mediated and virtual contexts
* to maintain the International Summer School's role as the leading European forum for state of the art research and research training in Social Representations and Communication studies.

                    The International Summer School's link with the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication. ensures participation by young researchers from 13 partner Universities in the Euro PhD network in 8 different countries (A, CH, E, F, Fin, I, P, UK). However, the programme is also open to post-graduate doctoral students from any country, not just the EU. As with previous Summer Schools, interaction between researchers of different nationalities from EU Member and Associated States will be encouraged, as well as the participation of a few researchers working outside Europe (mainly from Canada, Latin America and the USA). Beginning in 2001, as a Marie Curie Training Multi-Partner Organisation, including 8 partner Universities in 6 different European countries (E, F, Fin, I, P, UK). participation in the International Summer Schools - as part of the training for the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication. - is also offered to Marie Curie Fellows. 
                    As regards scientific content, the 2003 International Summer School offered critical analysis and discussion of the relations between Communication, Media and Social Representations, developing a multidisciplinary theoretical framework and multi-methodological approach. Exemplary studies of different theoretical models were presented looking at the added value when social psychological empirical research on communication is examined in the light of sociology, cultural studies, linguistics and history of science.
Beside the participation of the teaching staff of the European  Doctorate on Social Representations and Communication, internationally recognised scientists in cultural studies, media studies and organizational psychology have been invited as guest lecturers.
 

* These announced invited speakers had to cancel their participation at the last minute, due to health problems or for personal reasons. But Prof. Helkama and Valencia participated, even if this had not been confirmed in the first announcement of the event.

                   Three parallel group seminars focussed on the specific topic of this International Summer School or dedicated to the presentation of research reports by students currently enrolled in the European doctoral programme (including the new outstanding candidates admitted for academic year 2003-2004), those selected as Marie Curie Fellows as well as a number of other young researchers enrolled in national doctoral programmes outside the network. In addition the participants enrolled into the Euro PhD programme attended a special training session reserved for them to share advise about their projects, as a monitor system, and to reinforce their sense of belonging to our institutional scientific community.
The three Small group seminars were:

1. Developing Euro PhD projects (moderated by: A. de Rosa, J. Perez)
2. Communication (moderated by: B. Orfali, J. Valsiner)
3. Societal Issues (moderated by: A.M. Pirttila Backman, K. Helkama)

In answer to the methodological training need of doctoral students and young researchers, several advanced training sessions were organized, two sessions dedicated to the meta-theoretical analysis of the literature on Social Representations, and two sessions to the focus group and photolangage techniques). Moreover during this edition the Euro PhD Alumni project was launched, and the event have been closed with the Final Jury of three of the Euro PhD students.