Research Methods Teaching Community of Practice
Calling all research methods’ teachers and trainers!
Join us in autumn 2024 for a day of discussion and exchange about the future of research methods teaching. Engage with us in building a global Community of Practice of research methods teachers and trainers for future cooperation and peer learning.
Explore Cutting-Edge Tools and Strategies
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this event is your opportunity to enhance your capacity to prepare methods courses and seminars. Dive into concrete tools and strategies through dynamic idea exchanges with fellow educators.
Globally Connecting Research Methods Teachers
Break down barriers between scholars in the Global North and Global South as we foster an inclusive environment for exchange. Connect with individuals from diverse backgrounds, disciplinary training, and teaching approaches to promote mutual understanding and community building.
Target Audience
Open to educators at all career stages teaching methods courses or seminars at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. From research design to methodology and specific methods/techniques, there’s something for everyone.
Event Schedule
| Time | Session |
| 08:30-09:30 | Early morning networking & registration – coffee |
| 09:30-10:30 | Welcome & Opening Plenary |
| 10:30-10:45 | Coffee break |
| 10:45-12:00 | Future of Research Panel |
| 12:00-13:30 | Lunch break |
| 13:30-15:00 | Four Parallel Workshops: Session 1 |
| 15:00-15:15 | Coffee break |
| 15:15-16:45 | Four Parallel Workshops: Session 2 |
| 16:45-17:00 | Coffee break |
| 17:00-17:45 | Concluding Roundtable: Lessons Learned from the Workshops & Sustaining a Community of Practice |
| 17:45-20:00 | Reception |
Opening Plenary
This launch event’s overarching aim – to build a community of practice of research methods instructors – starts in the opening session. Come prepared to participate and find out who else is in the room through interactive activities.
Future of Research Panel
In this session, four panelists reflect on the future of research and what this future means for research methods teaching. In addition to their varied research methods teaching experiences, panelists differ in their disciplines, methodological approaches, career stages, and work and research sites.
Four Parallel Workshops
Participate in practical workshops covering various aspects of the research process, easily adaptable into course design, assignments, or in-class activities. The workshops are designed to actively engage teachers focused on diverse methods/approaches: quantitative, qualitative, critical approaches, interpretivist, and mixed method.
Workshop 1: Technological Advances & Research
Drawing on their expertise in generative AI, online learning, and big data, workshop facilitators will lead participants through process- and pedagogy-oriented conversations on integrating technological advances in research.
Workshop 2: Supervising Research
This workshop addresses various research supervision issues:
- Changing supervisory needs of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students at different stages of their projects.
- Pedagogical approaches to support students in integrating ontology, epistemology, axiology, theory, and methodology in research proposals.
- Feminist and queer approaches to mentoring and care in university settings.
Facilitators bring a wealth of scholarly and professional experience on these issues.
Workshop 3: Responsible Research Ethics
Explore the concept of “responsible research” today. Discuss how instructors can encourage students to engage meaningfully with:
- Ethics
- Disciplinary standards and codes of conduct
- Decolonizing approaches
- Climate considerations
- Collaboration and community engagement
This workshop is led by instructors with scholarly interests in research ethics and innovative methodological approaches to critically interrogate inequalities.
Workshop 4: Pedagogy of Research Methods
Facilitators will leverage their experience with enquiry-based and research-led teaching, applied pedagogy, and digital technology in teaching to discuss:
- Different teaching modalities
- Assessments
- Approaches for teaching different cohorts
- Particular methods in pedagogy
This workshop is focused on enhancing participants’ teaching methods in research education.
Attendance at MethodsNET events is open to all. The fee for non-members is €220 per event. However, MethodsNET membership for 2024-2025 provides a substantial discount, enabling attendance at one, two, or all three Launch Events for as low as €20 per event, up to €100 per event, based on your status, plus the membership fee.
MethodsNET membership provides numerous benefits that we are developing alongside the Launch Events. There are three types of membership: expert, regular, and student. The expert membership is tailored for seasoned professionals and emerging innovators in research methods. It facilitates networking with fellow experts, showcasing expertise on a global platform, and collaborating with like-minded individuals to advance the field.
Check out the membership page to decide which category best suits your status and the number of events you wish to attend. Our fee structure considers different income levels, status, and locations, focusing on equality and accessibility.
Practical Information
The event was conducted in English and took place in-person at UCLouvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
For accommodation, our suggested hotels are Gite Mozaik (3 minute walk) or either the Martin’s Hotel (6 minute walk) and ibis Styles LLN (15 minute walk). UCLouvain is conveniently located just 30 minutes by train from Brussels. See here for more information on access to UCLouvain.
Committee members
Co-Chair
Florian Weiler
Central European University
Florian Weiler is an Associate Professor at Central European University. Florian joined CEU’s Department of Public Policy as Assistant Professor at the beginning of September 2020 and was promoted to Associate Professor in June 2022. Before coming to CEU he was Assistant Professor for Political Economy at the University of Groningen, Campus Fryslan. Florian holds a PhD from ETH Zurich, where he worked on the global political economy of climate change to earn his dissertation, which he defended in 2013. After finishing his dissertation, he held academic positions at the University of Bamberg (Post-doc), the University of Kent (Lecturer), and the University of Basel (Senior Researcher). His recent academic work focuses on environmental issues on the one hand, particularly on adaptation and adaptation aid, and on stakeholder strategies to influence policy processes on the other
Co-Chair
Christine Gibb
University of Ottawa
Christine Gibb (she/her) is an Associate Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, where she teaches courses on migration, disasters, and research methods. She has conducted human geography field research in Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Africa, virtual disaster research in North America, and ecology fieldwork in North America. She has done research for Canadian non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies on development, environment and gender issues. She is a feminist geographer who examines the taken-for-granted aspects of disaster responses by studying lived experiences and mobilities at a variety of scales, and by situating them in broader geopolitical contexts. Her research foregrounds questions about power and access to and control over resources and space at multiple scales. In her research, as well as in her teaching, she strives to create and share knowledge that fosters social and environmental justice. Practically, this objective means building reciprocity into research projects, opening research spaces for so-called vulnerable populations, and turning the critical research lens she used for my disaster im/mobilities research towards other aspects of my professional life – including research methods and pedagogy.
EB member-in-charge
Cai Wilkinson
Deakin University
Associate Professor in International Relations at Deakin University, Australia, where she teaches into a range of undergraduate and postgraduate taught programs as well as supervising Honours, Masters and PhD research projects. Her approach to teaching focuses on experiential learning, and she has extensive expertise in the design and implementation of courses involving use of simulations, practical exercises, immersion and critical reflection for both in-person and online delivery. Her research focuses on community and individual experiences of insecurity in countries of the former Soviet Union, with a particular focus on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. She has undertaken ethnographic fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan several times, including researching the development of LGBT activism in the republic, and her work has been published in a range of journals including Security Dialogue, Europe-Asia Studies, and Journal of Human Rights, as well as in edited volumes on research methods, LGBTQ+ politics, queer security and Central Asian politics. She is a member of the international advisory boards for the Routledge Series on Interpretive Methods, the Journal of International Relations and Development, Palgrave’s Global Queer Politics book series and the international editorial board of Bristol University Press’ Gender, Sexuality and Global Politics series. In addition to institutional teaching and student engagement awards (2009, 2016, 2017 and 2021), Cai was the recipient of the International Studies Association LGBTQA Caucus Eminent Scholar Award in 2019, the Cora Maas Award for best evaluated courses at an ECPR Methods School in 2020, and the 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award from the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Cai holds a PhD in Eurasian Studies, a Masters in Russian and East European Studies, a BA (Hons) in Russian, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, all from the University of Birmingham in the UK.
