engaging with ideas, innovation and people Dr Michael Mair

Overview –Running since Spring 2011 –65+ events featuring 90+ speakers from 20+ departments across the three faculties –10 doctoral research clinics open to students across the North West involving cross-disciplinary panels of Liverpool academics –Several master classes, cross-institutional workshops, day-schools, symposia and conferences for students and academics regionally, nationally and internationally –Mailing list of postgraduate and academic researchers internally and externally (see for more details) –Support for various research networks in the UoL (and beyond) –Growing archive of talks and events with dedicated webpages providing access to various resources (slides, documents, readings, audio and video recordings) YouTube channel: 8,000+ views and growing 2

Core activities –Research and methods talks, e.g. the ‘Legacies’ series –Workshops, master classes, research day schools, etc. –Doctoral research clinics –One-off events inc. symposia, conferences and more –Short courses and methods training –Designed to: highlight/provide access to methodological expertise within the UoL –Promote research activity of all kinds and at all levels –Foster interdisciplinary dialogue, collaboration and innovation internally and externally 3

Core activities –Brings together the different strands of the UoL’s contribution to regional, national and international research networks –Provides next generation of researchers with access to latest developments in different fields of research –Operates in parallel with/supports wider doctoral training partnerships and the new Liverpool Doctoral College 4

Background: broad changes in research landscape Doctoral Training Networks (e.g. ESRC NWDTC/AHRC NWCDTP) More emphasis on methods/training/expertise: NCRM/RDF Formation of Methods North West Complementarity/distinctiveness not replication Reflected in ethos of Liverpool Doctoral College 5

Why Reflects three distinctive strands in the research tradition of the University of Liverpool Engagement with the major moral, political and philosophical ideas and questions of the day Engagement with, and contribution to, methodological and intellectual innovation Engagement with people through research – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally broad mission to promote these three aspects of research within and across disciplines 6

Not a narrow methods focus, emphasis on –Understanding/contributing to wider social, cultural, economic and political processes –Innovation, capacity building and potential for collaboration/cross-fertilisation of ideas and approaches –Creating/sustaining unique local, national and international relationships 7

Explicit acknowledgment of historic connections with/legacy of figures like: Dr William Henry Duncan, James Newlands, Eleanor Rathbone, Charles Booth, Olaf Stapledon, Joseph Rotblat, and many others Not simply activists, campaigners and reformers Also respected social scientists, arts and humanities scholars and scientific/medical researchers Capacity to perform one role linked to the other 8

Connects into the other strands of research via a distinctive approach to methods and methodology Not just about social relevance of research (‘impact’, ‘knowledge exchange’) All transformative thinkers and researchers: innovators in fields of knowledge as well as in social, cultural and political life 9

Doctor Duncan/James Newlands: pioneers in field of social medicine and public health Charles Booth: pioneer in ethnographic and spatial studies of poverty and demography Eleanor Rathbone: pioneer in field of policy studies Olaf Stapledon/Joseph Rotblat: pioneering peace campaigners, internationalists, futurologists takes up the contemporary expressions of this tradition of intellectual leadership and innovation 10

Demonstrated in past events, e.g. European Institute for Gender Equality presentation on the Gender Equality Index Master classes/workshops on digital research, investigating the workplace, psychohistory in interdisciplinary contexts, participatory inquiry, health impact assessment, and more Day schools on researching corporate power structures Talks on improving tuberculosis diagnostics, citizen science, studying the powerful, the influence of literature on science, writing biography, archaeological contributions to understandings of the state, and more All reflections on contemporary ‘matters of concern’ at intersections between fields of research 11

Traces through to joint activity with Methods North West Annual problem-focused doctoral research clinics on analysis, ethics and theory Conferences on visualisation, ‘live data’, research with children and transformative social science 12

Continued in this year’s programme … Short courses –Critical Discourse Analysis –Ethnographic Studies of Science and Technology –Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis –Focus Groups –Interviewing –Narrative Interviewing –Participatory Action Research –Using Foucault’s Methods –Using Visual Methods –Working with Nvivo via CSD 13

Long courses –Researching Medicine, Health and Society: Epistemological and Methodological Approaches Underpinning Forms of Qualitative Inquiry (6 weeks from 22 nd October) –Understanding Society Using Quantitative Methods (12 weeks) –Practical Research Skills (12 weeks) –Advanced Statistics and Methods (12 weeks) 14

Workshops/symposia/day schools –Academic Blogging –LGBT Research Symposium (with the LGBT Staff/PGR Network) –An Introduction to European and International Dimensions to Research on the Law –Exploring Legal Research Methods: Doctrinal, Critical and Socio- Legal –Exploring Feminist Legal Research –Writing and Narratology –Text Encoding –Prosopography –Methodological Approaches to Political Economy –Investigating Private Companies 15

Talks and other events –Prof John Holmwood: Social Science and Democratic Knowledge; Re-imagining Social Science after the Public University –Prof David Whyte: Joseph Rotblat – Legacies –Dr Dan Whistler & Dr Victoria Browne: Gillian Howie – Legacies –Day of events to mark 70 th anniversary of death of Eleanor Rathbone, including a talk by her award-winning biographer, Susan Pedersen, on social justice 16

Additions to the programme –Always seeking ideas, proposals and requests from the PGR community on what else we can do –Also happy to discuss how to access funding through regional and national research networks –Feel free to get in touch! 17

provides access to research and research training which actively and critically engages with ideas, innovation and people For more information, go to or contact 18

Useful links – – – – – 19