Annual Report 2015, Budapest
The support of Budapest Local Organising Committee and EERA´s office was, once again, very important to the success of the ERC 2015 Emerging Researchers’ Conference. The volunteers (ICT, set-up of rooms, information desk) were very good.
The coffee breaks and Social Events went well. The main social event on the first day of the conference was held on A38 Ship which is a famous concert venue, community centre and bar located in the city centre.
A small gathering for the the bursary winners was also held during the afternoon of Monday in one of the rooms of the Corvinus University
The keynote was given by Professor György Gergely after the opening ceremony and was well attended.
In general, the papers and posters were assessed as being of high quality and presenters came from all stages in their PhD studies.
199 papers and posters were accepted and 414 participants, from 47 countries, registered to attend. Approximately 40 participants did not show up.
Most session return slips were completed this year - due mostly to the vigillance of our Hugarian helpers. Therefore, we know that there were only 3 no-show presenters who had registered and failed to withdraw.
The Best Poster competition went well. One of the winners was at the closing ceremony to receive his certificate while another sent a representative; it was helpful that all three of the judges were able to attend each of the Interactive Poster sessions in order to agree on the winners. The Senior Fellow of the ERG, Fiona Hallett, participated in the jury´s meeting to help with the final decision.
The workshops were well received, and attendance on Tuesday afternoon was about 35 people per session.
The round table about "The challenges of the different stages of a PhD" was a joint event between the Emerging Researchers Group and WERA - World Education Research Association, who had their focal meeting in Budapest during ECER. The event was considered a success due to the invited guests and the informal format adopted which made participants interact much more. The roundtable was chaired by Prof Liesel Ebersöhn and Dr Patricia Fidalgo and the discussants were Sari Lindblomme-Ylanne, YC Cheng and Jeannie Oakes.
21 EERA bursaries were award (one of them funded by SAGE) during the opening ceremony where EERA´s President, Theo Wubbels, handed out the certificates.
Participants commented upon the quality of the Chairing and remarked that they had benefitted from the ensuing discussions.
Three EERA´s Networks (#23 - Policy Studies and Politics of Education, #27 - Didactics, Learning and Teachingand and #30 - Environmental and Sustainability Education Research, ESER) hosted workshops; other Networks have conducted these workshops in recent years showing a real commitment to Emerging Researchers.
The World Education Research Association had its focal meeting during ECER in Budapest and a joint event with the ERGroup took place (a roundtable). This initiave was considered very positive for both parties and expanded the collaboration of the ERGroup.
The local research community was involved in conference by helping review paper/poster submissions, chairing sessions and chosing the keynote speaker.