KEY BENEFITS:

Participation in Research Methods Academy gives you:

• An overview of research methods trends
• Inspiration to your own research which may lead to innovative solutions to traditional research approaches
• Competencies to enhance your contribution of qualified input to research methods to other's research projects
• Insight into how research adds value to your own organization
• Ability to assess the relevance and the quality of scientific results/reseasrch reports

PARTICIPANT PROFILE:

The programme is designed for researchers, research managers, administrators, decision-makers, and professionals from public or private organizations, e.g. universities, universities of applied science, ministries, think tanks and research-intensive consultancies or companies.

PROGRAMME TOPICS:

Day 1 - module 1
This module examines how research functions as a part of the knowledge production system and how it relates to innovation. What is characteristic for an innovation system and for an innovative organization?

Key benefits from module 1

Module 1 enhances participants understanding of:

• The function and structure of the research system and some of its basic norms and values
• What innovation is in relation to research
• The various types of differences between research and innovation

Day 1 - module 2
Module 2 presents an overview of some current issues facing research - especially when research seeks interdisciplinarity and addresses important societal challenges. This is important because there are different disciplines and conceptions of how knowledge and research can
contribute to solutions of pressing problems. This module addresses the differences between forms of research and the role of differencent forms of knowledge, especially the possibility or non-possibility of getting causal knowledge.

Key benefits from module 2

Module 2 provides participants with:

• Insight into the basics of interdisciplinary research
• The identification and understanding of various conceptions of interdisciplinarity
• The relation between types of problems and research designs in the different parts of the research system – science, social science, and humanities
• An overview of the relation between forms of interdisciplinarity and research of important societal problems – i. e. problems that involve issues from different knowledge and research forms e.g. ecology and economics, medicine and psychology

Day 2 - module 3

Module 3 will target central concepts that play a role in discussions on the research system. Focus will be on the so-called Mode 1 and Mode 2 types of research and how this influential typology has affected research policy and organization. Finally, the acquired findings of module 1 and 2 will be part of the discussion of future tendencies as to interdisciplinarity.

Key benefits from module 3

Module 3 enhances participants knowledge of:

• Central developments and debates concerning the research system
• Research types and the attached research system
• Current development tendencies
• How these issues relate to challenges in their own organizations

Day 2 - module 4
Module 4 identifies the various ways in which research is used to create or justify practices and policies. This is an important role different from the one where we use research to support innovation. There is a growing tendency to make policies and practices research-based. What does that mean and imply? The role of knowledge and research in the so-called knowledge economy is important here as is the growing desire in especially the public sector to make practices and policies grounded in research and scientific knowledge. This involves various types of knowledge-roles, such as the one of the researcher focusing on what we do not know, the expert who knows what we know, and the professional whose competence is based on knowing what we know and do not know.
 

Key benefits from module 4

Module 4 provides participants with:

• Enhanced understanding of how research can be used and misused in creating and justifying practices and policies
• Insight into some of the central areas where research plays an important role in shaping policies and strategies
• Broader knowledge on the relation between the roles of researchers, experts, and professionals

TEACHING METHOD

The sessions will be interactive, alternating between presentations, group work, and presentations of cases, and the participants are expected to prepare a brief description of central challenges from their own organisation or research.