This one-day workshop is designed for PhD and MRes students who have conducted or plan to conduct in fieldwork in developing countries. It provides participants with an opportunity to present methodological findings, share experiences, and learn from experienced academics. The event will focus on two key themes:

• The challenges of conducting research in developing countries – developing cultural and political sensitivity, reading political change, applying ethical frameworks to developing country contexts, security challenges, working with research assistants.
• Negotiating the tensions of doing policy-related research – presenting critical findings, collaborating and managing relationships with external agencies (e.g. donor agencies, NGOs, universities) during the research process, issues for researchers from developing countries.

The free one-day workshop is funded by the South West Doctoral Training Centre and is conducted in collaboration with the Development Studies Association, following their annual conference which will be held in Bath on 7-8 th September 2015. The event is free and open to doctoral students from all institutions. The workshop is limited to 30 participants, so please book your place as soon as possible by emailing the workshop convenor Dr. Oliver Walton o.e.walton@bath.ac.uk

Paper submissions on either of the 2 main themes are invited from research students. A selection of papers will be presented in each of the three sessions. Abstracts (max 400 words) should be submitted to o.e.walton@bath.ac.uk before the 31 st July.

The workshop will include a combination of key note presentations, academic/practitioner/student panel discussions, and paper presentations from students. Lunch, buffet dinner and refreshments are provided free of charge. A provisional schedule is outlined below:

Provisional workshop schedule

8.45-9.00 Registration and coffee
9.00-9.45 Welcome and keynote presentation (TBC)
9.45-11.15 Session 1 – The political challenges of conducting research in developing
countries (2-3 academic/practitioner/research student presentations)
11.15-11.30 Break
11.30-13.00 Session 2 – Negotiating the tensions of doing policy-related research (2-3
presentations by academics/practitioner/research students)
13.00-14.00 Catered Lunch
14.00-15.30 Session 3 – Perspectives from the field (paper presentations from current research students)
15.30-15.45 Break
15.45-17.30 Wrap-up session and concluding remarks
18.00-19.30 Drinks and dinner

http://www.swdtc.ac.uk/advancedtrainingevents/