PhD-masterclass: valorisatie van onderwijsinterventieonderzoek

We kindly invite you to the fourth interuniversity PhD-masterclass. This year, we focus specifically on
valorisation of educational intervention research. The goal of this PhD-masterclass is to broaden the
network and sharpen the skills of junior researchers in this field.

In order to realize these goals a two-day program will be organized on Thursday May 22 and Friday
May 23 2025 in Ghent including ‘networking-for-researchers’, contemplative lectures by seniors and
in-depth presentations and discussions of ongoing research of PhD students. We are happy to
announce that the program will also include a key-note lecture by prof. dr. Vincent Donche.

The program will start on May 22 at 10h and will end on May 23 at 16h30. Registration will include
the scientific program as well as coffee-breaks, lunches and dinner. Please note that all participants
are expected to attend the complete program during both days.

At present we are in the process of applying for funding to intervene in the costs for registration and
accommodation at the doctoral schools and departments of the participating universities (U
Antwerpen, KU Leuven, and UGhent). Given that we have already been partly successful in our
funding requests, we will again be able to guarantee a minimal cost for registration (all activities,
coffees, lunches, dinner and accommodation in a double room at the hotel). However, we were
unable to secure all funding from previous years. This means that this year, unlike last years, it is
highly likely that we will need to charge the costs for your hotel room if you request a single room.
More details are in the registration form. In case of late cancellation without a valid reason, a
cancellation fee (also in line with the hotel’s policy) will be charged.

In order to prepare for a highly interactive learning experience, we will ask each participant upon
registration to submit a short paper (between 1000 and 5000 words) in which the research that you
want to discuss (this can be a research plan, work in progress, as well as finished work, depending on
the stage of your PhD) during the in-depth presentations and discussions is shortly described. In
order to give the PhD-masterclass also a content-wise focus in line with this year’s theme, we ask you
to clearly reflect on the valorisation of your educational intervention research regarding at least one
of the following issues:

• How do/will you disseminate your work to non-academic stakeholders at micro, meso, or
  macro level in education?
• What is the practical, societal, or economical impact of your findings?
• How do you assess the outcomes of your research in view of their applicability in educational
  or societal contexts?
• Which next (research) steps should be added to your study in view of enhancing its impact
  on and sustainability in daily practice?
• Do you – or how would you – stimulate the use of your research in policy and/or practice?
• How do you contribute to finetuning theoretical frameworks in view of their relevance for
  understanding and enhancing educational practices?
• How do you assure a fine grained description of your intervention (including procedures,
  learning materials, educational design, implementation, teacher professionalisation, …) so
  that it can not only be used for future research, but also be used in practice?
• Do you engage educational practitioners and/or policy partners in activities such as designing
  your research, developing the educational intervention, creating materials for students,
  drafting teacher guides as part of your intervention, or similar collaborative efforts? What
  added value and/or challenges or related to this?
• What constraints do you see to formulate practical implications based on your own
  research? Are you also aware of the limitations of your study in view of formulating broader
  implications and how do you reflect on these limitations? What opportunities do you see to
  address this in your follow-up research or a next iteration of your intervention? What added
  value and/or challenges do you foresee in this regard?

The organizing committee will make all papers available before the PhD-masterclass takes place and
will assign discussants for each paper. You will thus be asked to read each other’s papers before the
start and provide feedback before and during the PhD-masterclass.

Given the goals of this PhD-masterclass, the aim is to keep the group small, so do not hesitate to
register early enough because we might need to close the registrations earlier if needed. In that
case, we will organize a waiting list and will start making plans for a follow-up edition as the plan of
the organizers is to repeat this event in the coming years.

Registration is possible via this link as from January 27 on and closes on February 24. You will still have the time until March 17 to submit your 1000-5000 word paper.

Important dates:

• January 27: First call and opening of registration
• February 24: closing of registration (in case maximum capacity has not been reached earlier)
• March 17: deadline for submitting your 1000-5000 word paper.
• May 12 – 16: please reserve 5 hours for reading and preparation work in this period.
• May 22-23: Phd Masterclass from 10 am Thursday till 16.30 Friday in Ghent.

Organizing committee: Fien Depaepe (KULeuven) , David Gijbels (UAntwerpen), Hilde Van Keer
(UGent), Bram De Wever (UGent)
If you have any questions concerning the registration or other practical questions, please contact
Maaike.Grammens@UGent.be