Research

The international PhD symposium took place at Tallinn University

An international PhD spring symposium, "PROFRES 2024," took place at Tallinn University on March 18-19, 2024. The event brought together young and leading researchers from Norway, Denmark, England, Sweden, and Estonia. This symposium is significant in terms of international research collaboration, as it helps to connect researchers and amplify the academic pipeline in the field of educational sciences.

The "PROFRES Spring PhD Symposium 2024" at Tallinn University provided cutting-edge knowledge on data collection, analysis, and interpretation methods. In addition, discussions were held on what constitutes research quality, regardless of whether qualitative or quantitative paradigms are followed.

The symposium aimed to strengthen doctoral students' understanding and ability to critically evaluate the methodological coherence between theory and data collection methods, thereby supporting reliable research practices.

According to one of the keynote speakers, Katrin Niglas, the Vice-Rector for Research at Tallinn University, exchanging experiences is crucial for young researchers. She stated, "Today, research is conducted in international teams. The contacts made here will benefit our young researchers in the future, for example, in applying for projects."
"I believe the event provided young researchers with numerous success stories. I hope that the networks formed here will endure. I wish for it not to be just a one-time gathering and exchange of impressions but for research-based common interests to emerge for further progress," Niglas added.

She also emphasized that the event gave doctoral students a valuable opportunity to receive feedback on their research. "It is often more difficult for oneself to understand their mistakes than for bystanders. Therefore, if you can suggest to others about their work and be critical, you can evaluate and plan your work more critically later on."

One of the main organizers of the event, Inge Timoštšuk, a Professor of Primary Education at Tallinn University's School of Educational Sciences, stressed that the high position of Tallinn University's educational sciences field in international rankings is essentially the result of high-level research cooperation, which also has a significant positive impact on the level of teacher preparation. Sustaining such international collaboration is crucial for the continued success of teacher education.

Keynote speakers at the symposium included top researchers from the Nordic countries, whose presentations offered inspiring and philosophical insights, dilemmas, and questions that arise in research. The speakers were Alfred Sköld (Assistant Professor of Psychology at Aalborg University in Denmark and Research Fellow at the International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin), Linda Lundgaard Andersen (Professor of Learning, Evaluation and Social Innovation at Roskilde University), Katrin Niglas (Vice-Rector for Research and Professor of Data Analysis at Tallinn University), Chris Green (Professor of Education at the University of Essex), Jonna Lappalainen (Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Stockholm Södertörn University's Center for Practical Knowledge), Geir Afdal (Professor of Education at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society), and Ali Roy (Professor of Social Research at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, United Kingdom).

The Spring Symposium is part of the collaboration between Tallinn University's Institute of Educational Sciences and the Norwegian doctoral school PROFRES 2.0 (The Interdisciplinary, Interprofessional and Practice-Near Research School).