Doing Planning Research

[i]AESOP PHD WORKSHOP 2008[/i] Norwegian University of Life Sciences Sunday 15th- to Wednesday 18th JUNE 2008 Hindsæter hotel, Jotunheimen National Park Introduction We have created an AESOP PhD workshop which will enable PhD students to share their research ideas, findings, and concerns with each other in an informal atmosphere. Four mentors will act as facilitators to guide the presentations and critical reflection by the students and to encourage discussion on major planning themes and theory. The themes below will form part of the plenary round-table panel discussion, and will be addressed by the evening plenary speakers: How to develop, use and apply theory in planning research. Governance and planning Particular topics of interest raised by the participating PhD students. The venue is in the heart of Norwegian mountains in Jotunheimen National Park We will stay at the beautiful Hindsæter Mountain Hotel, on the edge of Jotunheimen National Park (900 meters above sea level). Guidelines for Abstracts, papers and presentations Abstracts PhD students wishing to take part will be required to submit an abstract in advance accompanied by a letter of introduction. The abstract (maximum 500 words) should include: - The aims and objectives of the research - Brief description of the research methodology The letter of introduction should include: - At what stage you are in the PhD process - Whether you have previously participated in an AESOP PhD workshop - What you hope to get out of participation in the PhD workshop Participants have to register to the Aesop Young Academic network (www.aesop-youngacademics.net) [b]Abstracts and letter of introduction must be uploaded [/b]on the AESOP Young Academics Network Website [b] by February 1st 2008[/b]. Workshop presentations and papers The workshop will be a mixture of four working group and plenary sessions. Students will be assigned to a working group by May 2008. A mentor will guide each group. In these small working groups, each participant will have a one hour session to present their research (max 20 minute presentation) followed by an informal discussion and feedback. The participant’s presentations as well as their full paper may focus on one or more of the following: - Main theme of PhD - Relevance to planning literature - Research methodology - Major obstacles in developing research - Preliminary results Participants should also state what they would like the discussion to focus on. Full papers must not exceed 5000 words (excluding references). [b]Full papers must be uploaded [/b]on the Young Academics Network Website [b]by 1st May 2008[/b]. The workshop requires active participation during the day. In addition, participants will be asked to: - Read the full papers of participants in their working group in advance of the workshop and to identify points for discussion and clarification - Act as a referee for one other student in their group and provide detailed feedback - Give individual feedback on the success of the workshop, a summary of which will be presented to the AESOP General Assembly, ExCo, Corep and AESOP Young academics co-ordination team. For further enquiries, contact [url=mailto:aesopphd2008@umb.no]aesopphd2008@umb.no[/url] Registration and cost of the workshop There will be a cost associated with the workshop, meals and accommodation. As planning and preparation are in the early stages, efforts are currently being made to keep these costs to a minimum, including the negotiation of subsidies. [b]The fee is expected to be around 290 Euro[/b]. [b]Final date for registration is March 10th[/b]. The University will send an invoice to each participant towards the end of February. This needs to be paid by April 1st. Visit the official site: http://www.aesop-youngacademics.net/eventdetails.php?eventid=8/