ECPR Summerschool 2013

Teaching Format

The Summer School comprises an intensive programme of lectures, seminars and presentations of PhD researchers’ dissertation projects. The teaching language will be English. It is expected that there will be eight teaching days, each of which will be organized around a topical research question related to the overall theme of the Summer School. Each day will consist of two main teaching elements, each of which is scheduled to last three hours. The overall number of class contact hours will thus be 48 hours.

The first teaching element will commence with a presentation by a staff member of his/her current research project, or forthcoming publication. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session designed to enable the PhD researchers to gain better understanding of how theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects are being utilized at the cutting edge of the discipline. Staff will be asked to elaborate on these aspects and, if possible, relate them to the topics that are studied by the PhD researchers.

In the second teaching element, two or more PhD researchers will each present a paper of approx. 30 minutes duration on the design or empirical findings of their research proposal. The presentationswill be followed by a period of intensive discussion between all participants.

In addition, there will be an excursion to Berlin where staff members of the Hertie School of Governance and the Berlin Science Center (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin)  will introduce their contemporary research projects on political parties and democracy.