The University of Manchester is a modern civic university, built to serve an industrial city and its people. Through Methods@Manchester, we collaborate with Keele University, Lancaster University, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Lancashire as part of Methods North West, a partnership committed to advancing methodological innovation across the region. Together we bring you the 2026 Methods Fair a one-day free event providing researchers with the opportunity to connect and present, sharing ideas and further developing skills and knowledge. The Fair takes place at the University of Manchester campus on Wednesday, 27 May.
Methods for Change: Connecting People, Places, and Purpose
For the theme of the 2026 Fair, we invite you to consider, acknowledge and build on the importance of connections and partnerships in research, reflecting on how these inform and impact your research methods.
- How do connections - to people, to place, to communities, to purpose – help shape the social science/humanities methods you employ?
- How and when are these connections integral to discovery, impact, and social responsibility?
- What does this mean for how we understand rigour, how we share power, steward data responsibly, navigate ethics, and translate insight into action?
Complementary to this theme we are delighted to share early news of our keynote speakers. Professor Sarah Marie Hall, University of Manchester and Sally Bonnie FRSA -Founder and Director of Inspiring Futures Partnership CIC will be reflecting on Friendship, Creativity and Collaboration. We will bring you more details of this exciting start to the day along, with the full workshop programme, over the next few months.
Note the Fair's theme provides an orientation for some of the Fair's sessions and activities, but there will be content across the full scope of humanities and social science methods.
Opportunities to participate
The fair is designed to offer PGRs and researchers from a variety of settings and different stages of their career (i.e. including community and voluntary sector researchers as well as those working within academic settings) the opportunity to actively participate in the fair. We welcome poster and lightning talk submissions that focus on a full range of research methods and topics from the social sciences and humanities. There are two alternative means by which you can present, either via a lightning talk or through a poster presentation. Your emphasis should be on research methods, but your precise focus is up to you. Submissions might (but do not need to) speak directly to the conference theme, but they should all engage with humanities and social science methods. Together, let’s explore how innovative research methods can help to accomplish change.
Lightning Talks
Each presenter will have just five minutes to present their work. Within this time-frame, there is no prescribed structure or content requirements. For example you might want to talk about a particular element of your research design, a methodology that interests you, a methodological issue or challenge that you are facing or have overcome.
- We welcome submissions from those who are at an early stage with their projects as well as those further along their research journey.
- You might wish to consider what will prompt the most discussion or valuable feedback from the audience.
- To submit a lightning talk, please send through your proposed title and a 100-200 words abstract by 9am, Monday 16th March.
Poster
During the conference there will be a scheduled poster session when presenters should be available to discuss their posters and interact with other conference attendees. Posters can be individual or you could, for example, develop a poster with colleagues, combining your interests or trying out new ideas. Again, as with the lightning talks, posters can focus on any aspect of research methods that interest you or will be useful for you to discuss with others.
Poster submission is a two-stage process:
- Initially you should submit your poster title and 100-200 words description of the proposed content by Monday 16th March 2023.
- Accepted participants will be informed, and should then submit their final poster as a PDF by 9am Wednesday 6 May 2026 (you will receive further instructions in the acceptance email). If you submit by this date we will cover the costs of producing the poster and will have it ready for you at the Methods Fair. M@M unfortunately cannot cover the cost of printing any posters not received by this date.
What's next?
It would be fantastic if as many of you as possible present your work. However, you can still be an active participant by attending the talks and workshops, contributing questions and discussion points (more details on registering for the conference coming soon).
In addition if you would like to help ensure the day runs smoothly we will be seeking PGR volunteers to help out during the day.
If you are interested in lending a hand on the day itself please contact methods@manchester.ac.uk for more information (this will not prevent you participating fully in the day itself!)
In the meantime keep up to date with Methods@Manchester by following us on Bluesky, Facebook and LinkedIn, bookmarking our website
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