Methods Fair
The Methods Fair is a free, one-day conference taking place at the University of Manchester campus on Thursday 15th May 2025. Organised by Methods@Manchester in collaboration with our NWSSDTP partners at Methods North West, the conference will feature a range of talks, posters, and workshops.
This event provides an excellent opportunity for attendees from the University of Manchester, the wider NWSSDTP community, and beyond, to connect with others engaged in various topics and research methods across the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Fair features lightning talks, posters enabling attendees to present their ongoing work as well as a range of workshops which support methods-related work.
Research Methods in the Digital Age: Addressing Challenges, Realising Opportunities
As we witness rapid advancements in technology and the integration of digital tools into every aspect of our lives, it is crucial to examine how these changes impact various elements of our research practices.
Researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences must understand how to adapt to this evolving digital landscape, as well as the practical and ethical challenges it presents. For instance, how do these advancements affect our understanding of what constitutes data, how we access it, the questions we pose, the tools and techniques we employ, and our relationships with the topics, people or phenomena we seek to understand?
This conference aims to engage with a range of issues pertinent to researchers. We hope to stimulate reflections on how traditional Humanities and Social Science research methods and approaches are, or should be, evolving in response to the rapid digitalisation of many aspects of our lives.
Methods Fair programme at a glance
Morning sessions
- 9.00-9.35am: Registration (with coffee & pastries)
- 9.40am: Welcome - Prof Emma Banister, Director of Methods@Manchester
- 9.45am: Keynote – Prof Julia Handl, Professor of Decision Sciences at AMBS: Good-bye humans, welcome AI scientists?
- 10.15am: Lightning Talks
- 12.15 -1.30pm: Lunch & poster session, followed by choice of workshops (please note the first DVO session runs during lunch)
Keynote
Good-bye Humans, Welcome AI Scientists?
We are excited to welcome Professor Julia Handl to open the Fair with a keynote, exploring the following question: What is the role of humans for research in the era of AI?
Prof. Handl will touch on the distinction between general-purpose and narrow AI, the fundamental limitations of the machine learning paradigm, AI safety, the importance of critical thinking skills, and the relevance of human factors in human-in-the-loop decision making.
Julia Handl is Professor of Decision Sciences at Alliance Manchester Business School, a member of the management boards of the University of Manchester’s Institute of Data Science and AI (IDSAI) and the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Decision Making in Complex Systems, and a member of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS).
A Computer Scientist by training, Julia's research sits on the interface between traditional operations research, decision sciences and machine learning, and she is particularly interested in the synergies between these fields.
Lightning Talks
10-15am - 12.15pm (parallel streams)
The Lightning Talks are designed as conversation starters. Each presenter will have just five minutes to present their work - and you are of course welcome to give a briefer presentations! While there is little time for questions within the sessions themselves, we envisage that audience members will seek out presenters for fuller discussions during the Fair and/or follow up with them separately.
Talks are organised in two parallel streams and presentations are scheduled with respect to a number of approximate themes. Programming these has been an inexact process and it has not been possible to group all presentations in a way that will necessarily suit everyone.
In view of this, and the rich variety of presentations included in the programme, please do feel free to move between rooms/sessions, but we ask that you do this in a discreet/sensitive way (e.g. at the end of someone's presentation rather than midway through). We do ask that presenters stay for the duration of their theme in case of any questions.
There is a brief break in the middle of the lightning talk sessions at 11.05, this is designed as a comfort break so please do expect streams to re-start promptly at 11.15am.
Please note that it may be necessary to alter the programme - if you are directly impacted we will let you know.
Lightning Talks - Stream 1 (Room TBC)
Break (10 mins)
Lightning Talks - Stream 2 (room TBC)
Break (10 mins)
Lunch and poster presentations (12.15pm - 1.30pm)
During the Fair there will be an extended lunch and poster session when poster presenters should be available to discuss their posters and interact with other conference attendees (the posters will be displayed throughout the Fair).
Below you will find the poster names/titles and abstracts for the posters can be found here.
Registration
There are limited spaces available for the Fair so do make sure you register soon (if we go over capacity we will operate a waiting list, so it is crucial that you let us know if you register and can non longer attend).
In an effort to free up as many places as possible, we are asking people to indicate which parts of the day they plan to attend. We hope most people will attend for the full day in which case please tick morning, lunch and afternoon. However, it helps us plan catering/numbers if you know you can only attend part of the day and register accordingly, thank you.
In addition, if you would like to help ensure the day runs smoothly, we will be seeking University of Manchester PGR volunteers to help out during the day.
If you are potentially interested in lending a hand, please contact methods@manchester.ac.uk for more information. There are a range of opportunities available which include chairing lightning talk sessions and also other more general assistance. Volunteering will not prevent you from participating fully in the day itself! (We will provide all volunteers with gift vouchers as a thank you).