The ESERA Executive Board invites proposals from science education research teams to host the ESERA 2026 Doctoral School. The deadline for proposals is January 31st, 2025. Proposals have to be emailed to the ESERA Board member in charge of the Doctoral School portfolio: digna.couso@uab.cat

Proposals should contain the following information:

• The names, positions and affiliations of the organising team with one person serving as a leader and contact person with the ESERA Board
• The proposed location with a description of how the venue aligns with the doctoral school needs in terms of practicality, comfortability, accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability.
• The proposed dates for the event.
• A complete budget that shows that the Summer School will be financially viable within the limited price ranges as per the budget provided through ESERA.
• Information on the team’s engagement with the ESERA association and related events
• Information on the team’s prior organising experience of academic events
• A rationale (800-1000 words) indicating why their proposal should be chosen.
• Short CVs (2 pages) of all team members

• Call announcement:  November 18 2024
• Deadline for proposals:  January 31, 2025
• Decision made at ESERA Board meeting: Mid-March 2025
• Participation in the 2025 Doctoral School in Almeria, Spain: June 9 – 14, 2025

• Plans for the Doctoral School must be done considering in-person attendance. However, plans for full virtual participation or hybrid participation are expected as these formats could be used in case of unexpected needs.
• The Board is interested in locations accessible both geographically and financially to a large number of European Science Education doctoral students. Issues related to VISA have to be clearly considered and communicated early in advance to all participants. Priority  will be given to countries that have not hosted an ESERA Doctoral School in the past or the past 5 years.
• The Doctoral School has historically been organised in mid/late July. The years that there is an ESERA conference by the end of August the summer school is preferably hosted late June-early July.
• Two members of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Doctoral School are expected to actively participate in the Doctoral School prior to the one for which they are bidding.
• The Doctoral School is funded through students’ contributions as well as a one-time contribution made by the ESERA Board which is up to 18,000 euros. The total maximum that each student should have to pay is 500 euros. These funds will be used to pay for room and board for all students and staff members, venue costs if not donated by the sponsoring university, expenses related to the opening and closing ceremony, and a minimum of one social activity during the summer school week. Depending on the country and location of the Doctoral School, additional funds donated from a local organisation may be needed and should be included in the budget.
• Doctoral students will be selected to attend using a combination of criteria that includes: reviewers’ analysis of the quality of their proposal; reviewers’ evaluation of potential interest of the doctoral school for the candidate; geographical diversity per country and university; stage in the PhD; existence of previous grants and academic visits. Two of the 49 are selected by NARST each year and their participation is partially funded through NARST.
• The venue of the doctoral school needs to include:
  • A lecture hall for 80 people to host the open ceremony, closing ceremony, possible lectures, and poster-sessions short presentations.
  • Seven working rooms for a minimum of 10 people with suitable internet connection, projection possibilities and group-work tables and materials.
  • Four rooms for the workshop (25 persons in each room).
  • Free space and physical support for poster exhibitions (17 posters each).
  • Coffee breaks and lunch facilities for diverse dietary needs.
  • Some extra meeting rooms
  • Accessible facilities for all conference attendees (e.g. wheelchair accessible rooms, vision and hearing accommodations, gender-neutral restrooms, quiet room, baby-feeding/family room, etc)
• Accommodation for all participants needs to be organised by the hosting institution. A residence or hotel close to the venue is highly desirable, preferably at walking distance or easy access by public transport. Accommodation to students will be offered as double rooms, with the possibility for students to pay extra if a single room is needed. Staff participants should be accommodated in single residence rooms in the same or a nearby facility.
• The number of doctoral students and staff applicants varies greatly from year to year. Recent ranges have been from 60 to 100 PhD students and from 25 to 40 staff. An important task for the organizing committee is to arrange for the review of the student applications by ESERA members to allow the local organizing committee to make final student choices in agreement with the ESERA board member in charge of the Doctoral School portfolio. In addition, the LOC develops a matrix of staff candidates based on the applicants for approval by the ESERA Board. That means that all staff and students attending the doctoral school are selected from open applications.
• The organising team  is responsible for the design and hosting of a unique website,  which will be maintained locally and linked from the ESERA site. The web page should include all important information, particularly how to access the venue, the timetable and contact information. The webpage should be updated regularly and finalised  at least 15 days before the event.
• Digital capabilities or IT support has to be available to the organising team in order to be able to handle a digital portal for abstract/revisions management and, if needed, a hybrid or virtual doctoral school. This implies that the organizing group needs to have the necessary personnel and IT resources planned as part of their proposal
• The organising team will receive advice and support throughout the planning and implementation of the summer school by the ESERA Board. The team leader will serve as a Board member of ESERA for 12 months.

For any queries, get in touch with Digna Couso at: digna.couso@uab.cat