Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine on 24 February, 2022, shattered the Western world as we knew it. While smaller-scale military conflicts have taken place in Europe before (including the war simmering in East Ukraine since 2014), Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine became a moment of no return in the relations of Russia with Western countries. Along with moral, strategic, and security implications, the war shattered the status quo in the research on the area as well. The war has put into question both the possibility and validity and reliability of widely used methods in research on the region, such as survey, experiment, interview, ethnography, and others. This challenge requires new approaches to data collection, evaluation of validity and reliability, as well as learning from other disciplines and area specialists.

This symposium brings together scholars from around the world to reflect on the challenges of doing research in the context of conflict, war and authoritarianism and share their 'best practices’.

There will be panels over two days, focusing on methodological and ethical dilemmas in qualitative data collection, validity and reliability of survey research, the potential and limitations of computational methods and online tools as well as personal emotional involvement in knowledge-creating processes that are normally expected to take place in a more neutral environment.

• The symposium is open to interested scholars and PhD students. The program of the event can be found here.
• If you are interested in attending, please register your interest here.