NERA/NFPF is the main association for educational researchers in the Nordic countries. The association was founded in 1972. Read more from the NERA webpage: About NERA – NERA
NERA has 25 active networks: Networks – NERA
Everyone, who is attending the NERA conference is welcomed and encouraged to attend the network meeting of the network you are interested in. The network meetings are held on Thursday, 6th March at 13.20. So take your lunch coffee to go and join the meeting! You can find each network meetings room from the conference programme.
The Annual General Assembly is conducted according to the rules stated in the NERA bylaws. All NERA members are welcome to join the General Assembly which will be held on Thursday at 17:20-18.20.
The conference have in total of 8 parallel sessions. In each parallel session there is multiple session happening at the same time, often 1 or 2 per network. The types of sessions are as follows:
Paper presentations
Paper sessions consist of an oral presentation and a discussion of papers about ongoing or completed research projects. The time frame for each paper presentation is 25 minutes including the presentation (max. 20 mins) and discussion (approx. 5 mins). In each parallel session, a maximum of four papers will be presented. People often use slides to support their presentation.
Symposiums
An organised symposium session builds on a theme and is proposed and planned by a symposium organiser. The papers focus on a common theme. A symposium has a chair (often the organiser) and one or more discussant(s), who have read the papers in advance.
Roundtable discussions
A roundtable discussion is a forum for presenting and discussing developmental work, research plans, research in progress, practitioner experiences, educational improvement initiatives, issues in institutional effectiveness and improvement.
Workshops
Workshops are intended to be interactive and collaborative sessions that aim to provide participants with hands-on learning experiences, practical skills, and in-depth discussions on a specific topic/theme presented by researchers, practitioners, or policymakers.
Posters
Poster sessions offer an opportunity to present a project visually, on a poster. Poster presenters should expect to meet participants during the poster session – in order to maximize interaction between participants and presenters.
As a chair, you are asked to be present in your session room at least 10 minutes before the session starts to help the presenters to connect their own computers etc. The role of the chair is to introduce the presenters, keep the time schedule for each presenter and organize the discussion. It is important that every participant keeps their time allotment. If a presentation is cancelled, the chair may either use the time for a general discussion or extend the remaining presentations.
Quiet room / prayer room can be accessed during all three conference days: U4070, main building.
Note! This room is not for working.
Sometimes conference participants need to take care of other work during the conference. There are some available working spaces in the hallways in the main building and language center.
Next to the conference venue are the Think Corner, which "is the living room of science – an open arena for discussion and coworking" and the University of Helsinki main library in the Kaisa house that have good space for independent working.
March weather in Finland can be anything from freezing winter to sunny spring.
Check the latest weather forecast from the Finnish Meteorologial Institute