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Member rate £552.50
Non-Member rate £1105.00
* If you attended our Methods School during the calendar years 2025 or 2026, you qualify for £45 off your course fee.
Date: Monday 13 – Friday 17 April 2026
Time: 14:00 – 17:00 CEST
This course provides an interactive online learning environment, using state of the art pedagogical tools. It is designed for advanced students (Master’s and PhD), postdoctoral researchers, and professionals. The course is limited to a maximum of 16 participants, ensuring that the teaching team can address the unique needs of each individual.
This course focuses on planning, preparing and conducting field research in challenging environments. These include closed and authoritarian political settings, as well as conflict, post-conflict, and post-war contexts. With the emphasis on ethical and practical considerations, the course provides hands-on training across key aspects of fieldwork, including risk assessment and mitigation, the application of common field research methods, data management, and re-entry into the field.
The course particularly suited to participants specialising in peace and conflict studies, international relations, and the studies of forced migration and authoritarianism.
By the end of the course, you will:
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment.
Vera Axyonova is Assistant Professor / Lecturer at the University of Birmingham and founding Co-chair of the ECPR Research Network on Statehood, Sovereignty and Conflict.
She has extensive experience in conducting research in closed / authoritarian political environments, highly volatile conflict and post-conflict settings, and in the context of war.
Vera's research and teaching expertise include international security and conflict management, cross-border transfer of values, norms and practices, as well as crisis knowledge production and policy evaluation.
She specialises in methods such as reflexive interviewing, expert and elite interviews, focus groups, ethnographic fieldwork in challenging and sensitive contexts, research ethics, and data management.
Vera has offered methods training in these areas at various universities across the globe, including the University of Birmingham, George Washington University, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, German-Kazakh University, University of Latvia, University of Tartu. She also taught at the pre-conference workshop series for early career researchers at the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS) Conference in 2023.
Read more about Vera's research here.
The first session offers a general introduction to field research and delves into planning and practical preparation for fieldwork, including ethical and legal considerations. It also covers preliminary risk assessment and mitigation, the development of a data management plan, and preparation for Ethics Committee review.
This session covers how to conduct participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, and the collection of life histories in conflict-torn and closed political settings. You will focus on questions related to navigating unfamiliar and insecure environments, including continuous risk assessment and mitigation; researcher positionality; the study of, and work around, sensitive topics; collaboration with local research assistants and interpreters; and data documentation.
This session addresses both theoretical and practical aspects of expert and elite interviewing and examines opportunities and challenges of using these methods for qualitative data generation in difficult political environments. You will familiarise yourself with the main principles of structuring interview guidelines, sampling, getting access to relevant interviewees, interviewing strategies and techniques, and immediate ‘post-preparation’ of interviews.
The session also focuses on expert and elite interviews in insecure settings, dealing with critical situations involving sensitive topics, and raising awareness of and navigating public surveillance in authoritarian environments.
This session covers the main questions related to planning, preparing and conducting group interviews and focus groups in international contexts. Topics include sampling strategies, securing access and recruiting participants, facilitating and moderating group discussions, and documenting the results. You will also look at the Dos and Don’ts of using these methods in authoritarian and conflict-torn settings.
You will learn the differences between focus groups and group interviews, as well as their limitations in challenging research environments. You will also become familiar with mechanisms for protecting researchers and research participants in insecure field settings.
The final session focuses on repeated fieldwork in challenging environments. It covers strategies for planning a return to the field, participatory aspects of field research, and adapting research design when on-the-ground fieldwork is not possible. This session completes the cycle by reiterating the importance of recurring risk assessment and adapting mitigation strategies throughout the data collection in the field.
Live classes will be held on Zoom over five three-hour sessions, allowing you to interact with the instructor and fellow participants in real time.
The course combines daily live teaching with pre-class assignments, including readings and pre-recorded videos.
During the live sessions, the instructor will offer brief contributions that build on the readings and offer insights from the instructor’s own field research. These will be followed by interactive plenary discussions and collaborative group exercises in breakout rooms.
Participants will be encouraged to reflect on and share their individual challenges in preparing for fieldwork, helping to strengthen understanding of potential ethical, security and other risks.
Over the duration of the course, you will receive one-on-one consultations with your instructor, offering an additional opportunity for feedback and guidance on your research project.
If you are interested in acquiring 4 ECTS for the course, you will be asked to prepare a risk assessment and mitigation plan for your own envisaged field research.
Some familiarity with research design and qualitative research methods would be beneficial, but is by no means a requirement for participation and successful completion of the course. Participants who are preparing for field research but have little or no prior fieldwork experience will benefit most from this course.
You will engage in a variety of activities designed to deepen your understanding of the subject matter. While the cornerstone of your training experience will be daily live teaching sessions, the learning commitment will extend beyond these. This ensures that you engage deeply with the course material, participate actively, and complete assessments to solidify your learning.
If you have registered and paid for the course, you will be given access to our Learning Management System (LMS) approximately two weeks before the course start date. Here, you can view course materials such as pre-course readings. You will be expected to commit approximately 20 hours per week leading up the start date to familiarise yourself with the content and complete any pre-course tasks.
During the course week, participants are expected to commit approximately three hours preparing for each session, which includes readings and practical assignments.
This course description may be subject to subsequent adaptations (e.g. taking into account new developments in the field, participant demands, group size, etc.). Registered participants will be informed at the time of change.
By registering for this course, you confirm that you possess the knowledge required to follow it. The instructor will not teach these prerequisite items. If in doubt, please contact us before registering.