Tampere Peace Perspectives is the first student conference on Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Tampere. Bringing together students from diverse academic backgrounds, the conference is a platform to explore the multidisciplinarity of the field. Attendance as audience is open for all.

See conference website: http://peaceperspectives.tumblr.com

STRUCTURE OF THE CONFERENCE

The conference lasts one day and takes place on Friday, 13-Feb-2015. It will be opened by an invited key note speaker. Student presentations will follow, divided into themed sessions.

The presentations should be 20-minutes-long each and based on research by the presenting students (e.g. thesis or seminar paper). The study which the presentation is based on need not be finished. Recent graduates are also welcome to participate.

Each presentation will have one discussant. At the latest a week before the conference (Friday, 6-Feb-2015), the presenters will send their presentation materials (the text and/or slides and/or other prepared materials) to the organisers to be distributed to the discussants. The discussants will then prepare 5-minutes-long commentaries based on these materials. A more detailed commentary should be prepared in writing; this text will be given to the presenter in the conference.

Each session will end in general discussion in which members of the audience may ask questions about or comment the presentations.

Before the conference, on 3-Feb-2015, there will be a discussion event/workshop on conference practices with Tiina Vaittinen (PhD Candidate/TAPRI). In this session, students will learn about what academic conferences are, why they are organised and what their importance for doctoral students and other scholars is. Good conference practices, with emphasis on the roles of the chairs, presenters and discussants, are also discussed, and students may ask questions related to their own presentations and other responsibilities.

CREDITS

MDP in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research: Students may gain credits by presenting in the conference (2 ECTS), by commenting on presentations (1 ECTS / 2 commentaries) and by actively participating in conference organisation and writing a report/learning diary on it (2 ECTS).

Students in other programmes may discuss with their teaching staff to see if conference participation can be credited under existing course codes.

IMPORTANT DATES

Enrolment period: 16-Jan-2015 – 1-Feb-2015                                                

Session on conference practices: 3-Feb-2015, 16-18 in Linna 6019                   

Selection of discussants: 5-Feb-2015                                   

Deadline of presentation materials: 6-Feb-2015

Conference: 13-Feb-2015                                                       

Enrolment

Enrolment via e-mail (millar.stefan.x(a)student.uta.fi) by 1-Feb-2015. In your message, mention 1) your name and programme/major; 2) are you interested in presenting and/or commenting; 3) your presentation topic and a brief description of it.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The maximum number of presentations and commentaries is 12.

Presentations should be based on research done by the student (e.g. a thesis or a seminar paper) and related to the field of peace and conflict research, understood broadly. In case there are more interested participants than presentation positions, decisions will be made taking into account the following considerations:

1)      Relevance of the topic to Peace and Conflict Research

2)      Multidisciplinarity of the conference

3)      Ease of dividing the presentations into themed sessions

4)      Priority is given to students who are currently working on or who have recently completed their Master’s thesis. Students presenting on topics of other theses or seminar papers are also welcome to enrol. In case of presentation positions remaining, PhD students may present their research.

Priority for discussant positions will be given to students not presenting in the conference.

The selection of presenters and discussants will be conducted by the organisers of the conference.             

Students interested in participating in the organisation should contact Minna Vähäsalo, vahasalo.minna.m(a)student.uta.fi.

Conference participation (presentation/commentary)

Participation in conference organisation and a report/learning diary