Methods Fair

Delegates join Methods@Manchester in May for a one-day conference to explore research methods across the humanities and social sciences.

Our annual conference, the Methods Fair, is organised in collaboration with our Methods NW partners. We are currently organising the 2026 Fair, which will take place in May.

Methods Fair 2025

Our last Methods Fair took place on 15 May 2025, and saw a range of interdisciplinary workshops, lightning talks and posters on the theme of Research Methods in the Digital Age: Addressing Challenges, Realising Opportunities.

The day started with a welcome speech by Professor Emma Banister, Director of Methods@Manchester, before guests heard from keynote speaker Julia Handl, Professor of Decision Sciences at AMBS. Julia’s talk, Good-bye humans, welcome AI scientists?, explored AI using a critical lens, addressing the role of humans for research in the era of AI.

We welcomed PGRs and Researchers from The University of Manchester and our Methods North West partner institutes of Lancaster University, University of Liverpool and Keele University. We also had guests from further afield such as University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Birmingham, and Universidad de Huelva.

Methods Fair 2024