Training Camps and Research Conventions
CASCADE Training Camps and Research Conventions are intended to ensure integration and cross-fertilisation between the research projects so that all fellows and partners gain a holistic understanding of the methods, challenges and value of longitudinal semantic analysis as a body of transdisciplinary methods. The training events are also intended to ensure that each research fellow, regardless of background, will acquire the necessary knowledge for the successful completion of all stages of his or her research project and to carry forward into a career in data science.
The camps and conventions promote sharing, learning and peer review of methodologies, data, research results and research outputs. At network level, they afford the opportunity for contributing beneficiaries to monitor the progress of individual projects from the perspectives of training and to evaluate them based on the dissemination of results.
Training Camps
WP6 consists of 4 themed Camps with multiple components. Each Camp consists of a sequence of hands-on training events, workshops and masterclasses and is hosted by a beneficiary.
Camp 1: Foundations
Host: University of Sheffield | November 2024
Objectives: Bring together the CASCADE beneficiaries and the Early Stage Researchers for the first time. Provide context on each of the partner organisations and Introduce the 10 ESRs and their projects. Provide holistic knowledge of the domain.
Camp 2: Research Design
Host: Saarland University | March 2025
Objectives: Provide ESR training in the fundamental principles, methods, and technologies of longitudinal semantic search, building on the work of Camp 1. Encourage collaborative learning as a full cohort.
Camp 3: Questions and Methods
Host: University of Helsinki | August 2025
Objectives: To strengthen ESRs’ understanding of the interplay between research questions, data, and methods. To expose participants to diverse perspectives through collaboration with experts from King’s College London, the University of Turku, and the University of Helsinki Computational History Group. To facilitate exchange between CASCADE ESRs and Helsinki-based digital history doctoral students. To provide practical, hands-on training in data analysis, language modelling, and conceptual history. To build cohort cohesion through shared academic and social activities.
Camp 4: Working with Industry and the Public
Host: University of Sheffield | Sept. 2026
Objectives: includes sessions from (1) CCRS on data exploitation; (2) Vienna Centre for Societal Security on finding stories in data; (3) Lexical Computing on innovation; (4) Meertens Institute on data management.
Research Conventions
WP7 consists of 4 Conventions, one for each Research Objective. Each Convention presents a wide variety of research relating to the Research Objective and will be hosted by a CASCADE academic beneficiary. Presentations will be given by ESRs, academic and non-academic beneficiaries and partners, and invited, established guest speakers from outside the network. Convention 4 will take place at University College Cork in 2027 and is open to a broader audience as part of the dissemination plan with all ESRs presenting an accessible portion of their work.
Convention 1: KU Leuven: Design & Methodologies | January 2026
Theme: Theoretical and Practical Innovation in Research Design
Convention 2: Digital Humanities Congress: Language | Sept. 2026
Theme: Longitudinal Meaning in Lexis and Grammar
Convention 3: University of Saarland: History | May 2027
Theme: Longitudinal Meaning in Cultural, Social and Political Contexts.
Convention 4: University College Cork: Text and Language | Dec. 2027
Theme: Longitudinal Meaning in Different Text Types.