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Events
NU Qualitative Special Interest Group Annual Symposium 2026
- Venue: Frederick Douglass Centre, Newcastle University
- Start: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:30:00 GMT
- End: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:30:00 GMT
Theme: Contemporary Challenges in Qualitative Research
Abstract submission deadline: Friday the 21st of November 2025
Registration: Registration is open, there is a registration fee of between £10 and £20 depending on the category of delegate (details at the foot of this page).
Keynotes:
Opening keynote
Dr Tash Fothergill-Misbah: Tash is a postdoctoral researcher here at Newcastle University. She has a multidisciplinary background spanning biomedical sciences, anthropology, gerontology and global public health. Her research primarily uses qualitative, ethnographic methods, and increasingly participatory and creative approaches, to explore the experiences of ageing, and living with Parkinson's, in Africa. Tash's research is centred in values of social justice, with a strong emphasis on community engagement, involvement and empowerment, and she received the ‘Tom Isaacs Award 2023’ from Cure Parkinson's Trust for involving people with Parkinson’s in a participatory way in her research. Tash consults for the World Health Organization, is involved in global Parkinson’s advocacy and is an award winning documentary producer of 'Shaking hands with the devil' and ‘Uhuru’
Closing keynote
Dr Lucy Pickering is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Anthropology at the University of Glasgow. Her work explores themes of dirt, water and sanitation, and in particular the ethical dimensions of ethnographic research, researching with marginalised groups, and more recently ethical review and the role of Research Ethics Committees in producing ethical qualitative research. She convenes an interdisciplinary network on global health and environment at the University of Glasgow. Her current work is focused on developing concrete tools and guidance to help improve university ethical oversight, and, in collaboration with colleagues in Tanzania and the USA, exploring the health qualities of unjust water access in rural Tanzania.
Panel discussion:
- Dr Mwenza Blell, Dr Adam Badger, and Dr Emily Yarrow discuss "Qualitative Research 2056: What will the next 30 years bring us?".
Themed streams:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Qualitative Research
- Challenging Participants and Situations
- The Ethics and Dilemmas of Open Research.
- New, Niche, and Novel Methods
- Free topic stream
Prizes:
- Best Abstract (Selected from all submitted abstracts).
- Best in the Early-Stage Career Researcher/PhD Spotlight session (Selected from all presentations in the ESCR spotlight session).
Programme
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09:15-10:00 |
Registration / Breakfast / Networking / Stalls |
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09:30-09:50 |
Peer Support Session: Join our peer support leads Kat and Debbie for a session to share and seek support around conferences and to find out more about what they offer throughout the year. In the foyer – follow signage |
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10:00-10:10 |
Opening remarks FDC.G.56, Ground floor |
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10:10-10:45 |
ESCR Keynote: Dr Tash Fothergill-Misbah FDC.G.56, Ground floor |
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10:45-11:00 |
Break: Tea and Coffee will be served in the foyer and please call by the stall holders |
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11:00-12:10 - Parallel streams |
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New, Niche and Novel Methods 1* FDC.1.16 (First floor) |
Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research FDC.1.17 (First floor) |
Challenging Participants and Situations 1 FDC.1.18 (First floor) |
Free Topic 1: Health Conditions FDG.G.06 (Ground Floor) |
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Using Listening Rooms to explore the lived experience of neurodivergent students in gross anatomy teaching and learning Emily Green |
The ethical dilemmas of doing research with survivors of farm accidents Sally Shortall |
Navigating challenging encounters in qualitative fieldwork: researcher reflexivity, ethics, and emotional challenges across different cultural contexts Nik Nuraisyah Nik Nasir |
Exploring and Understanding the Post-Transplant Caring Experience Hannah Murray |
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“I'm not sure I get it” – qualitative assessment of the content validity of a novel patient-reported experience measure (PREM) for kidney transplantation Rebeka Jenkins |
Philosophical issues in open qualitative research Natasha Mauthner |
Navigating ‘Imposter Participants’ in a PhD: an ethical, practical and emotional dilemma Lauren Lawson |
A systematic review exploring employment experiences of solid organ transplant recipients Sarah Dickson |
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From abstract to concrete: a unified visual framework of phenomenological relationality Mark Adley |
Open Research as co-creation in a Participatory Action Research project Jessica Adams, Elaine Lopez & Natasha Mauthner |
The use of qualitative research when exploring biographical narratives that discuss emotional, traumatic and/or distressing topics – A reflective presentation of a recent project exploring the financial, physiological and psychological implications for people living with dementia and their carers. Ben Gould |
Perceived Challenges Along the Breast Cancer Pathway for Rural Patients and Providers Emily Haworth |
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“What it really feels like”: Disabled chemistry students on belonging, barriers, and change Julieta Milian |
A reflexive look at a participatory, collaborative approach to increase the confidence, representation, and voice of LGBT+ people seeking asylum Liz Titchener |
Who Speaks in Research? Listening to the Margins. Helen Elliott |
‘I was told I had type 2 from the pancreas’. Lived experiences of diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis (type 3c Diabetes): a qualitative study Ayat Bashir |
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Evolving Qualitative Narrative Synthesis in Clinical Psychology: A Pragmatic and Rigorous Method for Synthesising Emerging but Methodologically Diverse Evidence Ellen Marshall & Mark Freeston |
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12:15-12:55 |
Panel Discussion: Qualitative Research 2056: What will the next 30 years bring us? Join Dr Mwenza Blell, Dr Adam Badger and Dr Emily Yarrow for this panel looking towards the future of Qualitative Research FDC.G.06, Ground floor |
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12:55-13:55 |
Lunch: Will be served in the foyer with the chance to visit the stalls and network |
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13:55-15:05 - Parallel streams |
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New, Niche and Novel Methods 2* FDC.1.16 (First floor) |
AI in Qualitative Research FDC.1.17 (First floor) |
Challenging Participants and Situations 2 FDC.1.18 (First floor) |
Free Topic 2: Participation and Evaluation FDG.G.06 (Ground Floor) |
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A qualitative exploration of family-based activities during a child’s treatment for cancer through participatory methods Liz Pharoh |
Searching Smarter, Not Harder: Leveraging AI to Enhance Literature Searches for Theory-Driven reviews. A methodological case study. Rebecca Hunter |
Walking with Gamekeepers: Negotiating Trust, Power, and Positionality in Rural Fieldwork Natasha Coleman |
Perceptions of Brain Health and Research Participation Among Young Adult Contact Sport Athletes, an Exploratory Qualitative Study Laura Booi |
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Using creative, multimedia approaches to enhance inclusion and participation in research Stephanie Kilinc |
Computational ethnography and public health: Scaling and deepening lived experience research with large language models Francis McKay |
Beyond the Illusion of Safety: Making Risk Assessments Work for Qualitative Researchers Tim Price |
Collaborative research in Tyneside: reflections on peer led mutual aid when learning about research Celia Mason |
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Reflecting on Participatory Arts-Based Research in the context of Solid Organ Donation and Transplantation Siân Russell |
AI-Assisted Evidence Review in Health Service Decommissioning: Lessons from Practice Andrea Lawrence |
Practical and ethical challenges when recruiting people experiencing drug and alcohol harms and/or homelessness in qualitative research – a consideration of approaches from the Sunderland PLUS study. Eleanor Ash |
‘Working Together Through Crisis’: exploring the use of arts-based and bilingual qualitative methods with Eastern European women and children’ Hayley Alderson |
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Systematically searching audio media for first-person narratives: an innovative method for qualitative inquiry Petra Makela |
Reflections on undertaking participatory photography with residents in Scotland’s first managed alcohol programme Emma King |
Rapid, iterative learning of NHS strategic commissioning: How to capture real-time insights from NHS commissioners as part of local evaluation Hamdi Hamzah |
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Introducing Distributional Cost Effectiveness Analysis (DCEA) into Diagnostic Development Methodology: Challenges in Conducting a Qualitative Study Chikomborero Mutepfa |
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15:05-15:10 |
Brief comfort break |
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15:10-15:45 |
Keynote Presentation: Dr Lucy Pickering FDC.G.56, Ground floor |
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15:50-16:15 |
PhD and ESCR shortlisted abstracts Helen Elliot: Who’s really in the room? Identifying imposters in the quest for authentic voices. Caitlin Thompson: Using creative qualitative interview methods with autistic women and people: researcher reflections and insights Jack Lumsdon: Walking with Parkinson’s in Africa: Creative participatory methods to explore physical mobility loss Jian Chen: When Ethical Approval Fails: A Case Study on Social Media Big Data and ChatGPT for Counter-urbanisation Hotspot Detection in China Judges: Prof Amy O'Donnell & Prof Natasha Maunthner FDC.G.56, Ground floor |
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16:15-16:30 |
Closing and Prize giving •Best Abstract •Best PhD/ESCR Presentation FDC.G.56, Ground floor |
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16:30 |
Conference Closes |
*Please note that the presentations in the New, Niche, and Novel streams will be a shorter format than the other streams at 10mins + 5mins for questions rather than 15mins + 5mins for questions
Registration:
- You can register for this event using Newcastle University's Webstore from Friday the 24th of October 2025: https://webstore.ncl.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/faculty-of-medical-sciences/population-and-health-sciences-institute/newcastle-university-qualitative-special-interest-group-annual-symposium-2026
- Newcastle University staff and postgraduate students will not be able to use University pCards on WebStore. If you wish to use a Newcastle University account to pay for your registration please use an Internal Purchasing Requisition form and email this to QualSIG@newcastle.ac.uk for your registration to be logged.
- Registration fees:
External delegate £20.00 Newcastle University delegate £15.00 Postgraduate delegate £10.00 - If a lay co-applicant, public contributor, or public involvement and engagement panel member would like to attend this event they can do so for free, however, they will need to be nominated by their research/academic colleagues in order to be registered as a delegate. Please contact the QualSIG at QualSIG@newcastle.ac.uk in order to nominate.
This event is not for profit and the organising committee are all volunteers. Delegate fees will be used to cover the cost of hosting the event, including materials, catering, and other costs.
