European Educational Research Association

The European Educational Research Association (EERA) is a European umbrella organisation for national and regional associations involved in educational research. Rather than operating as a conventional commercial publisher or an association with individual members, EERA is structured as an association of associations. Its membership brings together more than 30 educational research organisations from countries and regions across Europe and the wider European area. EERA was created in June 1994 after discussions among national educational research associations and major research institutes identified a need for a Europe-wide body. Its founding objectives included encouraging exchange among educational researchers, strengthening collaboration, supporting research quality, and providing independent perspectives on educational research and policy. The organisation also sought to improve communication between researchers and international institutions involved in education, including the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OECD, and UNESCO. The association's most visible activity is the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), an annual event organised through EERA's thematic and disciplinary networks. ECER provides a large forum for presenting research, developing collaborations, and discussing educational issues across national and methodological boundaries. The first ECER was held in Twente in the Netherlands in 1992, before EERA itself was established. In later years, the conference grew into an international gathering attracting researchers from many countries. EERA's academic and professional activity is organised through a broad network structure covering areas such as curriculum, inclusive education, vocational education and training, teacher education, assessment, educational leadership, higher education, education policy, sociology of education, mathematics education, gender and education, environmental and sustainability education, arts education, language and education, and educational technology. This structure allows the organisation to connect specialist communities while maintaining a wider European research identity. Its dissemination work extends beyond the annual conference. EERA is associated with the European Educational Research Journal, an international peer-reviewed publication with an editorial board representing scholars from across Europe. It also supports the EERA Book Series, Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research, produced in partnership with Springer. The series uses work emerging from EERA's networks to examine educational questions through cross-disciplinary and distinctly European perspectives. In 2020, EERA launched the EERA Blog to make educational research more accessible while retaining an academically informed approach. Supporting emerging researchers is another central part of EERA's role. Its Emerging Researchers' Group provides a European community for doctoral and early-career researchers, opportunities to present work, guidance on papers and posters, awards, bursaries, and training activities such as seasonal schools and methodological summer schools. EERA also supports network-led projects, seminars, workshops, roundtables, and other research-training initiatives. EERA was initially constituted as a charity under British law and operated from Glasgow between 1994 and 2007. From 2008 onward, it has been based in Berlin and organised as a non-profit association under German law. It is governed by a Council and an Executive Board. The Council includes representatives of member associations alongside co-opted representatives connected with EERA's networks, journal, and emerging-researcher activities. EERA also participates in wider international research organisations and networks, including the World Education Research Association, the Initiative for Science in Europe, and the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities.

The European Educational Research Association emerged from efforts by national educational research associations and major research institutes to create a common European platform. Discussions identified several related needs: better exchange of ideas between researchers, stronger cross-border cooperation, mechanisms for improving research quality, and a collective voice capable of contributing independently to educational policy debates. EERA was formally founded in June 1994. Its conference tradition predates the association. The first European Conference on Educational Research took place in Twente, Netherlands, in 1992. After EERA's creation, ECER became its principal annual vehicle for scholarly communication. The conference is organised through thematic and disciplinary networks, allowing researchers working in fields ranging from curriculum and teacher education to educational policy, inclusion, assessment, and higher education to meet within a larger European event. Attendance expanded over time, with the conference described as attracting researchers from dozens of countries. During its first period, from 1994 through 2007, EERA was constituted as a charity under British law and based in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2008, the organisation moved its office to Berlin and adopted its present legal basis as a non-profit organisation under German law. This change established Germany as the association's administrative base while preserving its Europe-wide membership and activities. EERA's membership model is distinctive. It does not primarily enrol individual researchers; instead, national and regional educational research associations form its membership. More than 30 member organisations represent researchers from across Europe and the wider European region. The arrangement gives EERA a federating role, linking national scholarly communities while providing a platform for international collaboration. The association's work expanded beyond ECER through several connected scholarly services. The European Educational Research Journal became EERA's official peer-reviewed journal, with an editorial structure drawing on researchers from across Europe. EERA also developed the Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research book series with Springer. The series uses contributions associated with EERA's networks to address educational issues through multiple disciplines and to foreground European research perspectives. EERA has also invested in research careers and capacity building. The Emerging Researchers' Group, formerly associated with a postgraduate network, supports doctoral and early-career researchers through conference opportunities, paper and poster guidance, awards, bursaries, and training programmes. Since 2009, EERA has run summer-school activities for emerging researchers and has supported other seasonal schools connected to its networks. These programmes are intended to broaden participation and help researchers, including those from Central and Eastern Europe and lower-income countries, engage with European academic communities. In 2020, EERA launched its blog as an additional dissemination channel. The initiative reflected a broader effort to present educational research to readers beyond specialist journal audiences while retaining scholarly credibility. Alongside its publications and events, EERA supports research projects, seminars, workshops, roundtables, and network activities. Governance is shared between a Council and an Executive Board. The Council includes delegates from member associations and selected representatives connected with EERA's networks, journal, and emerging-researcher community. The Executive Board includes elected leadership roles such as president, treasurer, and secretary general. EERA also works within wider international research infrastructures, including the World Education Research Association, the Initiative for Science in Europe, and the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities. Its continuing role is to connect educational researchers, promote dissemination, and help educational research inform policy and practice.

1. 2022Five titles reported in the EERA book series

   The Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational Research series had published five titles addressing themes including partnerships, wellbeing, children's rights, gender, and doctoral experience.

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2. 2020EERA Blog launched

   EERA added a blog to disseminate educational research in a more accessible form for readers inside and outside the academic community.

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3. 2009Summer-school programme for emerging researchers

   EERA began a series of summer schools designed to support doctoral and early-career researchers with methodological and professional development.

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4. 2008Move to Berlin and adoption of German non-profit status

   After operating from Glasgow as a charity under British law, EERA moved its office to Berlin and began operating as a non-profit organisation under German law.

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5. 1994EERA founded

   The association was established in June after European educational research organisations and institutes sought a common structure for collaboration, communication, and policy engagement.

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6. 1992First European Conference on Educational Research

   The first ECER was held in Twente, Netherlands, establishing the conference tradition that later became EERA's principal annual scholarly event.

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A non-profit European infrastructure organisation for educational research, positioned between scholarly association, conference organiser, research disseminator, and policy-facing academic network.

• European Conference on Educational ResearchAcademic conference1992

  ECER is EERA's main annual conference and its most prominent platform for sharing educational research. It is organised through EERA's networks, which group submissions and discussions around disciplines and themes such as curriculum, inclusion, teacher education, policy, assessment, higher education, and educational technology. The conference supports scholarly presentation, professional networking, international collaboration, and dialogue about the contribution of research to educational policy and practice.

• European Educational Research JournalPeer-reviewed academic journal

  The European Educational Research Journal is EERA's official international peer-reviewed journal. It publishes educational research for a broad European and international readership and is supported by an editorial board representing scholars from across Europe. The journal is integrated into EERA's governance structure through representation of its editor on the association's Council.

• Transdisciplinary Perspectives in Educational ResearchAcademic book series

  Published by EERA in partnership with Springer, this book series presents educational research through transdisciplinary and European perspectives. It draws extensively on the association's networks and addresses issues that benefit from more than one disciplinary or methodological viewpoint. Reported subjects include partnerships in education, wellbeing and schooling, children's rights, gender and education, and doctoral experience.

• EERA BlogResearch dissemination platform2020

  The EERA Blog is a digital publication channel introduced to communicate educational research in a more accessible but still academically informed style. It invites contributions from researchers in Europe and elsewhere and complements EERA's more formal conference, journal, and book activities.

• Emerging Researchers' GroupEarly-career researcher programme

  The Emerging Researchers' Group supports doctoral and early-career researchers by providing a European peer community, presentation opportunities, guidance on articles and posters, awards, bursaries, and training. Its activities include the Emerging Researchers' Conference and seasonal schools, including methodological summer-school programmes. The group also helps EERA networks develop training activities.

• 2020EERA launches the EERA Blog

  EERA introduced a blog intended to communicate educational research in a more accessible format while maintaining an academically grounded standard. Contributions were invited from researchers in Europe and beyond.

  Product launch
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1. European Educational Research Association
2. European Educational Research Association official website