2025
Research Seminar
Name: Research Seminar
Code: GES12424D
6 ECTS
Duration: 15 weeks/162 hours
Scientific Area:
Social Sciences
Teaching languages: Portuguese
Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese
Sustainable Development Goals
Learning Goals
The overall aim of this CU is to enable students to acquire the skills to undertake each stage of a research
project (identifying the object of research and the initial question, developing the conceptual framework,
choosing the appropriate methodological approach, processing data and interpreting results). More
specifically, its aims are to:
1. Initiate students into the challenges of multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research in the field under
scrutiny, drawing predominantly on the experience of other research partners;
2. Provide a conceptual framework to understand the various steps and options to take in the process of
structuring and conducting research;
3. Promote dialogue between students, researchers and firms to generate new research ideas and
approaches, develop research curiosity, and the ability to identify and formulate relevant issues that
innovative research can clarify, thereby providing breakthroughs in state of the art in the field in question.
project (identifying the object of research and the initial question, developing the conceptual framework,
choosing the appropriate methodological approach, processing data and interpreting results). More
specifically, its aims are to:
1. Initiate students into the challenges of multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary research in the field under
scrutiny, drawing predominantly on the experience of other research partners;
2. Provide a conceptual framework to understand the various steps and options to take in the process of
structuring and conducting research;
3. Promote dialogue between students, researchers and firms to generate new research ideas and
approaches, develop research curiosity, and the ability to identify and formulate relevant issues that
innovative research can clarify, thereby providing breakthroughs in state of the art in the field in question.
Contents
1. Research: what it is and what it aims to achieve
The specificity of scientific discourse compared with other discurses on business reality
Types of research and research strategies. The challenges of inter- and transdisciplinarity
Differences between the various research strategies that aim to meet specific research aims, collect the
relevant data and produce useful results
2. Stages of the process
Delimiting a research problem. Identifying the conceptual framework(s). Literature review (state of the art)
and its importance for the structure of solid and innovative research. The model: objectives, issues and
possible hypotheses to test. Defining the strategy and choice of methodologies for the collection and
analysis of data. Presentating the results and drawing conclusions
3. Examples of inter- and transdisciplinary research processes
Emerging research issues and challenges in agroforestry and food. The challenges and limits of inter- and
transdisciplinary research strategies
The specificity of scientific discourse compared with other discurses on business reality
Types of research and research strategies. The challenges of inter- and transdisciplinarity
Differences between the various research strategies that aim to meet specific research aims, collect the
relevant data and produce useful results
2. Stages of the process
Delimiting a research problem. Identifying the conceptual framework(s). Literature review (state of the art)
and its importance for the structure of solid and innovative research. The model: objectives, issues and
possible hypotheses to test. Defining the strategy and choice of methodologies for the collection and
analysis of data. Presentating the results and drawing conclusions
3. Examples of inter- and transdisciplinary research processes
Emerging research issues and challenges in agroforestry and food. The challenges and limits of inter- and
transdisciplinary research strategies
Teaching Methods
Given the practical nature of the CU, the focus is on students work-in-progress; thus teaching/learning
methods include (in)formal tutorials, supported by seminars in which (i) projects and research results and
(ii) policies and ID&I strategies for the business sector, are presented.
Skills acquisition is evaluated as follows: attendance at and participation in classes/seminars (20%);
preparation of 2 individual reports to be presented/discussed (2x40%). In the first, students provide a
critical analysis of a piece of interdisciplinary research, in which the features and components of the
various steps of the process are presented, and in which the methodology adopted, results obtained,
innovative aspects, weaknesses and limitations are all assessed. In the 2nd report, the student selects a
relevant research problem of interest for future research, and presents a literature review covering the 3-5
JCR or SCOPUS articles he considers fundamental to the state of the art.
methods include (in)formal tutorials, supported by seminars in which (i) projects and research results and
(ii) policies and ID&I strategies for the business sector, are presented.
Skills acquisition is evaluated as follows: attendance at and participation in classes/seminars (20%);
preparation of 2 individual reports to be presented/discussed (2x40%). In the first, students provide a
critical analysis of a piece of interdisciplinary research, in which the features and components of the
various steps of the process are presented, and in which the methodology adopted, results obtained,
innovative aspects, weaknesses and limitations are all assessed. In the 2nd report, the student selects a
relevant research problem of interest for future research, and presents a literature review covering the 3-5
JCR or SCOPUS articles he considers fundamental to the state of the art.
Certificações
