The Department of Early Childhood Education at EdUHK hosted the 4th International Summer School and Symposium for Junior Researchers (InSuDoc 2026) from 2-4 June 2026. This year’s theme, “Developing Skills in Bridging Theory and Practice in Child Development and Family Studies”, brought together 44 participants from Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Mainland, Australia, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The event featured five keynote speakers who conducted workshops on the following topics:
Prof. Beth A. O’Brien (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) - Understanding How and Why Children Change Over Time: An Overview of Developmental Research Design
Prof. Marek Tesar (University of Melbourne, Australia) - Learning to Publish: Writing, Reviewing, and Becoming a Scholarly Author
Prof. Montserrat Castelló (Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain) - Writing Regulation in the PhD: Who and How Am I as a Research Writer?
Dr. Jenny Chan Yun-Chen(The Education University of Hong Kong) - Writing for Journals and Responding to Reviewers
Dr. Tao Sisi (The Education University of Hong Kong) - Learning Along the Way: Reflections on My Journey from Student to Early Faculty
In her opening remarks, Acting Head of the ECE Department, Prof. Eva Lau Yi-hung welcomed participants and keynote speakers and thanked the two co-chairs of the organising committee, Prof. Alfredo Bautista and Dr. Jenny Yun-Chen Chan, and their team for organising the event. Prof. Lau said, “InSuDoc, which started in 2023, was established with a clear purpose: to build a supportive network where junior researchers in early childhood education and relevant fields can learn the essential tools for completing their doctoral degree and publishing their work in academic journals.”
An InSuDoc 2026 participant, Ms. Ricarda Brieke, a PhD student in University College London, shared her feelings, “Meeting researchers from a range of disciplines was valuable to me. It has given me diverse perspectives of my work and broadened my professional network.”
Another participant, Mr Zhang Haowei, a PhD student from the ECE Department said, “I appreciate the opportunity to learn from so many great international scholars about their experiences navigating the early stages of their academic careers, sharing with us the challenges they faced and how to overcome them!”
To learn more about the InSuDoc 2026, please visit the website: https://insudoc-eduhk.com/
