EuroSoTL 2025: Making connections in pedagogical research

We recently attended the 2025 EuroSoTL conference, hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. LITE was proud to be able to sponsor colleagues from the University to attend and present at EuroSoTL, showcasing the high quality pedagogical research taking place across the institution.

In this blog, some of the attendees reflect on their experience.

“My high point of the conference was presenting with Esther Perry, about her 2024 Student Research Experience Project which investigated the impact of LITE Fellowships on professional services colleagues. I never fail to be impressed by the students who we do research with, and there is great value in bringing the student perspective to research, especially students from diverse disciplines who bring new personal and disciplinary perspectives to our work.

“It was notable that of the audience at our talk, none of them came from institutions with a system to support professional services staff or technicians undertaking SoTL the way we do at LITE, which makes for a gap if we want to think of students’ university education extending beyond the classroom. I also enjoyed workshops about supporting SoTL, especially where they linked to our work about supporting researchers to evidence impact, such as the presentation by Jackie Potter, Ruth Healy, and Georgina Spencer from the University of Chester.”

• Emma Peasland, LITE Head of Research

 

“This conference was an incredible experience; I was warmed by how friendly and open the community is. I had many meaningful conversations and got to connect with many different people through our shared interest in SoTL. Just one example was the gamification workshop, where I got to know my fellow colleagues through friendly competition. It was interesting to think about how adding fun to learning improves our engagement and retention. Yet, how this must be carefully balanced against not distracting from the learning goals and not adding so much competitive pressure that people become disengaged from the activities.

“Presenting with Emma was very impactful. The questions asked were thought-provoking and it has left me thinking about what may motivate people to become involved in SoTL work and how this affects the populations of people we see completing Professional Service fellowships.”

• Esther Perry, fourth year medical student MBCHP

 

“The best thing about EuroSoTL was seeing a team from the Lifelong Learning Centre be awarded the prize for best abstract – I really enjoyed their presentation. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the University of Leeds was represented at the conference, and I send many thanks to LITE for providing funding support which enabled me to attend. Attending an international conference is a more immersive experience and provides wider perspectives – it’s great to see how aligned we are with practice in other European countries and it also helps to identify areas which are of common interest and concern.”

• Anita Collins, Programme Manager in the Lifelong Learning Centre

 

 

“The theme of the EuroSoTL 2025 conference was making connections. With over 300 attendees, all enthusiastic about enhancing education through SoTL, this was where I found ‘my people’. From re-connecting with colleagues who I have met in the past, to making new acquaintances, I made links to develop collaborative research opportunities and provide supportive networks to further champion what we can achieve. We see different understandings of terminology and application across Europe and understanding these allows me to reflect on what we can do at LITE to develop our practice.

“One highlight for me was Svenne Groeneweg’s (University of Amsterdam) presentation, ‘Exploring the role of social networks in SoTL: the impact of making connections’. This presentation dovetailed with the research we are undertaking around the impact of a LITE fellowship but looked at it from a different lens and has left me pondering, and considering how we could collaborate on a future project.”

• Ben Witz, LITE Head of Operations

 

“My favourite thing about EuroSoTL was making connections. It’s a bit cheesy, given that this was the theme of the conference, but it’s true! It was a joy to connect with others from Leeds and I have made some new friends from other countries too. I was surprised at how beautiful Groningen is, and the delightfully spacious and easy to navigate railway system.

“Attending an international conference is obviously more time consuming than attending something in the UK, but it is definitely time well spent! Being away from Leeds with other people from Leeds is surprisingly refreshing, and gives space for conversations that just don’t happen when we’re in our usual environment. The conference has prompted me to think in more detail about the definitional complexities of SoTL, creating effective SoTL communities, considering SoTL through the lens of metascience and how I can effectively integrate AI into my teaching and assessment.”

• Stacey Mottershaw, Associate Professor in Leeds University Business School