Their have been many one-on-one discussion about supporting Drupal by research and (visa versa) creating Drupal distributions for R&D activities. The BoF is to see if we can find a common ground and define some concrete actions. We invite every one that would like to help us build this bridge between Drupal and academic communities. Some of the topics discussed so far:

  • Creating a "call for paper" to support the discussion on Drupal's hot topics using more "formal" or "scientific" thinking.
  • How to build a Drupal open R&D distributions to support Drupal shops current R&D efforts by collaboration?
  • Organizing a research-track during Drupalcons.
  • Having research group collaborate on harder problems by creating joined projects.

Fiel free to give your own suggestions ...

Sorry about the typos

I have the bad habit to first save and than check for spelling.

joined applications for

joined applications for research grants, lead by academics but with business support?

yes

I've been wondering about that, I know how it works for Belgium and for EU project, but how this goes in different countries?

Any how, this should definitely be a topics.

This looks like a great idea.

This looks like a great idea. I often see questions from student-researchers looking for ways to conduct research with and about Drupal as well.

supporting young researchers

Supporting young researcher has been my main focus so far. This is why I'm working on a "call for papers" and we have some other ideas. Like creating a manual on what to look for when doing research (with and about Drupal). Another idea was to create a repository (using open scholar) about interesting literature that can help.

My advisor in ECCO created a good FAQ for his PhD students. It could be an inspiration for a manual: http://ecco.vub.ac.be/?q=node/25

For the repository I could add literature on Open Source for management and desing research for Information Systems. However, such a repository would only be useful if we could cover more disciplines.

EduBoFs

This might fit into a number of the conversations here too.

I'm a bit confused

Do you mean the EduBoFs ? The link relates to the DMS BoF ... I'm a bit confused.

I agree that it relates to some parts of the EduBoF (seem my EduBoF comment), after all academia is about Research & Education. I've actually been running a master course on Drupal for the last 5 years.

If you mean the Documentation Management BoF, could you than explain a bit more? Do you see it related to the call for papers?

Reflecting on EduBoF relation

I think from an academic point of view there is much to learn about the experience in "the Summer of Code" initiative, which goal is to "help students pursue academic challenges" (see 2011 SoC BoF).

I've been dreaming about a big educational portal for Drupal, by creating a synergy between many educational activities currently going on.

For example, I would love to have my own students be more interacting with the Drupal community directly. I've been working to put the course online. It would be great if the course would become open to everyone who likes to have it, but I'm not sure if the site makes any sense for other people than my students. Many important elements are still tacit and other parts should really get changed (e.g. the "theory" section sucks).

I've learned a lot with this test and really like to take the challenge to the next level, but not alone this time.

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