When Research Goes Wrong: Failures, Friction and What We Learn
A BSA Mid-Career Forum Event
16 September 2026 (13:00-14:30 BST)
Online
About the Event
Academic careers are often communicated through moments of success, the familiar "delighted to announce..." posts that celebrate publications, funding awards, promotions, and career milestones. While these achievements matter, they rarely capture the full story of how research unfolds.
This BSA Mid-Career Forum event creates space for a different conversation. Through a series of short provocations, speakers will reflect on projects that stalled, collaborations that became difficult, methods that failed to deliver what was expected, unexpected changes in direction, and the lessons that emerged from these experiences. Rather than focusing on failure itself, the event explores what research friction can teach us about academic cultures, expectations, collaboration, and the realities of contemporary academic life.
The session will combine short talks, audience participation, Mentimeter activities, and small-group discussion. Participants will also be invited to anonymously share experiences, questions, dilemmas, and lessons learned in advance to help shape the discussion around the issues that matter most to them.
Confirmed contributors include Professor Carl May (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) and Professor Angharad Beckett (University of Leeds), with additional speakers to be announced.
Hosted by the BSA Mid-Career Forum, this event has been inspired by conversations within the mid-career community, although the themes are likely to resonate with sociologists across a range of career stages and pathways. We hope participants will leave with practical insights, a sense of camaraderie, and a more honest account of how research really happens.
Registration
This event is free to attend, however, registration is required.