The project researchers have, within the first year of the project, focused on strengthening their methodological skills for remote research. Two four-day workshops and a week-long summer school held at each of the three partner universities featuring invited specialists in different relevant methods have given input and space for discussing the particular implementation of specific research topics. Through these events, the project has established a strong international network of young and experienced scholars, resulting in online publications on the project website, and will be the base for developing further scientific collaboration. Besides, scholars involved in the project have published opinion pieces in several languages and various media venues. This has generated a lively exchange in the community of XUAR scholars and beyond and directly contributed to ongoing topical research on the region. A monthly colloquium and weekly team meetings have further allowed us to consolidate and try out ideas. Additionally, the team members have received online training in data security and research ethics. The weekly meetings also serve to discuss regional news and evolving research strategies.
In the second year of the project, the colloquium and meetings have continued while the focus has shifted to data collection. Through online research, social media monitoring, satellite image analysis, interviews in the diaspora, archival visits, and fieldwork in adjacent regions and related places, a large amount of data has been collected by the project researchers and associates. As part of the methodology, these data sets are presented to the team and triangulated with other data sets to be analyzed with a holistic and broad understanding of ongoing regional developments. The close exchange between the researchers in the project and also with external cooperation partners, including NGOs and journalists working in the region, is therefore crucial. Such cooperation has been sought and achieved.
The next important step is integrating much of our collected data into an archive, which is intended to make data on XUAR available to researchers, journalists, policymakers, and the interested public in an ethically responsible way. To achieve this, we have structured it in an onion shape, with the outer layers most easily accessible and the inner layers with highly sensitive data most protected.
Our data collection and analysis continue, as does our exchange in the weekly meetings and monthly colloquium. Media cooperation, podcast output, and other publication efforts will be expanded in the last year of the project in 2025. The new methodological approaches will also be consolidated into a small open-access guidebook on how to do remote ethnography.
