The Summer School aims to provide the student-participants with the opportunity to present their research projects and receive in-depth feedback on them, to listen to inspiring keynote speeches and practical guides on research by renowned scholars and experts from Europe and China, and to learn from experienced researchers when producing a team project proposal.  To the students, the Summer School represents a highly supportive international setting where they can present their current and future projects, exchange ideas with international experts, and establish connections with academics and fellow students from around the world.

The main learning format of the summer school includes:

1. Student Panels: Participant-students will present their research projects and receive structured and multi-voiced feedback on their work from Summer School lecturers and students. They will enable students to identify problems in their own research, improve the quality of their academic work, and stimulate further research interest. In the beginning of the Summer School, each participant-student will be guided to draft a poster on their research project, which will then be used during their presentations in the student panels.

2. Keynotes: Special seminars (90 mins) by leading scholars in different fields of media and communication studies, and consulting experts for projects that engage European and Chinese stakeholders. The keynote speeches are meant to demonstrate the state-of-the-art scholarship on how research can be done in a given area.

3. Workshops on Research Practice: workshops (30-60 mins) with invited speakers. These workshops are designed to provide hands-on examples or guidance in real research settings. Topics will include: how to write an abstract; how to define research questions from the literature review; quantitative research methods v.s. qualitative research methods in social science research; oral presentation skills; academic writing; key steps of publishing academic paper, etc.

4. Student Group Projects: students will be grouped into different teams based on their research area and methodological background. Professors will be assigned to the different student team with the best fit in terms of topic and methods. Both in-class and off-class group work will not only help the students to understand how to collaborate in an academic environment, but also give them more opportunities to engage with professors. One task will be assigned to the team in the beginning of the programme, and the results of the team work will be presented at the end of Summer School.

5. Media Dialogues: Dialogues with media experts from media organizations will be arranged during the Summer School. The Dialogue will be held on the site of the media organization itself, whenever possible. This will allow the participant-students to personally observe the media work in practice.