Research Sprint Playbook

What is a Research Sprint?What would the outcomes of a global dialogue on navigating the social and ethical challenges of technology look like?

A Research Sprint offered by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society (BKC) is an educational initiative that gathers experts and emerging scholars to address current social, ethical, and policy concerns in digital technology. Participants produce a tangible output that can be helpful to others in understanding or doing something to address a real world challenge related to the identified topic.  

Typically, Research Sprint teams are composed of graduate students and early career scholars, who spend ~10 weeks meeting weekly with the BKC community and different specialists to engage in meaningful conversation about the sprint’s focus. In between weekly sessions , Research Sprint participants are given additional learning materials and activities to help them build a  final output related to the sprint’s topic. The output is determined prior to the start of the Sprint and should be considered in the initial planning stages of the Sprint and in the formulation of the Sprint’s thematic focus.

Components of a research sprint

1. Weekly Synchronous Sessions - The research sprint cohort meets weekly for two hours to explore the topic, listen to speakers (lecture, dialogue, lightning talks, etc), and workshop research ideas. To accommodate for an international cohort, we currently meet from 8:00 am-10:00 am ET. 

Depending on the output project, there may be supplemental sessions to explore the medium. For example, when there was a speculative fiction output, there were weekly writing and workshoping sessions. 

2. Output Project Work  - Outputs can take many different forms (e.g., policy papers, interactive web tools, works of speculative fiction, data visualizations, etc.), are typically designed for an external audience/publication and are accomplished in close consultation with relevant experts or stakeholders.

3. Networking - One of the benefits of participating is being part of a global cohort with individuals from multiple countries and continents. Separate to the weekly synchronous sessions, ad hoc social sessions may be planned. Events have included a networking event and virtual cooking sessions. 

4. End of Research Sprint & Beyond - A summary post of the research sprint is featured on the BKC website (example) after the end of the research sprint. All participants are added to a research sprint alumni email list and encouraged to keep in touch with Berkman Klein Center activities (e.g., signing up for our newsletter, the Buzz). This is an area of growth for Berkman Klein Center because there is more interest from previous participants to continue the work or network among past participants or BKC community. 

5. Staffing & Partnerships 

a) Research Sprint Planning Team - It is critical to identify stakeholders that will be able to support the efforts. There is not a certain number of people, but the following roles/skills needed are critical. These roles include but are not limited to: 

• Small group of individuals to review applications 

• Logistics (e.g., scheduling, Zoom)

• Curriculum 

• Pre Work (“Homework”) 

• Asynchronous Engagement 

• Social (e.g., Virtual Cooking Sessions)

• Finance - An individual to process stipends

b) Partnerships - Your staff or educational institution may not have the staff capacity to support all of these roles. Consider your current network or partnerships to help you leverage the work and resources. For example: 

• The Berkman Klein Center has a network that we refer to as the community that is a diverse network of faculty, staff, fellows, students, and practitioners that represent a wide range of backgrounds, philosophies, and disciplines.

• The Berkman Klein Center is part of the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers, referred to as the Network of Centers.The network has helped with planning, recruitment, leading sessions, identifying speakers, and global perspectives.

Considerations

In this section, we discuss considerations that shape the fundamental framework for planning a research sprint.

1. Guiding Questions: Topic Planning 

a) What does the topic mean to you and the organization? 

b) Why is this topic relevant now? 

c) What existing projects overlap with this topic? Who are people I need to bring in? 

d) What are my goals? What are the organization’s goals?   

2. Logistics Planning 

a) What time zone will the research sprint be hosted in? Will the time zone change midway through the sprint (e.g. EDT v. EST are different Universal times.)

b) Guidelines Working with External Partners

• Expectations - During project planning, review roles on the research sprint planning team, identify time commitments, preferred communication, and recurring synchronous meeting times. 

• Deliverables - Consider the strengths and skill sets of the people or groups you want to involve. This will help you identify the resources (time and money) this research sprint will take. 

3. Budget Considerations 

One of the most frequently asked questions is “how much does a program like this cost?” Well, it depends. Below is a list of budget considerations: 

• Staffing - At the Berkman Klein Center, we have staff who reserve a percentage of their time that commit to the planning and execution process. The amount of staff will depend on the number of participants and partner individuals and organizations who support the program efforts. 

• Stipends - Each research participant who completes the program receives a stipend.

• Output Considerations - Once an output is determined, extra budget items may apply. An example may be if you require someone external to edit a final presentation video or if you decide to have graphic facilitation for a final session.