Course What is research? Ontology, epistemology and methodology

The course  C305/ What is research? Ontology, epistemology and methodology is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, 2025.

Criteria for participation:  University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students).

Aim: The aim of this course is to introduce and discuss basic philosophy of science. Hence, the course introduces and discuss’ the concepts of ontology, epistemology, and methodology in order to answer the questions of what research is and what counts as research-based knowledge.

Learning outcomes: At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Describe the fundamental concepts and positions in the philosophy of science
• Articulate the research implications of the various philosophical positions on science
• Position one’s research project in a philosophy of science discourse
• Formulate research questions, based on various epistemologies

Workload: The full workload of the course is expected to be 51 hours

Content: While researchers often possess an immense amount of knowledge within their specific domain, they seldom reflect on the philosophy of science within or outside their given research paradigm. This course provides an in-depth introduction to the underlying epistemological and methodological positions and issues in doing research in health sciences. As such, it is not an introduction to specific research methodologies but an overview that will help the researcher/doctoral student to reflect on the basic positions and understandings of the health sciences. The course is highly interactive and will include blended learning. The course offers an opportunity for discussions on the course material and the participants’ own work.

Instructors: Maria Louise Gamborg, Rune Dall Jensen, and invited guest speakers.

Venue: Aarhus University, Aarhus.

Participation in the course is without cost for:

• PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

Course dates:

• 20 October 2025 08:00 - 16:00
• 21 October 2025 08:00 - 16:00
• 27 October 2025 08:30 - 16:00