Apply now!
Join us at PEER Rochester (July 7-11, 2025) or PEER SoCal (June 16-18, 2025). Applications due May 15!
Welcome to PEER!
The Professional development for Emerging Education Researchers (PEER) Institute supports scholars as they become education researchers and expand their research expertise. PEER focuses on Discipline-based Education Research, advancing both scholarship and teaching goals that are valued at all types of academic institutions.
At PEER, you will learn fundamental and applied research skills in a supportive and participatory research environment.
You will delve into research project development and best practices, engage with like-minded professionals, and gain invaluable insights into the world of educational research. Our expert facilitators will guide you through hands-on activities and collaborative discussions, helping you shape your project and engage your passion.
Check out the PEER Model to learn more.
Getting started in education research? PEER is for you.
PEER helps faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and independent scholars get started in eduation research. For many participants, PEER is their first research project in education. Other participants are stretching into a new theory or methodology, or re-engaging with research after a hiatus. Everyone has expertise to contribute, and everyone has skills to learn and refine.
PEER participants love the collaborative community in PEER field schools. Many continue on after taking the program, doing research together, submitting papers for peer reviewed publication, or supporting each other through accountability groups.
PEER Partners with…
300+
Participants
from Field Schools
$16M+
Awarded in grants
to participants
14+
Locations
across the globe
13+
Facilitators helping us
reach our goals
Our Goal: Boost your education research skills and push your project forward.
PEER centers participants’ research projects to grow their skills. If you’ve got a project in mind, we will help you develop it. From ideation to peer-reviewed publication, PEER helps move your project forward from any point.
In our intensive, experiential field schools, we cover fundamental skills like generative writing and collaborative feedback as well as foundational topics like choosing theoretical frameworks and matching research questions with data streams. Because you’re working on your project all along, you apply your growing skills immediately and your project experiences a ton of growth. Our expert facilitators and evidence-based, time-tested curriculum will guide you – and your project! – through enormous growth.
Wherever you’re at, we’ll help you take your research to the next level.
PEER has Results
Hundreds of faculty, instructors, graduate students, and independent scholars from all over the world have participated in PEER Field Schools.
Since participating in PEER, many participants have gone on to publish peer-reviewed papers amounting to over 130 since PEER started
24 NSF grants with a PEER participant as a PI or Co-PI have been awarded, amounting to over $16M
Resources
Is PEER right for me?
PEER participants come from all stages of their journey into education research, from graduate students working on their dissertations to classically-trained faculty looking to switch to education researchers who want to revitalize their research lives or pivot in a new direction.
PEER is right for you if you want to grow your skills and build your community. You’re ready for PEER when you have a project in mind: from refining your ideas to getting started in paper-writing, PEER will take you to the next step.
You’re not ready for PEER if you think there’s only one right way to do education research, or if you don’t have enough freedom in your current professional life to engage in education research.
Curious about more?
The PEER Model
PEER will boost your education research skills and push your project forward! We focus on making research…
Responsive
Field schools respond to participant needs
Playful
Researchers play with ideas and data to generate new knowledge
Communicative
Writing and presenting are core parts of research
Collaborative
People do research together, in communities
Opportunities to participate in PEER!
Whether you’re just getting started, looking to stretch into new projects or methodologies, or seeking community and support around education research, we’re happy to have you. Upcoming field schools and workshops will be held in the US as well as internationally (as travel permits).
Join the list!
Curious about other possibilities?
Don’t miss out on PEER events.
Join our announcements list to hear about upcoming field schools, virtual gateways, and other PEER events.
Upcoming events
Ready to grow your research skills?
PEER offers in-person and virtual events for emerging education researchers. Just getting started in education research, or curious about what PEER is like? Join us for a 90-minute virtual gateway workshop. Ready for a longer experience? Apply for an upcoming field school.
