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At the conference Theory and Paradigm – Contemporary Debates on Theory in the Humanities and Social Sciences, held at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences on 24–25 September 2026, Dr. Piotr Filipkowski presented a paper entitled “A Theoretical Crisis of Empirical Sociology? Reflections from the Perspective of the Qualitative Data Archive.” The presentation argued that sociological qualitative research is becoming increasingly fragmented and dispersed, with a related weakening of its theoretical foundations. This argument was illustrated with examples drawn from the Qualitative Data Archive’s collections.

ADJ has published the dataset Little chance… CHECK! An Inquiry into the Presence of Women at Art Academies 2025, authored by Dr Maciej Frąckowiak (Faculty of Sociology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań). The dataset contains transcripts of qualitative interviews conducted at six Polish academic centres as part of a broader research project examining the persistence and transformation of the conditions shaping women’s careers across generations, as well as the realities of studying and the processes of collaboration and promotion within the structures of art academies. The study was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

A dataset entitled ‘Forest conflicts in the Polish specialist press between 1989 and 2025’ has been published in the Qualitative Data Archive. It is authored by Professor Krzysztof Niedziałkowski, Anna Firgolska and Przemysław Powałko from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The dataset contains selected materials from the research project ‘Forests, society and democracy: Disputes over the future of forests in Poland in the context of climate change and the challenges of the European Green Deal’ (funding: National Science Centre, Poland, grant no. 2024/53/B/HS6/03869). One of the project’s components was a content analysis of three specialist journals aimed at reconstructing the perspectives of foresters and environmental movements on forest conflicts in Poland. The study was based on the automated content analysis of a corpus of press articles, conducted using the Gemini 2.5 Pro language model. The dataset contains the prompts used in the process of automated content analysis, a report documenting the process of preparing and testing the prompts, as well as an R script used to analyse the database of press articles.

A dataset entitled ‘Managers’ Employability – The Role of Networking Competence and Personal Brand’, authored by Dr. Weronika Szymkiewicz (SGH Warsaw School od Economics), has been published in the Qualitative Data Archive. The dataset contains transcripts of 13 in-depth interviews conducted with individuals holding managerial positions in companies located in Poland, each with at least five years of managerial experience. The aim of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the impact of managers’ networking competence and personal branding on enhancing their employability. The project was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (grant no. 2023/49/N/HS4/00707).

On 27 May 2026, the Oral History Seminar was held at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN). During the seminar, Mr. Tomasz Gleb, a staff member of the Oral History and Film Production Department at the Pilecki Institute, spoke about the Institute’s ongoing documentation projects and presented three video testimonies from its collections.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History. The schedule of upcoming seminars can be found on the website of the Polish Oral History Association. For more information, please contact: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

The latest Oral History Seminar was held on 22 April 2026 at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University. On this occasion, Dr Tomáš W. Pavlíček, a researcher at the Czech Academy of Sciences and a collaborator of the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, presented an interview with the mathematician Roman Duda (born 1935). The interview was recorded as part of research on the history of science and Polish–Czechoslovak scientific networks. The project is expected to result in a book entitled Roman Duda: Apostle of the Wrocław Mathematicians.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History. The schedule of upcoming seminars can be found on the website of the Polish Oral History Association. For more information, please contact: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

A dataset entitled “LEARNFORCLIMATE: Learning to Realize Multiple Forest Policy Objectives under Climate-Related Stress and Disturbance”, authored by Prof. Krzysztof Niedziałkowski (IFiS PAN), has been published in the Qualitative Data Archive. The collection contains selected data and materials from the international project of the same name, which aimed to develop mechanisms for mutual learning among actors involved in the implementation of forest policy. The Polish part of the project was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (grant no. 2021/03/Y/HS6/00035).

On 25 February, the Oral History Seminar took place at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN). The meeting focused on literary—particularly poetic—adaptations of oral history testimonies, as well as their translation into foreign languages. The introductory talk was delivered by Justyna Czechowska, the translator of Marit Kapla’s book Osebol, a poetic record of conversations with residents of the Swedish town of the same name.

The next Oral History Seminar will be held on 27 March at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Łódź. Prof. Kaja Kaźmierska and Dr. Jarosław Pałka, authors of the book Soldiers of the Polish People’s Army: Oral Histories [Żołnierze Ludowego Wojska Polskiego. Historie mówione], will present an interview with one of their interlocutors.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History. The schedule of upcoming seminars can be found on the website of the Polish Oral History Association. For more information, please contact: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.

On Thursday, 29 January 2026, the Museum of Gdańsk hosted an Oral History Seminar. During the event, participants examined the life stories of two men—from Pomerania and Silesia—who had been conscripted into the German Wehrmacht and who, after the war, returned to Poland through different post-war paths. The interviews discussed came from two oral history projects: “Soldiers of General Maczek’s 1st Armoured Division” and “Grandfather from the Wehrmacht.” The seminar was preceded by a curator-led tour of the exhibition “Our Boys.”

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej” („Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History”). If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com

The Oral History Seminar was held on December 3, 2025, at the Depot History Centre in Wrocław. The analysis focused on two interviews conducted by Dr. Kamil Borecki (the “Remembrance and Future” Center, Wrocław) as part of research on the solidarity strike that took place in Wrocław in August 1980. The interviews served as a starting point for a discussion on interpretations of oral history.

The Oral History Seminars are co-organized by the Qualitative Data Archive at IFiS PAN, the Faculty of Culture and Arts at the University of Warsaw, and the Polish Oral History Association. The initiative is under the patronage of the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej” („Wrocław Yearbook of Oral History”). If you would like to participate in future meetings or receive more information, please contact us at: seminariumoralhistory@gmail.com.