Workshop 4: From Curiosity to Research Question
From Curiosity to Research Question: Finding a Focused, Feasible Question
About the Workshop
Do you have a broad interest in a topic but have no idea how to work it into an actual research paper? Do you often change your mind because either your topic feels too massive or too narrow to find data on? Are your digressions making you question, “Is that what I was working on?”
This 90 minute interactive workshop is your one-stop solution that tries to bridge the gap between general curiosity and actual academic execution. This workshop is designed for anyone who wants to take the vague “what ifs?” and make it into a sharp doable research question.
No prior experience is required.
Who Should Attend?
- UG, PG, and PhD students in Social Sciences and Humanities
- Early-career researchers
- Anyone who wants to learn about how to find a research question(s)
What will you learn?
- The Basics: What is a focused research question? How does your research question drive your entire research and how to use literature that supports it.
- Discovering Sources: Search on websites and platforms like Google Scholar, JSTOR and other library databases. Find target keywords and relevant sources quickly without getting confused and overwhelmed.
- Smart & Efficient Reading: Reading material strategically that focuses on key insights rather than mindless reading.
- Organising Themes: Learn how to connect various ideas by grouping and organising your findings.
- Synthesising Over Summarising: Building a coherent narrative by combining various perspectives from your collected sources rather than just listing summaries.
- Spot the Research Gap: Become a detective and identify missing pieces in current studies using practical techniques. Finding the research gap helps you determine the exact area your research question tries to address.
- Avoiding mistakes: How to spot common mistakes like using overly broad scopes, vague language, how to ethically borrow and not plagiarize.
About the Resource Person
Dr. Varun Wighmal
Dr. Varun Wighmal holds a PhD from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He is currently working as a Teaching Faculty at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi and is also pursuing a Post Doctoral Fellowship from ICSSR. Along with that he works as part of the Teaching faculty at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. His research operates at the intersection of the philosophy of mind, political philosophy and the philosophy of religion with the case study of entangled spiritual traditions. His work delves into the collective consciousness of Punjabi society. He uses the theoretical frameworks of entangled minds and entangled spirituality. Dr. Wighmal demonstrates how the concept of entanglement serves as a constitutive core for understanding the rich complexities of regional spiritual traditions of Punjab. Additionally, they are a core member of both the Religion and Social and Knowledge and Tradition research groups at the Foundation for Creative Social Research.
Dates and other details
Registration Deadline: 7th August, 2026
Date of the Workshop: 9th August, 2026 (Sunday)
Time: 4:00 PM IST Time Mode: Virtual (Zoom)
Resource Person: Dr. Varun Wighmal
Duration: 90 Minutes Fee: ₹200 INR
Certificate: Available for all participants
Contact For any queries, please contact: uara@umran.org.in
Harsh (Registration Coordinator): +91 98526 55567
Sonal (Workshop Coordinator): +91 70115 19167
What Our Participants Say
“The workshop was supportive for English researchers.”
– Aye Thu Thu Aung
“The workshop was really engaging. The resource person made the topic easy to understand with relatable examples.”
– Maria Gladys A.
“It was a great experience and I learned how to systematically write a literature review.”
– Dimitri Brahma
“The guidance on identifying research gaps and organising literature systematically was the most valuable part.”
– Sheetal
“Cleared the basics and provided essential clarity on paper structuring for Scopus and international standards.”
– S. Shaikh
“A genuine approach to help understand the nitty-gritty of writing research papers for beginners and mid research students.”
– Dr. Latha S
“The fact they broke down the steps to research one by one… simple enough to understand.”
– R. Kimbilakmawi
“It was my first time attending one of their workshop sessions, and I must say that the resource persons they invited were highly cooperative, knowledgeable, and engaging.”
– Muskan
