The 5th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR) will engage with research on the formation and re-formation of welfare services and institutions, communities and collectives, social work practices and social policies, from Europe and beyond.
- Presentation of local, national and comparative transnational research that mobilizes different methodologies and historical-cultural contexts
- Research that advances cutting-edge debates and theory building in research methods, social work practice, social networks, social policy and policy practice, and evidence-based practice and scholarship
- Special focus will be given to the diversity of unfolding social tensions and widening societal inequities, the transformation of social intimacies and collective relationships, and the political grammar of social protests.
The conference is designed as a site for enriching dialogue and networks for scholars of research in social work.

The conference is the annual showcase event of the newly established European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and was previously held at Oxford, Basel, Jyväskylä, and Bolzano/Bozen.

The sub-themes of the 2015 conference are:
- Research on social work and social policy, social justice, diversity, inequalities, resistance and social change
- Historical research on social work, social services, social welfare, and social justice
- Research and evaluation of social work practice and service delivery, including organizations, decision making, community practice, and policy practice
- Research on social work participants, cultures and contexts, including comparative research
- Research on the role of history, media, and memory in social work
- Research on social work education and pedagogy
- Social work research methodologies and theory building