Winter School: Introduction to Evidence Synthesis (2 days; In-Person)

Introduction to Evidence Synthesis: Winter School on Systematic Reviews and Beyond (2 day event)

Date: 26th & 27th January, 2027

Venue: Riddel Hall, Queen's University Belfast

Background

Healthcare policy and practice decisions should be based on a synthesis of the global body of evidence rather than relying on individual studies. Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland promote evidence-based healthcare policy and practice by supporting high quality, relevant systematic reviews and other synthesised research evidence.

Aim

This Winter School provides those at the beginning of the systematic review process with a clear understanding of how reviews are planned and conducted. It offers an insight into the development of a protocol, introducing participants to methodology, question formulation, search methods, data extraction, risk of bias assessment, meta-analysis, interpretation and reporting.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the two days, participants will be able to:

• Describe the basic principles of a systematic review
• Formulate a review question using PICO and identify the scope of their review
• Describe the key sections of a systematic review protocol and why it should be registered
• Explain search methods and how a search strategy is built
• Apply the eligibility criteria for selecting studies
• Explain the principles of creating a data collection form and of data extraction
• Explain the principles of risk of bias assessment
• Explain the concept of heterogeneity and describe the methods for assessing and addressing it
• Describe the basic principles of meta-analysis and interpret a forest plot
• Describe how the certainty of evidence is assessed with GRADE and presented in a summary of findings table
• Outline what needs to be reported in a systematic review, using PRISMA

Teaching strategies

The Winter School will consist of a mixture of short presentations, led by members of Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland’s teaching faculty covering each of the stages of a systematic review, worked examples, live demonstrations, interactive polls and plenary question and answer sessions. Interactive elements use live polling, so please bring a phone, tablet or laptop.

Tickets Terms and Conditions:

Tickets are available for the full two days only. Group registration rate is available for groups of more than 5 attendees and can be paid by invoice. All other payments are via Eventbrite. You do not require a PayPal account to make payment via the PayPal facility on Eventbrite. ESI is a non-profit organisation. ESI charges a nominal fee for workshops in order to cover costs associated with events and reduce the incidence of no-shows. Fees are subsidised via funding from Health Research Board (HRB) and the Health and Social Care, Research and Development (HSC R&D) Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland.

Upon request by email, refunds for event withdrawal made prior to seven days before the event will be fully refunded. Requests made seven days or less before the event will only be refunded, provided the place can be reallocated to the event wait list.

Please be aware that by attending the ESI Winter School you enter an area where photography may occur. By entering the event premises, you consent to photography, and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, advertising, inclusion on websites, social media, or any other purpose by Evidence Synthesis Ireland.

*If your type of ticket is sold out, please join the waitlist or contact us at esi@universityofgalway.ie