EERA (the European Educational Research Association) was founded in June 1994 as a result of discussions among many national educational research associations and several major research institutes throughout Europe. Its purpose is to draw attention to the need for a European association, foster the exchange of ideas amongst European researchers, promote collaboration in research, and improve research quality. EERA also offers independent advice on educational research to European policy-makers, administrators and practitioners. It is made up of more than 40 national and regional Educational Research Associations from all parts of Europe. The academic work is organized in 33 thematic networks (http://www.eera-ecer.de/networks/). For more information, visit http://www.eera.eu.