Co-Create the research environment that you want to be in!

Our research environment is far from perfect and while the reasons can be various, solutions to change have to be tailored to you as a researcher. Together, in this “Winter School – Hackathon”, we will design with you and experts from the field of open science, mental health and science communication, the environment for you to thrive in.

Join PhD students from multiple research disciplines, and design with experts and trainers in an interactive week a road map to train and enable you, as an individual, to take action in the course of your work and within your home institution. Using guided reflection, working in teams, use cases, and practical workshops, you will go from dystopia to a utopia and develop the tools needed to make it a reality for your PhD and research.

The fee to attend will be 50 EUR for current PhD students and 95 EUR for supervisors and postdocs. 

We prepare all sessions to provide a safe and inclusive environment, focusing on interaction and joint development to turn working practices into your individual research roadmap for change. 

Register here!

Program Overview

Program Overview – Click to view in new window

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

• Develop a self-care and open science toolbox
• Understand and foster healthy working relationships and supervision relationships
• Supportive peer reflection and evaluation
• Effective communication in difficult situations
• Ethical courses of action
• Creating an open science environment with proven open science tools
• Creating and developing boundaries
• Cultivating cultural and mindset changes in the research environment
• Building and fostering support groups
• Reshaping the narrative of your research for science communication
• Science communication best practices

Speakers and Trainers (more to be added at a later date)

Dr. Gábor Kismihók is the head of the Learning and Skills Analytics research Group at the Leibniz Information Center for Science and Technology (TIB) in Hannover, Germany. He is the Chair of the Career Development Working Group at the Marie Curie Alumni Association. He also chairs the recently started COST Action on Researcher Mental Health. His core research focuses on matching processes between individuals, education (learning), and the labour market, using novel technologies and datasets. He has published his research in a number of international peer-reviewed journals and books in the area of Learning Analytics and Technology Enhanced Learning. Gábor also has extensive experience with European research funding (e.g. H2020, H2020 MSCA, Erasmus Plus).

Dr. Ivo Grigorov holds a PhD in Marine Science, currently fundraising for marine & climate research at the Danish Technical University DTU. Professional focus includes optimising researcher’s and research organisations’ strategies for translating research in societal context, by deploying #OpenScience, #KnowledgeTransfer and #OceanLiteracy to optimise research output transfer along the lab-2-users spectrum. Ivo runs the FOSTER Open Science Clinique www.openscienceclinique.eu to make Open Science an essential skillset for Early Career Researchers, synergies and conflicts between Open Science and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and training HorizonEU National Contact Points (NCP) in grant proposal benefits of Open Science.

Ms. Jo Harney is a Counselling Psychologist in the position of Training and Groups Manager at the Student Counselling Service in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has achieved a Masters in Counselling Psychology and a Masters in Clinical Supervision. She specialises in working with students supporting them to achieve mental wellbeing to reach their potential during their academic careers. She has significant experience producing and delivering training and therapeutic groups in the field of psychology and mental health. Her main areas of interest and expertise are compassion-focused therapy, clinical supervision, group therapy, and training.

Ms. Petra Ardai is theatre-maker, teacher, and writer. She is the artistic director of the Amsterdam and Budapest based art collective SPACE. Petra has wide experience in documentary theatre and immersive collaborative storytelling in various media. She produces interactive performances, multimedia installations, online art, living heritage apps, and instant visionary fiction. She gives workshops and lectures. Petra is specialized in future scenarios and builds imaginary worlds around the question: ‘Who owns the Future?’ She collaborates with cross-sector partners from the field of art, science, and the social domain.

Ms. Esther Verhamme, Creative hands-on communication strategist and UX designer, passionate about on-offline storytelling projects involving human centred design, gamification and technology. “I believe in the power of stories. As stories shape who we are, and the stories we tell shape who we become.” Esther has more than 20 years experience in communications, design and concept development. At SPACE, Esther researches immersive online storytelling and new ways of dialogue through digital media.

Dr. Christian Weber is a researcher with the Institute of Knowledge-Based Systems and Knowledge Management (KBS & KM), University of Siegen, Germany. Within his PhD he was working on developing semantic and structure-aware concept importance measures for domain knowledge to guide digital learning. He is continuously researching on the exploitation of evolving knowledge maps for an ongoing industrial, educational and medical digitalization using AI and is active for that in national and international funded research projects (DFG, BMBF, H2020, Erasmus plus and many more) but also direct industrial collaborations, as well as supporting the next push of tech-startups. He believes that any digital solution has to have a human factor and so does academia.

Ms Alice Kelly is a Systemic Psychotherapist in the position of Training Manager and Student Counsellor at the Student Counselling Service in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has achieved a Masters in Work and Organisational Psychology and a Masters in Systemic Psychotherapy.  She specialises in working with students and supporting their mental wellbeing to reach their potential during their academic careers.  She has significant experience working with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and supporting people through the challenges they might face as they work through their lives and academic career.  Her main areas of interest and expertise include narrative therapy, attachment based approaches, systems theory, group therapy and training.

Ms Frances Walsh is a Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapist and a Student Counsellor working in Training and Outreach at the Student Counselling Service in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has achieved a Masters in Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy and a B.A. in Psychology. She specialises in working with students and supporting their mental wellbeing to reach their potential during their academic careers. She has significant experience working collaboratively with clients from a wide variety of backgrounds and supporting them to explore the challenges experienced in life and to develop the skills and resources within themselves to deal with these challenges and overcome obstacles. Her main areas of interest and expertise include person-centred therapy incorporating attachment theory, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, SFBT (Solution Focussed Brief Therapy) and training.

Ms Lucia Nwabueze is an Assistant Psychologist at the Student Counselling Service in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She has achieved a Masters in Psychological Science and a BSc in Psychology. She specialises in supporting young adults with their mental wellbeing and promoting mental health awareness and help-seeking behaviours. She has experience working with young people and supporting them to develop skills and resources to manage difficult emotional and life experiences. Her main areas of interest include Suicide Prevention, Neurodiversity Advocacy, Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Mr. Mathias Schroijen is a member of the Postgraduate Office at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). As a project leader he is responsible for the development of transferable skills training programmes and career development services for researchers. Mathias has a research background in health psychology (respiratory psychophysiology) and throughout his PhD, he was actively involved in doctoral training with a specific interest in mental health, intersectoral mobility and social entrepreneurship. Driven by these interests, he focused on PhD community building at the local level (PhD Society at KU Leuven), the construction of training and career development services at the institutional level (project manager MSCA-Cofund IF@ULB) and the representation of early career researchers at the European level (Eurodoc).

Dr. Scott Harrison is a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (DIPF). He currently works on understanding the effects of digitalizing assessments with a focus on the PISA studies. Scott has a PhD from the University of New England, Australia, which was in the area of economics, using statistical approaches to understand the effect digital student support technologies had on student retention.

Dr. Renaud Jolivet is Full Professor at the Maastricht Centre for Systems Biology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.  He trained as a physicist and neuroscientist, and he is interested in energetic constraints and heterocellular diversity in the brain.  Dr. Jolivet has accumulated broad expertise, having worked in multiple countries, at diverse research-performing organisations, and having served in a variety of leadership roles in panels and committees.  He has extensive experience in project evaluation and management, and as an academic mentor.  He has been an active advocate for science and for reform in academia since 2014.  He currently serves as a Member of the Board of Directors at the Organization for Computational Neurosciences, as an External Policy Advisor and Board Member at the Initiative for Science in Europe.  He is the Chair of Policy at the Marie Curie Alumni Association.

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