PhD-pizza - Gathering for PhD-candidates to talk freely

From The Embassy of Good Science

PhD-pizza - Gathering for PhD-candidates to talk freely

What is this about?

On a Friday night the head of the department orders a bunch of pizza's for the PhD-candidates and leaves the office, so the PhD-candidates can talk freely about what they encounter in their work, without the possibility that the boss might overhear.

Why is this important?

The head of the department stimulates an open conversation among the PhD-candidates. This way they can share their worries, maybe help each other, or empower each other to take action upon the issues they encounter in their work. For example, PhD-candidates might experience similar issues without knowing, because they usually don't talk about such issues at work. PhD-students might find themselves in a vulnerable position and therefore might not feel safe to talk about issues at work. It is easier to talk with peers without have the boss around.  

For whom is this important?

What are the best practices?

This kind of semiformal meeting is very supportive, not only for PhD candidates, but for all members of research teams.

Sometimes, team members are coming from different institutions and this is the best way for them to get to know each other better. In this way they would improve their communication which will become much easier and of better quality.

In Detail

All of them, especially junior researchers would be more ready to talk about their dilemmas or obstacles they are facing during their research work. They might not hesitate to ask for help or for any other suggestion which will improve the quality of their scientific investigation.

For senior researchers, these meetings would be the valuable feedback about their overall research giving them the opportunity to stimulate their junior colleagues if it is necessary and/ or to support their work, efforts, ideas etc.

The frequency and duration of these meetings depend on the researchers themselves, their satisfaction from previous meetings, the quality of their achievements so far, and the necessity for further improvement of their research work.

From time to time, maybe, it would be valuable to everyone to invite the research leader on Pizza-Gathering emphasizing the integrity of the team and the integrity of the research, as well.

Other information

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