Originally, I wanted to write a blogpost about feeling like a fraud. However, during the writing process, I noticed that that does not really capture the essence of the problem I wanted to reflect on. Feeling like a fraud was just one of the insecurities that the little voice in the back of my head…
Critical People in Academia – An Interview with Laura Bringmann and Markus Eronen
After a long time of silence (surprise, PhDs are stressful and juggling side projects is difficult), I finally had time to write down an interview that I did last year for the series about critical people. This interview is special. First of all, it was conducted with two people, who second of all, are very…
A Reflection on the Topsport Analogy
The last months were filled with a heated public debate on whether academia should be seen as ‘topsport’ (the Dutch term for professional sports). Funnily, right before these public discussions, we had our own local discussions with proponents of the topsport analogy. After thinking a lot about this complex topic, we will argue in this…
Critical People in Academia – An Interview with Ineke Wessel
When looking for more ‘critical people’ to talk to for this series, I thought about the different researchers that I met during my studies. One of them was Ineke Wessel – I met her when I was looking to learn more about statistics and meta-science. She is known for her research on controversial memory topics…
Mental Health & Academia – Following a Research Master
As I mentioned in an earlier post, completing a Research Master (ReMa)1 program prepared me quite well for starting a Ph.D., but also left me slightly burned out. Looking at it now, I might also strike the ‘slightly’ from this sentence. Even a year later I feel the consequences – my resilience to stress is…
Critical People in Academia – An Interview with Rink Hoekstra
Last year, I conducted interviews with researchers about their attitudes towards open science. Some interviewees told me that people are easily put into camps, among others ‘the open science movement’ or ‘the critical people’. Such a label might trigger different reactions or even prejudice. Being interested in dynamics within academia, I was curious about what…
Getting a PhD Project Started (During a Pandemic)
Now, three months into my PhD I thought it is a good idea to stop and reflect a little. I wanted to post something earlier, but the ToDo list is long and it is very easy to push things like reflective blog writing to the end of it until you suddenly realize several months have…
Nina’s View of Academia – Before Starting
A bit later than I intended, I would also like to introduce myself. I almost finished my master’s degree and feeling grateful, excited, nervous and ready to mentally prepare for my PhD journey. After spending some time in beautiful wintery Austria, I am recharged and ready to reflect a little bit on my current opinions. …
Marie’s View of Academia – Before Starting
Nina and I wanted to get this blog going right before both of us start our PhD, so that we still capture our ‘naive’ freshly graduated mindset. Since I am officially busy in my new (home)office from today onwards, I am just in time. The start of my PhD project, of course, makes me very…