PhD Summit, first of its kind at the University of Hradec Králové
3-day workshop organized by UHK supports new PhD students who need to adapt to scientific workflow. Sharing good practice is vital especially at the beginning of one's academic career. Therefore, this summit was set as a starting point for our postgraduate students.
There are some challenges in becoming a PhD student. Getting an article published can be a long and demanding process. Promoting research is a hard thing to do even if it is a ground-breaking viewpoint. Recognition and respect are not granted for free and all who pursue success in science must maintain focus and will. But our experienced colleagues offer their help and guidance in these and many more aspects.
It is crucial for aspiring PhD students to familiarize themselves with the scientific field as quickly and as well as possible. That is why I am delighted that our PhD students got the opportunity to meet great lecturers who explained fundamental issues, among others, in research ethics or grant and publication strategies.
Lecturers from UHK and other institutions shared their best practices with 32 attendees. To pass on some motivation, UHK also invited four successful alumni to share their experience.
Lectures that received the most attention were:
- Publication Strategy by PhDr. Václav Štětka, PhD who is Senior Lecturer in Communication and Media Studies at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University (UK);
- Preparation of professional publications by Mgr. Kamila Etchegoyen Rosolová, PhD who is Head of the Department of Language Studies housed within the Czech Language Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences;
- Promotion of own research by Ing. Pavla Hubálková, PhD who successfully shared why the academic profiles are so important, how to work with social media, and taking into consideration having own website;
- Selecting journals by assoc. prof. Mgr. Karel Kouba, PhD, MA recommended a strategy of choosing the proper journals regarding its field of research and which ones to avoid;
- Student Grant Competition for Doctoral Students of the University of Hradec Králové;
- Meeting with guarantors of PhD programs and, of course,
- PhD survival workshop was a necessary part of the program.
I found it greatly beneficial to meet senior PhD students who gave their younger colleagues their know-how not only in the scientific field but also in the field of internationalization because international experience is fundamental for the development of the professional career of any budding researcher. The whole event was framed as a space for students, lecturers and supervisors of studies to meet each other socially, regardless of departmental or faculty affiliation.
The UHK hopes the seminar was well received and profitable to everyone involved. Our new PhD student and a participant of the PhD summit, Ing. Sudha Prathyusha Jakkaladiki, MSc, summarized it in a final speech: “The two-day course was curriculum-driven, through different sections of PhD student life and became a pathfinder for students to initiate their PhD journey effectively.”
Based on the positive feedback, the UHK believes similar activities shall continue.
