The OEduverse project is helping early stage researchers in their personal research roadmap
As an early-stage researcher (ESR) you might have faced moments when you asked yourself: “Do I have the right skills to succeed in research?” The answer is not always obvious, and although a lot of information is out there, sometimes there is a lack of guidance about how to learn and acquire those skills. The OEduverse project aims to guide ESRs in acquiring some of those essential skills. The project is built on three central pillars: mental wellbeing, open science, and communication. A strategic partnership between the University of Siegen, Technische Informationsbibliothek, SciLink, Trinity College Dublin’s Student Counseling Center, MCAA, SPACE, and with an extra support from Eurodoc, the project aims to equip ESRs with those essential skills for their career.
There is cause for concern about mental health in the research community. While the reasons vary depending on the individual, there are methods and best practices that individuals can take to alleviate mental health issues. The OEduverse Project is training researchers in their mental wellbeing, both at the personal level and within their professional circles. With the different training sessions held during the last year, participants are now more equipped to look within themselves, their working environments, manage stressful situations, and maintain professional relationships. The 21st century researcher, besides being an expert in their field, must also be an expert in research management and evaluation, and be more than proficient in the various technological tools required to conduct and disseminate research. The participants in the project have the chance to receive training on practical research management skills, research ethics and evaluation techniques, creating their own Open Science toolbox. After participating, they have a better understanding of the role of their research and their career in the wider context of society. Besides skill training on mental wellbeing and Open Science, science communication is also a very important pillar in a researcher’s career. The world is constantly changing, and, as a researcher, it is very important to be able to share science, and for that, creativity, critical thinking, and communication itself are essential skills. With OEduverse, participants have the chance to explore the methodology of immersive storytelling, allowing them to formulate their research more effectively to wider audiences and to each other. They also have the opportunity to engage in playful scenario exercises that are geared towards empowerment and the ownership of a sustainable career in research, giving them more confidence in their presentation skills.
The summer and winter schools
The project is continuously promoting activities where ESRs can benefit and acquire the necessary skills for their career. At the center of the project are the summer and winter schools. The last activity was the 2022 winter school held online from 10th to 14th January 2022. The 16 participants, hailing from different countries in Europe, had the chance to work their personal research roadmap out and take ownership of their research vision using the given training on open science, mental wellbeing and immersive storytelling to acquire valuable tools to put them into action along with the envisioned research roadmap. From the strategic partnership, twelve speakers and trainers joined to inspire and share experiences, and to train the participants in the three pillars of the project. Each day was focused on one pillar. During the Open Science day, researchers learned what Open Science truly means, and gained the tools to create their own Open Science toolbox. Regarding mental health, perspectives were given on how to perceive and evaluate one’s personal situation, relationships, and interpersonal communication, as well as the need for reflection about one’s personal environment. The science communication day dived down into personal narratives, and how researchers can reshape their research ideas into stories that can be shared, understood, and that can connect to other scientists and the wider society. Finally, on the fifth day, the participants could show their individual research map and share them with their peers and trainers alike to turn the learned into potentials for change and understanding.
As an ESR, participating in the OEduverse summer and winter schools can be a game changer: beneficial for new skills development, but also giving the understanding and agency to make a difference. Each area played their part in the successful week. For example, with greater awareness of mental wellbeing issues, researchers will produce more impactful research, be more effective in research teams, and maintain their mental wellbeing in the long term. However, together the fusion and cross cutting ability of all three pillars make a difference. The training developed from the OEduverse project will contribute to confidence boost ESRs, encouraging an active participation in the day-by-day challenges and laying down a research agenda that will reshape their future path. This type of skills development will contribute to the researcher’s motivation, taking control of their academic life and future career.
The next event
If you are curious and would like to participate in the next OEduverse training, we encourage you to have a look on the website and pre-register for the upcoming Summer School that will be held in person from 13–17 June 2022. If you want to reshape your research and gain new skills that can benefit not only your career, but also your work environment, then this training will help you!
Talking about us
“It always surprises me how complex and varied the profile of a PhD or career researcher can be and it should be from this understanding that support and resources should be tailored so as to make it a healthy and viable context for people to be permitted to reach their potential. This doesn’t just support the individual but the whole academic system and potential contribution that research can make to our world.”
Ms. Jo Harney, Mental Health trainer
“Sharing stories about the personal side of their research (motivation, inspiration, dreams, fears) created trust and a safe space where they could freely and actively ideate about the changes they want to establish in their research environment. The assignments combine elements of design thinking, communication, presentation and storytelling skills. We were amazed how quickly and creatively the participants found their way in the setting and made it their own. They were highly involved, emphatic and creative during the whole session. We have found it beautiful how the participants empowered each other with feedback. “
Ms. Petra Ardai, Science communication trainer
Authors
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.
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 organizations, 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.
Ana Raquel Santa-Maria is a researcher in the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Her PhD work was centered in the optimization and characterization of a human blood brain barrier model cultured in an organ-on-a-chip device. As post-doctoral fellow she is performing proteomic and transcriptomic investigations of human endothelial cells from the brain microvasculature and other organs with the aim to identify new candidate targets for improved brain targeting. Outside the lab, she loves teaching and communicating science to non-scientists. Teaching has been part of her life since the first year at the university, she loves to guide and motivate young students to follow their dreams.
