'Careers in Higher Education (Research)' Seminar on 17 June 2022

Welcome to the first seminar of Finland-based early-career higher education researchers taking place in Tampere & online on 17.6.2022!

‘Careers in Higher Education (Research)’ seminar explores professional identities and well-being of early-career higher education researchers. The seminar aims to give examples of different career paths as well as provide an opportunity to make visible the skills of early-career researchers and tacit knowledge in academia through presentations and peer group discussions. Higher education career development will be explored particularly in relation to work-life balance and well-being. Moreover, this seminar, organised for the first time, brings together multidisciplinary and multilingual early-career higher education researchers at a time when opportunities for social interaction have been limited due to the pandemic.

Location: Tampere University, city centre campus, Linna building, room K110, and online (Zoom link will be sent to the registered participants).

Organisers: This event is jointly organised by the Network of Finland-based early-career higher education researchers, Higher Education in Transition – HET (Tampere University), Higher Education Group – HEG (Tampere University) and the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers in Finland – CHERIF.

The Network of Finland-based early-career higher education researchers is an informal subgroup of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers in Finland (CHERIF). We are a group of researchers in different positions (master students, doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers or similar positions) in various higher education institutions (or institutions near to higher education) in Finland/outside Finland that share the interest in researching Finnish higher education. We operate as an informal network which means that we are not an official organisation, and we do not have membership fees. Our network is open to all that consider themselves as ‘Finland-based early-career higher education researchers’. If you would like to know more about the network, please visit this webpage.

Participation: This seminar is free of charge, and it is open to all those who consider themselves Finland-based early-career higher education researchers. If you would like to participate onsite in Tampere, we encourage you to ask your home institution/faculty/research group for a possibility of covering your travel expenses.

Registration for onsite participation is now closed. If you would like to register for participating online, please write to vesna.holubek@tuni.fi to receive the Zoom link.

Programme

10:00–10:45Welcome words from the organisers
- Henna Juusola & Vesna Holubek
- Vesa Korhonen & Johanna Annala (HET), Jussi Kivistö (HEG), Taru Siekkinen (CHERIF)
10:45–11:30Presentation: Who are early-career higher education researchers? Interdisciplinarity, communities, and support
- Dr Melina Aarnikoivu, Postdoctoral Researcher (FIER, University of Jyväskylä), Project Leader (University of Borås), Coordinator of ECHER
11:30–12:30Lunch break
12:30–13:30Keynote: Position of early-career researchers in Finnish higher education
- Dr Johanna Moisio, Executive Director of FUURT
13:30–13:40Short break
13:40–15:30Parallel sessions

1. How to start and conduct PhD research? What to take into account when applying for a PhD, and what is a suitable PhD position? We will explore factors influencing one’s PhD processes and how it feels to do research in different life situations. Discussion will include topics such as informal rules and invisible hierarchies that may be present in academic communities, tackling uncertainties and finding suitable collaborators (also outside the closest research group).
- Vesna Holubek, Melina Aarnikoivu, Vesa Korhonen, Johanna Annala and Jussi Kivistö

2. I have done a PhD, what now? A session is focusing on the postdoc period or similar kind of position by exploring project management, multitasking and other aspects that seems to be typical when working in a post-doc position or in other knowledge worker position. In addition, we explore opportunities to move between academia and other sectors.
- Henna Juusola, Tanja Hautala and Arto Aniluoto
15:30–15:40Short break
15:40–16:15Seminar closing remarks & ideas for the future of the network

If you wish to have further information about this event, please do not hesitate to contact us:

  • Henna Juusola: henna.juusola@tuni.fi
  • Vesna Holubek: vesna.holubek@tuni.fi

We are looking forward to meeting you in-person/online in June!