The upcoming activities for new researchers
PhD programs are often designed to be finished in three to five years, but the average time is much longer (eight years for the social sciences). The drop-out rate is also high and varies by institution or even departments at the same institution. Of course, there may be many reasons why a PhD candidate cannot make it to the end, such as funding, age, discipline, research or teaching duties, just to name a few... Despite the barriers and challenges you face on your path to a PhD degree; many opportunities are waiting for you around the corner. You just need to explore and manage them well. The IRSPM conference provides such opportunities for public management researchers in the early stages of their careers.
Barbara Zyzak, PhD
IRSPM New Researchers Coordinator
My adventure with IRSPM began ten years ago, when I was at the same stage as you today – a PhD student. The first step in getting my act together was figuring out what events, opportunities, or activities I would join as a new doctoral student. At that time, IRSPM was running a pre-conference doctoral course on Network Governance for young scholars. I decided to take part in this course, and then in the conference. I can honestly say that was the best and most engaging PhD course I have ever attended, and it certainly had a significant impact on my further career path and involvement in the IRSPM community. Since then, I have participated regularly in IRSPM conferences and have built my professional network with distinguished public management scholars.
In 2019, I was a visiting scholar at the Southern Cross University in Gold Coast (Australia). In 2020, I earned my PhD degree in Public Administration from the University of Agder (Norway). The pandemic was difficult for many young scholars, but it also created opportunities to gain new knowledge and perspectives such as the virtual IRSPM conferences. Thanks to events like these, I have been able to continue my research that spans across various areas including network management, meta-organization, and digital transformation of the public sector. Today, I am an Associate Professor in Public Policy and Administration at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and I would like to give back to my IRSPM community and contribute to new initiatives through my role as New Researchers Coordinator (NRC).
Therefore, I am pleased to share with you that the first joint initiative is PhD courses offered by distinguished public management scholars at the upcoming IRSPM conference in Tampere, Finland. In collaboration with the Netherlands Institute of Governance (NIG), the SIG leaders on Complexity & Network Governance (Prof. Erik Hans Klijn, Prof. Joris Voets, and guest lecturer Prof. Jenny Lewis), the VP of Western Europe (Prof. Eva Thomann) and the Tampere University we would like to offer you the two PhD courses before and after the IRSPM 2024 conference:
- Network and Collaborative Governance: April 13-15
- Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) using R: April 18-20.
These courses are designed for those who want to strengthen their theoretical and methodological knowledge. Moreover, they provide an excellent platform for networking and discussing PhD research projects with peers and experts. The good news is that you can combine them with your attendance at the IRSPM 2024 conference in Tampere.
Please be patient and save the dates to join us in April 2024 - both for the PhD courses and the New Researchers Panel (P 42). Registration for the courses will be open the first week of December.
Furthermore, in cooperation with PMR link Prof. Adina Dudau, we wish to organize a session with several editors for young researchers. This gives you a great opportunity to get recommendations on how to improve your manuscripts and increase your chances of getting published in different journals.
To wrap up, your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow. Be aware and take advantage of upcoming activities for New Researchers in Tampere because they are like the Northern Lights: if you are not careful, you can miss them.
Looking forward to seeing new and current IRSPM young researchers in Tampere!