PhD Day is one of the largest events for PhD researchers in the Netherlands
By Thomas Ansell
PhD Day 2021 will take place on Friday of next week (June 4, 12:30-18:00) with the theme ‘Make it in the North’, and the full running order packed full of talks, presentations, and inspirational sessions is now available. You can still sign up for the event here! The Northern Times caught up with the organisers to get their top picks from the jam-packed schedule.
Sharon Eskandar (Chair)
“Make sure to check out our first keynote by Prof. Dr. Petra Rudolf, who will be presenting on thinking about a future both in and outside of academia. As someone that has had an exceptional career as a Professor and also with organisations like the European Commission. Not only is Dr. Rudolf enthusiastic, encouraging, and motivating as a speaker, she is also a great source of inspiration.”
Amber de Haan (Sponsorship)
“Doing a PhD isn’t just about research, and so I would really suggest attending the workshop by Samuël Nelemans, on the importance of extra-curricular activities. But also various presentations on skills and marketing yourself: like networking. There is a talk being held by the recruiters Brunel that will give an inside track on how recruiters think. Also the workshops from People in Science and the RUG’s own Career services about writing CV’s and motivational letters, and networking using LinkedIn. There’s also a presentation by DORP, who run a kind of ethical hackathon at Welcome to the Village festival, which hopes to meet societal problems with innovation!”
Timo van Eldijk (Publicity/Presenter)
“I’ll speak up for the second keynote by Prof. Dr. Paul Parren about his experience transforming incredible research into usable technology. What will make this keynote unique is that Dr. Parren is both a researcher and also part of a business that markets his work, so has experience on both sides of the academic and business divide. He’s also a really good speaker with regards to the valorisation of science.”
The Northern Times recommends
With the theme of this year’s event ‘Make it in the North’, make sure to check out Michiel Kasteleijn of the IWCN’s presentation on businesses and organisations in the Northern Netherlands: there’s so many places that could be potential employers, collaborators, or partners! The North has also got loads of support for startup businesses, so if you’d like to follow in the footsteps of keynote speaker Dr. Parren and turn your research into a business, head to VentureLab North’s talk on doing just that.
