1. Being a PhD student Claire Ingram Stockholm School of Economics Claire.Ingram@hhs.se August 2014 Inti Lammi Uppsala University inti.lammi@fek.uu.se

2. About Me PhD in Business Administration South African citizen Bachelors in Politics, Philosophy and Economics Postgraduate degree in Law (LLB) Several years as a sub-editor for newspapers Gap year brought me to Sweden (via Switzerland) Research Assistant at SSE prior to beginning PhD Looking into Financial Innovation (specifically FinTech) driven by entrepreneurs and its effect on existing institutions and institutionalised ideas University of Cape Town, RSA 3. Presentation today What is your research question? Courses Writing Conferences Publishing Year Abroad Funding Teaching The Big T Other observations 4. What is your research question? A trick! Evolves and changes But keep trying to narrow it down Choose something that interests YOU (youll be neck-deep in it for 4 years+, after all) For me, that meant both interesting context and interesting problem So what? Feel free to explore; keep notes, but dont worry about putting things aside 5. Courses The compulsory courses are just a taste of things to come To understand better, either take an extended course or cook up your own course (so-called reading course) Three options: Formal courses MOOCs (Coursera, EdX etc) Reading courses (produce a paper at the end) Talk to your supervisor(s), they need to sign off Sometimes Masters courses are also an option Not a lot available specific to my area so I took a broad approach Most in Stockholm/Uppsala free most others not 6. Writing Just write! But think and plan first Dont be too much of a perfectionist Get feedback, dont be shy with your ideas Give presentations Engage with other students Reciprocal duty of care If youre not a native English speaker (and even if you are, sometimes!) get your work checked your school should have a list of professionals available. 7. Conferences and Doc. Consortia I was lucky started researching and submitting very early on One place to get really excellent feedback in the reviews Conference itself is mostly for networking Get to know likeminded people and make friends Future research partners Be careful of intellectual property limitations! Some universities consider a conference publication to be a publication SSE doesnt. I dont think Uppsala or SLU do either... 8. Publishing Takes much longer than you think Initial submission takes longer than you expect Reviews IF YOURE LUCKY: Revise and resubmit... And resubmit... And resubmit Dont get discouraged Not all journals are created equal (schools and departments have their own lists) Remember about intellectual property and prior publication (incl. online) Despite Open Access movement, this is something that journals charge for and many funding bodies require OA. Speak to a crowd craft a conversation Find out who the important authors are, including in related disciplines 9. Year Abroad An unwritten rule? Two options Go for the status (Harvard, Stanford etc) Go for the researcher Could be through your supervisor or your own connection(s) Could be a blind request If you have funding already, improves your chances Im hoping to go to McGill (Montreal) next year to work with Dr Emmanuelle Vaast and take some courses while Im there Montreal, Canada 10. Funding Grant applications Funding for conferences is VERY limited (at SSE) and few outside sources I finished mine in under a year Time consuming to apply for grants but worthwhile Mostly, funding is for a specific purpose Year abroad Fieldwork Specific research interest 11. Teaching SSE PhD students typically dont teach volunteer to assist instead UU students often do, and then extend their degree by a year But in US schools they not only teach, a teaching grade is an important part of a CV 12. The Big T First, proposal defence UU: Early on, first year SSE: 18-24 months in SLU: ? Things to think about: Monograph or Articles? Need not be published only publishable (at SSE) ABD Choosing a Thesis Committee comes after the proposal but keep it in mind you might want to ask a person for feedback/invite them/warn them that youre going to ask them to be on your committee. 13. Other observations Your supervisor is one of your most useful resources but she/he is also very busy. Find other resources too. Your parents/partner/friends often wont understand; develop a brief description and enjoy talking about something other than research for a while. If youre not Swedish (or, to a lesser extent, European), immigration is a hassle: Migrationsverket Bank Accounts Healthcare Insurance Learning the language Its easy to get sidetracked! 14. Other observations: Networking If in doubt, ask. Im always delighted by how little I know and how much other people are willing to help Collaboration opportunities in Academia Case studies, data, So what? in Industry Sounds mercenary but leads to a richer experience, less of the solo working. Make friends. A chance to see what others are up to and give and receive feedback Check out the Stockholm-Uppsala PhD page on Facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/207287612640690). Great source of info for courses and other opportunities. (Please post things too!) If you dont have access to a paper/journal email the author If in doubt, ASK! 15. Other observations: What next? Another trick question! Important to have an idea of what your options are, what you want to do. BUT getting an academic job is not easy! Also differences between N.America and Europe Grant writing and teaching experience are also important! If you plan to continue in industry (in Sweden), knowledge of Swedish is very important! 16. Some other advice Read a lot, then write notes. That helped me the most. Inti Lammi Dont take it too seriously; what you get during our PhD is coaching and at the end all you can say is that youre a researcher and continue learning. Oh, and sharing is caring. Christian Fischer 17. Thank you! Please feel free to contact either me or Inti Lammi: Claire.Ingram@hhs.se @ClaireEBI hhs.claireingram.se www.slideshare.net/ClaireBarrattIngram Inti Lammi inti.lammi@fek.uu.se