One of the challenge of doing a PhD is that one has to acquire a certain number of knowlege and new skills, which are essential to properly conduct a research, e.g. analyze and interpret the data collected.
To have all the chances on my side, I have registered to some courses abroad. So today I am traveling to Denmark and will eb attending an "Introduction to Qualitative Methods" PhD course at Aalborg University. I am very excited!
27/08/2021
Today marks the end of my first PhD course in presence and also the first one at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark. Most of the participants were either from Aalborg University in Copenhagen or Chinese PhD candidates from Aalborg.
It’s been a great 3-day course: “Introduction to Qualitative Research”. It’s a paradox that PhD students at the University of Luxembourg are expected to conduct good research without having access to trainings on research methods.
This is why I came all the way to Denmark and invested my personal funds to be able to do so. Because another paradox at the University of Luxembourg is that students can apply for travel funding from their doctoral school only until March… for courses that were not yet published nor allowed students to register for.
In contrast, Aalborg University in Copenhagen opens an an account for each accepted PhD student with a maximum amount of about 6.000 eur for the entire duration of the PhD (which is the equivalent amount we have in Luxembourg).
The only difference is that in Luxembourg you have to apply every year and justify your participation in courses that will be published and open fir registration only later during the year, each time without any guarantee that your request might be approved.
I particularly enjoyed the afternoon sessions when two of us were able to present our research project and got questions from the the other 15 participants and 2 professors.
I was lucky to present my research project yesterday afternoon and am grateful for the questions, comments and recommendations I’ve received. In Luxembourg I didn’t find (yet!!!) such a community where I could discuss with my peers on our individual research projects , the methods we’re using and challenges on the field. But there is still time since I’ve only started in February.
I will leave some more comments below the different pictures I conclude with a funny comment from Prof. Lars Bo Henriksen: “In the first half of your research, you try to save the world; in the second half, you try to save yourself.” 🙂
