German Scholars Organization e.V. (GSO)’s Post

Pursuing a PhD is a journey filled with discovery, innovation, and continuous learning. But one aspect that can greatly enhance this journey is attending conferences. Here's why conferences should be an integral part of your academic experience: 1. Networking Opportunities: Conferences are a melting pot of scholars, industry leaders, and potential mentors from across the globe. These events are a golden opportunity to forge lasting professional relationships, which can lead to collaborations, job opportunities, and insightful discussions that can ignite new ideas. 2. Latest Research and Trends: Keep abreast of cutting-edge research and the newest trends in your field. Conferences serve as a platform to engage with pioneering studies, innovative methodologies, and the future direction of your discipline, enabling you to make a more significant contribution. 3. Presentation Skills: Showcasing your research at conferences sharpens your ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and confidently to a broad audience. These skills are invaluable, extending beyond academia into any professional domain. 4. Feedback and Collaboration: Direct feedback on your research from peers and experts can immensely enhance your work and open doors to collaboration. Participating in academic discourse at conferences promotes a cooperative environment that can lead to joint research projects and publications. 5. Personal Growth and Inspiration: The academic advantages aside, conferences provide a unique platform for personal development. The experiences of traveling, encountering different cultures, and stepping outside your comfort zone are incredibly enriching and inspiring. ✨ Dive Deeper into the World of Conferences ✨ Curious to learn more about how conferences can enrich your PhD journey? We've prepared something special for you! Check out our latest YouTube video where we explore the advantages of conference participation for PhD candidates in greater depth. Discover firsthand experiences, tips for maximizing your conference attendance, and why it's crucial for your academic and professional growth. 👉 Watch Our YouTube Video: https://lnkd.in/gKaGQTta Take this opportunity to transform your PhD experience. Dive into the world of conferences and watch as doors to new knowledge, opportunities, and growth open up! #PhDCandidate #AcademicConference #Research #Networking #ProfessionalDevelopment

Seven Tips for a Ph.D. Students Attending their 1st Conference Social Event (or don't be a wallflower). I remember my first international conference social event well. I was excited. I'd survived the first year & half of graduate school. I figured that I knew the ropes - right? I could not have been more wrong. That first conference social event upended my understanding of what was expected in my field. Where I was being trained as a positivist, quant jock, I ran into interpretivist, qualitative philosophers - who sneered at my training. Where I thought my uni was pretty good, I ran into people who could not differentiate a major American uni from a local community college. Where I thought I understood the social order, I ran into people that had high-status titles in my world - that were not high-status. Worse. I ran into the inverse - people with low-status titles in my world - who were high-status in theirs. I had no idea how to respond. I was super confused. I quickly learned to be nice to everyone or risk offending someone. So helpful tips for an international conference first-timer. First, rest up. Conferences can be exhausting. You need to be well-rested before you enter the maelstrom of presentations, social events, & more. Second, dump your assumptions. Everything you know about academic pecking orders no longer applies. Your hierarchy of journals may not matter to the aggressive person at the bar from Russia. Your hierarchy of schools won't matter to the mild-mannered person from Denmark. Your hierarchy of schools will not map to the Game of Thrones played by the Germans. Get rid of the "hierarchy" you know & be nice to everyone. Third, open your ears. You will hear a dizzying array of ideas. What people find interesting, & how they study that, is a fantastic tapestry in any discipline. You can learn a lot just by listening. Fourth, forget rank & titles. PhD student, Lecturer, Professor & more do not map to the salaries, status, or roles that you know, especially as you cross national borders. Now that you are rested, dumped your assumptions, practiced listening, & recognized you don't understand the social order, you are ready to make friends. Fifth, take some time to find people you find interesting. Interesting does not mean famous. Most famous academics are ... hm. A bit boring? Interesting means approachable, a good storyteller, & interested in similar research topics. Sixth, show up. If you are off seeing the sights, you will not meet people & make friends. Show up to coffee breaks so you can meet people, & follow up at social events. Finally, have a good time. If you are open-minded, you will find a community populated by personalities, genius, and fun. Academic conference social events are the one place where everyone belongs - if you are going to find a place you fit - this is it. Best of luck! * This is an updated version of a post from 2022

After presenting at #CIST, I’m thrilled to take the next step and experience my first #ICIS! Reflecting on my time at CIST, I’ve realized there’s so much more I can do to be better—both as a presenter and as an attendee. Recently, I listened to an episode of the #ThisISResearch# podcast by Professors Jan Recker and Nick Berente, which offered great insights into how to get the most out of conferences (Highly recommended ⛳ ). Some ideas resonated deeply, such as "Every question is a gift to the presenters." These insights have inspired me to embrace interactions—not just during paper sessions but throughout the conference. I aim to make my presentations that encourage questions, while also being more proactive in asking questions and fostering engaging discussions. If you’re attending ICIS – The International Conference on Information Systems, I’d love for you to join me at my presentations: - 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM TST, 17 Dec, Meeting 4, 7th Floor "Operational Transparency in the Blockchain Era: Examining the Impact of Different Types and Levels on User Engagement" - 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM TST, 17 Dec, Meeting 3, 7th Floor "When K-Pop Meets Blockchain: Consumer Engagement and Voting Behavior in DAOs" (Best Short Paper Nominated) I’m excited to learn from every researcher there and grow as both a scholar and presenter.

How do we get the next generation - students- at our conferences? Currently planning for next year's M-Enabling Summit and we'd like to bring in more students: both undergraduate and graduate students. The main challenge students face in attending conferences is the cost: cost of registration, travel, hotel, meals, etc. Academic departments can only allocate a certain amount for student conference travel (if any). Curious to know from folks, how have you increased student attendance at your conference? https://lnkd.in/gCX_M98K

Join Us: Shaping the Future of Inclusive Education R&D – A Must-Attend Panel #AERA Please spread the word and join us for a pivotal #AERA Honorary President discussion "Inclusive R&D Infrastructures: Perspective, Context, and Communicentric Bias." Jessica Heppen from the American Institutes for Research James L. Moore III from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Na'ilah Nasir from the Spencer Foundation Roberto J. Rodríguez from the U.S. Department of Education Matthew Soldner from the Institute for Educational Sciences Edmund Gordon from Yale University & Teachers College, Columbia University 🔍 About the Session: In the rapidly evolving landscape of education research and development (R&D), fostering inclusive infrastructures has emerged as a critical challenge and a strategic imperative. This panel delves into the nuances of creating R&D ecosystems that acknowledge and actively embrace variation in cultural, perspective, and context.  Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of how we can collectively build R&D infrastructures that are truly inclusive, enhancing the societal relevance and impact of our research endeavors. 📅 Date & Time: Thursday, April 11, 2024, 2:30 – 4:00 PM 📍 Location: Pennsylvania Convention Center, Level 200 - Room 202AB This is more than a panel; it's an opportunity to contribute to shaping R&D infrastructures that embody inclusivity, ensuring the broad societal relevance and impact of our work. I kindly request your support in spreading the word about this important session. Share this announcement within your networks, and let's unite to make a significant step towards inclusivity in education research and development. Looking forward to seeing many of you there and engaging in a thought-provoking discussion! #EducationRD, #FutureOfLearning, #STEMDiversity, #InclusiveResearch, #LearningInnovation, #EducationForAll, #LearningAndDevelopment, #NextGenEducation, #EquitableEducation, #AERA, 

Now is the time to shape the future! 💫 #EGOS2026 is an exciting opportunity for all to participate in a large conference AND enjoy the perks of on site social interaction 🤩 Large conferences like EGOS are great and they also exclude many people--those who were denied a visa, those who don't have the financial means, those who can't travel, and many others. In addition, the environmental footprint of such conferences is gigantic. At EGOS, we are the first large conference to experiment with a blended format: the academic part of the Colloquium will be online, and in parallel we are facilitating what we call 'local hubs:' decentrally and locally organized meet-ups for face-to-face social interaction at different universities around the world. In this way, we hope to combine the best of both worlds: global engagement with our research AND local social interaction with colleagues and friends. To make this exciting experiment a success, we call upon YOU! Let's explore what is possible and how we can leverage the advantages of technology without compromising on the downsides. This is an opportunity also for junior scholars to mobilize their seniors & convince them of the advantages of this format! For more info of how to organize a sub-theme, please see 👉 https://lnkd.in/etAuDtjT For more info on the local hub model, please see 👉 https://lnkd.in/eRkrexkp If you have any questions, want to brainstorm about your own hub, or wonder what this is all about--please reach out to me! You can also appraoch my fellow board members ➡️ Giuseppe Delmestri, Daniel Geiger, Elke Schuessler, Dirk Deichmann, Maria Chiara Di Guardo & Farah Kodeih. Thanks to the entire EGOS team for their support and brainpower 🤓 Paolo Quattrone, Tammar B. Zilber, Markus A. Höllerer, Sigrid Quack, Sophia Tzagaraki, Damla Diriker, Angelika Zierer & Florian Kauffmann. And please: spread the word! Sharing is caring 🫶🙌 #EGOS #inclusivity #sustainability EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies)

🔎 In our third season of the THESIS #highered podcast, we've been zooming in on this season's theme of international student mobility by talking to ISM experts from around the globe. 🌍 Through dialogues with both #internationaleducation researchers and practitioners, over the course of this season's episodes we've had the opportunity to talk about ISM topics with a diverse mix of guests, including researchers from Sweden and Japan, and practitioners from Mexico and Egypt. 📌 The importance of bringing together these dual perspectives to think critically about ISM was also exemplified last week, when THESIS production team member Tracy Waldman had the opportunity to attend the 2024 conference of the European Network on International Student Mobility (ENIS) held in Tbilisi, Georgia. 🤝 ENIS Cost Action designated this year's conference theme as "Connecting Research and Practice," bringing together a network of ISM researchers and practitioners from Europe and beyond for an engaging schedule of presentations and discussions centered around enhancing opportunities for strategic collaboration and cooperation. 👨🎓 The current state of the ISM landscape served as a focal point of the convening, as Hans (J.W.M.) de Wit, Director of the Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) at Boston College, addressed in his lecture to open the ENIS conference. 💡 Sharing his insights about the themes, challenges, and shifting paradigms of ISM as a main component of the internationalization of higher education, a couple key takeaways from his presentation particularly resonated: ➡ It's critical not to consider international students as one homogenous group - thus, it's important to be specific with the terminology being used by both researchers and practitioners when talking about ISM. For instance, distinguish between their academic level (undergraduate, graduate, etc.) and what their educational objectives for ISM are (degree vs. credit vs. certificate seeking, etc.) to provide vital context for ISM conversations. ➡ Within #highereducation, too much emphasis is often placed on the who, what, where, and how when developing internationalization activities. More focus needs to be brought back to the why (rationales) and the impact (outcomes) in research and practice for meaningful ISM and associated internationalization initiatives. 👉 These are rich and valuable viewpoints to consider, and provide a fascinating new lens with which to reflect on the conversations we've had over the course of the 10 ISM-focused episodes of THESIS that have been released. Check out these episodes of THESIS wherever you find your podcasts! 🔊 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eSnKRG3p 🔊 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/e7scfPj3 🔊 THESIS website: https://lnkd.in/dKuTcRPJ Photo by: Salome Voronovi MD. AFAMEE

See below for a summary by Belle Derks of a very inspirational morning at Eindhoven University of Technology last week - I could not have summarized it better myself!

When I embarked on my PhD journey, I faced a funding challenge that many of you might recognize. I had secured partial funding enough to cover tuition but not entirely enough for living expenses. At first, I was disheartened. How could I possibly make this work? Instead of giving up, I decided to strategize. I explored every available option: I applied for small grants, reached out to professional organizations, and even harnessed teaching assistant opportunities. Over time, I pieced together a sustainable funding plan. One particular breakthrough came when I found a research grant that aligned perfectly with my work. It not only provided additional support but also connected me to a wider academic community. - DAAD German Academic Exchange Service That experience taught me a powerful lesson: don’t let partial funding deter you. Instead, use it as a foundation to build upon. Sometimes, the path to fully funding your PhD is more like assembling a puzzle; layering multiple opportunities to create a complete picture. Here’s my advice: Seek out #niche funding opportunities that others might overlook. Network actively; your next grant might come from a conversation with a mentor or a connection made at a conference (this actually happened). Hey, rejections will come, but persistence will get you closer to success. Today, I look back at that challenging start with gratitude. Those early funding hurdles pushed me to think CREATIVELY, and they ultimately enriched my PhD experience. Your journey might take unexpected turns, but each step is building your resilience and story. Keep going; you’re closer than you think. Wishing you resourcefulness and determination!

This evening, I’m thinking about my PhD journey as the first anniversary of my thesis defense approaches. It’s incredible to reflect on everything that came with it—the challenges, the growth, the lessons learned, and the countless moments of collaboration. A PhD is so much more than just a research project; it’s a profound journey of self-discovery, resilience, and transformation. When I reflect on my PhD, I realize it wasn’t just about conducting experiments or writing papers. It was about learning to adapt when plans didn’t go as expected, teaching myself and others concepts I thought I could never grasp, collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds, and working through the inevitable obstacles that came my way. A PhD is, in many ways, a merger of loneliness and teamwork. There are moments of isolation, where you’re deep in thought or struggling to make sense of data, but also moments of connection, where the ideas and support of others propel you forward. I often tell those starting their PhD journey: if you’re in your first year and feel stuck, don’t worry. This is part of the process. Feeling blocked, overwhelmed, or even questioning your path is natural. The PhD isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon of intellectual endurance and growth. These moments of uncertainty are not failures; they’re stepping stones toward clarity and confidence. As my thesis co-director said on my defense day in French: “Mahdi a vu la lumière au bout du tunnel, malgré les jours où nous étions déçus.” In English, this means: “Mahdi saw the light at the end of the tunnel, despite the days when we were disappointed.” In remember of my PhD friends from diverse countries, cultures and colours ! #PhDJourney #ResearchLife #PhDChallenges #AcademicGrowth #Teamwork #Collaboration #Resilience #LearningAndTeaching #GradSchoolLife #AcademicMotivation #PhDCommunity #NeverGiveUp #AcademicSuccess #DoctoralLife #StayCurious #PhDAdvice