Doctor it!

What motivates PhD students who juggle jobs and family commitments to continue working on their dissertations? In Episode 20 of Doctor It!, we shine the spotlight on self-funded PhD candidates who are in full-time employment – a topic that is still rarely discussed in academia. Join our co-hosts Olga Malashkina and Beate Krapfenbauer as they speak to Ricarda Götz-Preisner, doctoral candidate in communication. Ricarda represents a marginalised group of doctoral researchers who do not follow the traditional academic path. She is a full-time employee, mother to a four-year-old daughter and carer for her family, as well as a committed doctoral candidate working on her dissertation project. Tune in to hear Ricarda discuss the challenges she faces, her goals and motivations, and how the skills she has developed in her professional life will help her reach the end of her PhD journey.

This episode was written and hosted by Beate Krapfenbauer and Olga Malashkina, recorded, produced and photographed by Christian Lendl. Special thanks to our guest Ricarda Götz-Preisner.

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Are you curious about how PhD students find and use their research sources? You’re in the right place! In Episode 19 of Doctor it! PhD candidates tell us how they track down their sources in all their varied formats and how sources influence their research methodology and questions. Join our host Emily Genatowski as she speaks with Dorota Vargová, doctoral candidate in History, and Felix Maile from the Department of Development Studies about their experiences with archives and data bases. Learn about the extraordinary lengths they had to go to chase primary sources down, which ethical questions they have to deal with and why they are not using any AI tools for their analyses.

This episode was written and produced by Olga Malashkina, Emily Genatowski, and Atika Aisyarahmi Munzir, recorded and edited by Ying Liang Zhang, photographed throughout by Christian Lendl, and hosted by Emily Genatowski. Special thanks to our guests, Felix Maile and Dorota Vargová.

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How do you best reach out to potential co-authors? How and when do co-authors agree on the order of authors when writing a paper? In Episode 18 of Doctor it! you will find answers to these questions. Our hosts Giorgia Zogu and Ying Liang Zhang talk to Jana Bernhard-Harrer from the Department of Communication and Nisa Iduna Kirchengast from the Department of Classical Archaeology. Jana and Nisa provide insights into how they have navigated expectations and hierarchies, dealt with challenges, and benefited from contributing to publications. Listen in when we discuss the disciplinary specifics of co-authorship and offer practical advice on building productive research partnerships. 

This episode was written and produced by Giorgia Zogu, Ying Liang Zhang and Atika Aisyarahmi Munzir, recorded and edited by Christian Lendl, and hosted by Giorgia Zogu and Ying Liang Zhang. Special thanks to our guests, Jana Bernhard-Harrer and Nisa Iduna Kirchengast.

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What did you expect from your PhD journey when you started? Were these expectations met so far? In Episode 17 of Doctor it!, our hosts Adityo Darmawan Sudagung and Emily Genatowski talk with Aleksandar Anđelović from the Department of History and Ying Liang Zhang, doctoral candidate in African Studies, about initial expectations, unexpected challenges and transformative moments. Listen in when they explain why they conduct their doctoral research in Vienna, how they carved out their research projects and why they adopted their plans on the way. About accumulating skills, academic criticism, peer feedback and changing career plans – listen to Episode 17 of Doctor it! and learn what Aleksandar and Ying Liang would do if they had a time machine.

This episode was written and produced by Adityo Darmawan Sudagung, Emily Genatowski and Ying Liang Zhang, recorded and edited by Christian Lendl, and hosted by Emily Genatowski and Adityo Darmawan Sudagung. Pictures by Christian Lendl. Special thanks go out to our guests, Aleksandar Andjelovic and Ying Liang Zhang.

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While most PhD students have accepted that their research probably won’t change the world, they at least want to make some impact on society. But how? In Episode 16 of Doctor it! we discuss strategies of making our research more impactful, and we share experiences of being personally impacted by our research fields. Emily Genatowski and Martin Pokorny talk with Nora Hansl from the Department of Political Science about her research on valuing vaccination and Stefan Sonntagbauer, doctoral candidate in German philology, about his research on horror movies. Learn about how Nora and Stefan try to follow the logic of academic impact factors while making a difference in the world through personal encounters in the field. Do you want to find out why impact is not a one-way street? Do you want to know how Stefan and Nora cope with the psychological effects of conducting research on highly controversial topics involving parent-child relationships and ghost encounters? Listen to Episode 16 of Doctor it!

Article mentioned in the episode:
“Nur online studieren macht depressiv”, derfalter.at

This episode was written and produced by Emily Genatowski, Martin Pokorny and Adityo Darmawan Sudagung, recorded and edited by Christian Lendl and hosted by Emily Genatowski and Martin Pokorny. Special thanks to our guests, Stefan Sonntagsbauer and Nora Hansl.

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