Communication, publishing, career planning and how to perform research in the Global South were among the themes of the first DCAcademy Winter Meeting March 2022. Postdoctoral fellows and third-year PhD students were the target group of the meeting, which provided inspiration through workshops, presentations and plenary talks. Participants were also faced with two challenges, which they discussed in groups; Research in the Global South and The environmental impact of your research.

Professors shared career experiences

The participating professors also generously shared their career experiences. Organized networking in the shape of “Meet the professors” served as inspiration to young researchers.

“Having the opportunity to ask questions to professors in smaller forums was very positive. I had a good one-to-one conversation about career paths and received very honest answers – the prestige professor was completely gone,” says Sabrina Bech Mathiesen, postdoctoral fellow at University of Southern Denmark.

Researchers received personal feedback on poster presentation

Participating young researchers presented their research with a one-minute pitch and by means of a poster. Each poster presentation was followed by personal feedback on both layout and the oral performance by special consultants within presentation techniques. 

“The personal feedback that I received from professional consultants on graphic design and presentation technique was very fruitful to me. It gave me inspiration that I would not have gained in my little office at home,” says Jesper Svane, third-year PhD student at University of Copenhagen.

What does it further take to disseminate successfully? Talks from two Editors in Chief, David Eisner and Pontus Persson gave good advice on  what to bear in mind, if you wish to have your research published. A talk on how to use Twitter by host of Cardiology To Day, Dr. John Mandrola stressed the fact that you gain more citations of your published article, if you use Twitter to receive attention.

Participants expanded their network

However, networking is always the glue between talks at such a meeting. It seems that both planned networking, a padel tennis tournament and group work on the two challenges enhanced the participant’s network.

“I attended alone but during the meeting I have expanded my network. The DCAcademy’s mixing of people worked really well,” says Laura Alonso Herranz, postdoctoral fellow, Aarhus University.