SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK
OUTPUT – Post-doc existence, publishing, etc:
Basis for discussion, prepared by Malin Arvidsson
Introduction by Malin Arvidsson
Senior resource person 1: Jon Sigurdson
Senior resource person 2: Björn Hettne
Post-doc representative: Jan Magnusson
Group discussions
Phd candidate Malin Arvidsson from the Dept
of Sociology, Lund University, introduced the third session of SASNET’s
symposium. She had prepared a basis for discussion in beforehand, as follows
here:
Basis for discussion: Themes for discussion:
What happens after the PhD is finished?
What possibilities are there to continue within and outside of academics
– as a lecturer, with a post-docs position?
And what requirements and expectations does a newly examined doctor
meet?
• Within the fours years we have at our disposal as PhD students,
both students and supervisors are naturally mainly focused on successfully
achieving the task at hand – completing the PhD thesis. From my
experience, very little is being said about preparing for life after
the PhD. It is not until the very last year or so that thoughts about
applying for post-docs or new application to funders begin to develop.
• By initiating a discussion about what different possibilities
and requirements that lie ahead of us, we may get better chances of
preparing for ‘life after PhD’. What comes to mind is the
need for experience in lecturing, perhaps even courses in pedagogic
that are required for posts as lecturers. There are furthermore requirements
to have published material (apart from the PhD), in peer reviewed journals.
When applying for scholarships and for post-doc positions there are
requirements that the researcher has a network of collaborators, in
other countries, other universities, and other disciplines.
• Knowing about possibilities and requirements should have consequences
for how we, as PhD students together with ours supervisors, choose to
plan the fours years we have at our disposal. But as we all know –
the four years pass quickly, and it is difficult to fit it all into
this limited time. It is not only a matter of planning at the level
of student/supervisor, but also of involving the department in these
issues. Different department have probably approached this in different
ways and hopefully a discussion can give us useful ideas to bring back
home.
• An important issue that I also think we should discuss is how
catchwords and trends set by funders affect our future research. What
is on the agenda of the funders at the moment? Does that correspond
with our ideas of what is important? My idea is not only to bring to
light what is important to include in applications in order to raise
the chances of getting funding. I also think it is important to have
a more critical discussion about e.g. funders request for multi-disciplinarity:
what does it mean? Why has it become so important? And how do we, as
young researchers handle this requirement? My experience is that it
is difficult, with confusing ideas within academics as well as among
funders of what multi-disciplinarity should mean. There are probably
other trends and catchwords that are worth discussing here too.
• A final discussion concerns publishing, which has already been
brought up in an earlier seminar. However, it is important to raise
the issue again, since published material is an acknowledgement that
the research is of good quality, which may be required by future employers
or funders. I presume requirements for publishing material in journals
and periodicals differ quite considerable between countries as well
as between disciplines. One experience that many share though is that
procedures before getting an article printed are sometimes very long.
As an incentive for PhD students, as well as to established researchers,
we have begun to discuss the idea of establishing a network, linked
to SASNET, for publishing papers on the net. Departments would run the
publishing independently, but perhaps with some initial know-how provided
from SASNET. This means that the departments would have their own ‘peer-review’
procedures to ascertain a certain standard. They would also provide
the web page supplying the papers. Through SASNET it would then be possible
to ensure that the material get widely spread, geographically as well
as between disciplines. This is an idea that is yet unexplored, but
perhaps it could be of interest to discuss it further.
• Other suggestions and ideas are of course welcome!
Oral introduction by Malin Arvidsson:
Malin Arvidsson opened her oral presentation by talking about the limited
time frame within which the PhD work is supposed to be done. She referred
to the discussion in the previous session on PhD students having so many
distracting demands that they are expected to fulfil besides writing a
dissertation. This is not necessarily a bad thing:
Distractions during PhD work good for the post-doc
career
– Distractions during the PhD work are often advantageous for the
academic career. It is important that you get an awareness and consciousness
about this early on during your work, and it should be the supervisor’s
role to give advise when it is difficult for the student to make decisions
on priority – "shall I teach or shall I write on my thesis".
Malin went on to discuss issue of preparing oneself in time for the post-doc
existence by securing funds, and adapt a strategy to be able to continue
in a desired field of research.
– First you have to make it clear to yourself what you really want
to do. After that you must work out a strategy to get funding for this.
You must learn to use the same language as the funding agencies, and find
out which are the catchwords and trends of today.
Working papers to be linked up with SASNET
She said that attitudes and priorities are changing all the time and
it is important to be inside the collective scope of this change, and
grab the opportunities to let our voices be heard.
On publishing Malin added that information on this issue is important,
and that SASNET should try to help us right. She specifically requested
information on possible publishers in India, and she pointed out the importance
to share each others work by reading it. Therefore all departments should
be encouraged to publish Working papers, and then link them up with SASNET.
How this can be realised is a matter for discussion.
Senior resource person 1: Jon Sigurdson
Professor Jon Sigurdson is the charismatic person without whose
efforts SSAAPS, the Swedish Graduate
School for Advanced Asian Pacific Studies, would not have materialised.
He had been invited to the SASNET symposium to share his experiences from
SSAAPS, experiences which might be useful also for South Asia oriented
researchers in the future.
He held a speech explaining the background – how and why SSAAPS was
established, the organisation and the challenges that it faces today.
SSAAPS is jointly funded by STINT (The
Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher
Education), and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (Bank
of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation). It was inaugurated in 2001 and
has a budget of 6 Million US dollars allocated over five years. Jon Sigurdson
explained the guidelines according to which SSAAPS is working. It deals
with contemporary issues, and has a focus on networking – inside
Sweden as well as between institutions in Sweden and the Asia/Pacific
region. It should also have long-term commitments, and interact with mainstream
universities in the respective countries. The field of research is limited
to the Social sciences and Humanities.
Sponsors doctoral students
The organisation of the graduate school consists of several parts, out
of which Jon Sigurdson mentioned the most important. SSAAPS sponsors
a limited number of doctoral students in East and Southeast Asian studies,
by paying 50 p.c of the costs involved, whereas the local universities
to which the PhD students belong have to pay the remaining 50 p.c. SSAAPS
plays a catalytic role in this respect. In 2002 the number of PhD students
involved have been 8–10, next year it will another 6–8.
SSAAPS is also active in arranging summer/winter schools. Plans are under
way for such a school in Korea next year.
Annual conference and post-doc research fellows
Jon Sigurdson commended the South Asian studies network that SASNET
runs. He wishes that SSAAPS will be able to create a similar network for
East and Southeast Asia. SSAAPS already funds three post-doc research
fellows, and administers a Visitors programme linking up with institutions
in the region as well as with Centres of excellence worldwide. An annual
conference is organised, this year it was in Göteborg and dealt with
Burma, next year it will be held in Lund and focus on Inequality.
Jon finished by summarizing what he believes the funding agencies expect
from SSAAPS.
– They want a solid network to be created, a network having relations
with Centres of excellence around the World. And they hope that our accepted
students will serve as catalysts in the Swedish universities – that
they will help creating an ability and eagerness of the universities to
continue the work even after the graduate school is finished.
South Asia not included in SSAAPS’ mandate
After Jon Sigurdson’s presentation several people asked questions
and a discussion followed on the issue why SSAAPS, when it was founded,
specifically excluded South Asia from its mandate. Björn Hettne
explained that the mandate was set by STINT, which had defined that only
the so-called ”Developing economics” of Asia should be included,
a definition which according to STINT does not include India or the rest
of South Asia.
Staffan Lindberg argued that even though this definition is narrow-minded
and not in conformity with the real situation with a fast economic development
in South Asia, we should not be jealous towards SSAAPS. Instead we should
work for an expansion of the mandate so that South Asia gets included.
– We wish SSAAPS all success, because a success for SSAAPS is also
our success.
Jon Sigurdson replied that it should be possible to integrate South
Asia in the SSAAPS’ mandate in the future, even if STINT holds on
to its definition as the other funding agency behind SSAAPS, Riksbankens
Jubileumsfond (RJ), can be seen as more tolerant.
– And if SSAAPS becomes successful it will be possible to apply for
more funds from RJ.
Senior resource person 2: Björn Hettne
Professor Björn Hettne, Department
of Peace and Development Research, PADRIGU, Göteborg University,
carried on the discussion on SSAAPS, and presented two options for the
future. Either we duplicate the idea and create, through SASNET, a Graduate
resaerch school for South Asian studies; or we work for an opening up
of SSAAPS to include South Asia in its scope.
Jon Sigurdson commented on this that we must wait for another two years
before it is possible to say whether SSAAPS will be successful. Till then
it is difficult to broaden the scope.
Graduate research shool through NorFA
Björn Hettne then informed about an opportunity to start a Graduate
research school for South Asian studies on a Nordic basis. The
Nordic Academy for Advanced Study, NorFA, an organisation within the
Nordic Council of Ministers, provides opportunities for research training
and research co-operation in the humanities and social sciences, and has
recently asked for proposals from Nordic institutions to start research
schools. Hettne’s department, Padrigu,
Göteborg University, is a partner behind such a proposal to NorFA,
and is now waiting for its decision. The proposal deals with Security,
co-operation and social dynamics in South Asia.
– Sweden alone is no sustainable base for running South Asian studies.
It needs co-operation between the Nordic countries, with joint efforts
to make stable. Research schools like this is one way of realizing that.
Björn Hettne also briefly talked about the big changes regarding
research work that have taken place during his lifetime, from a laisser-faire
situation when writing the thesis was the only thing you had to care for,
to a much more complicated situation today:
– It is not possible just to write a thesis. Now you must identify
yourself. Are you primarily a South Asianist or a specialist in a certain
field such as Anthropology or Economics?
Post-doc representative: Jan Magnusson
Jan Magnusson who defended his thesis at the School
of Social Work, Lund University in June 2002, presented the phenomenon
of PDST – Post-Doc Stress Trauma. He
described the feelings of abandonment, jealousy, disillusionment and bitterness
that often appear in the mind of the new PhD after completing his/her
thesis. This emotional dimension is important to be aware of, as it may
take a year or so before the PhD gets some kind of position and before
he/she receives any new research funding.
– Therefore it is good to join a research group before completing
the thesis work. That way you can have research money more easily available
afterwards.
Prepare your job applications
Jan went on to discuss job applications, and the need to put your thesis
work in a proper context with the experiences from teaching and publishing:
– You must make a sense of the mess in your publications list, of
the networking in which you are involved, and your visions in research
and teaching.
The teaching experience should be emphasised, as it is quite common for
job applications that they demand 800 hours of teaching.
Jan Magnusson also discussed the issue of positive criticism, which had
been discussed earlier. He pointed out that this only occurs as long as
you are inside a network. As a post-doc you will always get your applications
reviewed:
– And some reviewers are quite mean!
Finally Jan commented on the issue of publishing that it is quite easy
today to get funding for book publication. That means it is no problem
to reach out, regardless of the quality of your work.
Group discussions:
Group 1 (represented by Wimal Pathmasiri)
to a large extent consisted of PhD candidates from South Asia. The discussion
therefore focused on the specific problems they face when returning to
the home country after completing the PhD in Sweden. Tashfeen Ahmad,
Department of Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, has no illusions about what
will happen when he in six months time from now returns to Pakistan:
– I will go back to clinical work. It is a totally different situation
for post-docs in Pakistan. The environment is not susceptible to research
work.
Sanjeeva Witharana, Division of Applied
Thermodynamics and Refrigeration, Department of Energy Technology;
KTH, Stockholm, is equally certain that once he returns to Sri Lanka it
will be back to teaching at his university there.
Wimal Pathmasiri, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Division
of Pharmacognosy, Uppsala University, added that it sometimes even
might be a disadvantage to be a PhD, as you are considered to be over-qualified
for most positions.
Facilitating the return of the PhD
Tashfeen Ahmad asked for the establishment of more specialised research
institutes for post-docs, which are quite common in the U.S. He was also
supported by others in arguing that the skills that these returning PhD:s
bring should be better utilized and they should be able to keep on doing
research.
Pia Karlsson, Institute of International
Education, Stockholm University, said that Swedish university departments
should keep the contact with returning PhD’s, even though she finds
it strange that it seems so attractive to stay on in the academic World
instead of working out in the society.
Sanjeeva Witharana suggested that Sida should involve more in facilitating
sandwich programmes like the ones that Karolinska Institutet has developed
with universities in South Asia. They can be seen as a model. The risk
of further brain-drain – exemplified by experiences from Swedish
Masters programmes where South Asian students have finished their courses
funded by Sida, and then afterwards going on to the U.S. – and means
to avoid that must however be discussed.
The group also reflected on the possibility that the private sector, and
specifically Swedish companies working in South Asia, could be tempted
to absorb and encourage these returning PhD’s and use them to do
research.
Group 2 (represented by Malin Arvidsson)
summed up the session by stressing the need for an informal, personal
network of South Asia related post-docs. SASNET should help to build this
network. As individuals it is hard to act as a pressure group, and that
is why SASNET should keep on its efforts in this respect.
The group referred to Jan Magnusson’s advises, and recommended PhD
candidates to link up with research groups even before they complete their
theses. When it comes to applying for jobs they should broaden their scope
and search for positions also outside Sweden, even in South Asia.
The Seniors group (represented by Jan Magnusson)
summed up the session and the whole conference, and came with a few new
suggestions.
Working papers should be published through SASNET on the Internet. There
might be problems obtaining permission to do this, but it is not impossible
to get. Negotiations could be done.
Regarding Staffan Lindberg’s argument, that a great shift on the
university labour market will come as the old generation of professors
soon will retire, the group discussed how the present post-docs shall
be able to get by till that shift comes, and the positions are vacated.
”Keep alive – because we need you”
Professor Pamela Price, Department of History, University of Oslo,
who was in a similar situation during 13 years, 1979–1992, suggested
that the post-docs must keep on applying for funds, and plan their lives
accordingly:
– It is vital to keep on publishing all the time. If you are bound
by teaching in the weeks you must use the weekends to write. And all the
time keep on applying for money to be able to travel and write. It is
necessary to have a slow steady progression to show up. Never give up.
Please try to keep alive, because in the end we really need you!
New conference needed with the supervisors present
The group finally made a comment on the makeup of participants in the
on-going symposium. They pointed out that even though there was a good
representation of PhD candidates, post-docs and senior researchers, one
generation is totally missing, namely the supervisors. The reason is that
because the symposium was meant to accommodate a large number of PhD candidates,
more than actually turned up, teachers and supervisors were not invited.
Their presence should however have been most valuable, not the least in
the discussions on the supervisors’ role, and the group therefore
suggested that SASNET should arrange for another conference – a mirror
conference – later on. This conference with students and supervisors
should be more concrete and practical in its approach.
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