21st April 2022, Time 5pm. Location: Ilia State University, room A103

One of the most challenging aspects of being a PhD student in the social sciences is that one not only has to execute a significant original piece of research; it is also necessary to plan the post-PhD future. While the training, procedures and support on offer differs from one doctoral school to the next, one commonality is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how to survive in academia post-PhD. This seminar shares my experience in post-PhD survival and argues three elements are vital: (1) developing a research agenda that is relevant enough for selection committees (or framing what you have in a convincing manner); (2) writing project proposals and striving to improve them with each application; (3) publishing strategies in the last year of the PhD and onwards. The format is an interactive seminar and aims to provide practical takeaway advice on how to prepare strategically for the road ahead.

Bio:
Matthew Blackburn is a visiting research fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Warsaw and a researcher at the Institute of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University. His research focuses on political legitimation, memory politics, nationalism and identity politics in the post-Soviet space.