#1 - Bioengineering and PhD students on skiing trips

PhDs for Dummies is back! Giving you the same concept with new people. Today's guest is Florian Trauner, a professor in EU migration policy at the Free University of Brussels. We discuss the process of EU accession while focussing on the Western Balkans.  More on Florian's research can be found via this link: https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/florian-trauner

Don’t we all crave our grandmother’s chicken soup and turn to our self-proclaimed nutritious health claims when we are getting a mild fever? In today’s episode, Alie de Boer - assistant professor at Maastricht University - assesses the truth behind the aforementioned novel food claims. More so, we talk about Alie’s research focus; the intersection of nutrition and food law. She proves to be an exemplary researcher and truly is a valuable addition to the scientific community. Make sure to give Alie a listen - as I am convinced that her enthusiasm for nutrition will make you more aware of food laws, and also hungry:-)

Today’s episode of PhDs for Dummies features Roberta Haar, Professor of Foreign Policy Analysis and Transatlantic Relations at University College Maastricht. In our talk we speak about Roberta’s dissertation on Germany’s and Japan’s foreign policy in the Post-Cold War era. Besides that, we discuss the importance of academic theory in the social sciences and touch upon the differences between academic publications and conventional articles. Roberta proves to be an upright member of the academic community and provides genuine insights on Foreign Policy Analysis. Make sure you give Roberta a listen - as I am convinced that you will enjoy listening to her contributions!

A talk with Meindert Fennema, who currently is a professor emeritus on political theory.  Meindert elaborates on his PhD, which he wrote in the late 70's, and proves in this episode to be as good as a story teller as he is a researcher. Most relevant however is his attention for academic freedom and for that, he gives some very sound arguments. Meindert's research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Meindert_Fennema

An interview with Catherine Lo, lecturer in international relations and global health with an Asian focus at Maastricht University. Catherine talks about her PhD dissertation and how that relates to the current securitization process of the Covid-19 virus in Asia and Europe. Catherine her research gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine_Yuk_Ping_Lo

An interview with Ferenc Laczó, historian and assistant professor at Maastricht University. In this episode, we discuss the unique position of Hungarian Jews during World War II and talk about Ferenc’ his work as a PhD alumni. Ferenc his research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Ferenc-Laczo-2139414499 https://www.facebook.com/Phdsfordummies

In this episode, Martina Michalikova talks about her experience as a theoretical biology PhD candidate at the Humboldt-University in Berlin. Apart from her research, we also discuss about the publishing climate in academia and touch upon the realm of Open Science publications. I hope you guys enjoy the conversation as much as I did! https://www.facebook.com/Phdsfordummies [email protected]

An interview with Sommer Anjum, who is a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. We talk about computional modelling and simulations but also about how PhD students behave on skiing trips. Enjoy! https://www.facebook.com/Phdsfordummies

Each episode, Sam has a discussion with a PhD student. The guests talk about their individual research and present it in an approachable way. The academic background of the different guests differs a lot and be preprared to learn from their research. Along the way, useful tips for PhD students are given and broader discussions about academia take place. Facebook Instagram