Establishing and Sustaining a Professional Career

Overview

The course provides practical advice to develop an academic career in the social sciences. In particular, the course focuses on some of the key aspects of professional career development, including CV writing, choosing international conferences and networking, publishing in international journals, applying for research funding, and gearing up to job market interviews. 

The major aim of the course is to increase students' awareness of the requirements to excel in the current academic job market. However, the practical take of the course is also of interest to those who are interested in pursuing a professional career outside of academia 

 

Course format

The course is organized in seven meetings that focus on the major aspects of professional development career. Each thematic session will include instructor and participants’ active participation especially for testing job interviews and getting published. In particular, participants will be required to review a piece of research, prepare a CV, and respond to a job announcement. More information on the activities required during the course will be provided during the first meeting

 

Objectives

The course will provide students with practical guidance on the craft of performing some key tasks: networking, getting published, obtaining research funding, and job seeking.

 

Requirements:

All readings are recommended and not required.

During the course students will be required to prepare the following material. More information on the content and timing of the submission of the documents listed below will be provided during the first meeting:

•       CV;
•       List of journals in the area of interest;
•       Read a sample of journal reviewers’ reports (that will be circulated by the instructor); 
•       Application to a job announcement.

Schedule

 

Session n. 1

12 January 14-16

Establishing and sustaining a sustainable career: why

The session will introduce the professional ‘expectations’ associated with a PhD course. During the session, information on the course contents and requirements will be provided  

 

Suggested readings and videos:

7 Things about a PhD nobody told you about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAKsQf77nHU

 

 

Session n. 2

13 January 10-12.30 

Networking and conferencing

This session will focus on the importance of participating to international academic conferences and on the modalities to get the most out of these opportunities. We will also focus on the use of social media to promote one’s research.

Guest speaker (10-12.30): Lorenzo Bosi

 

Suggested readings: 

Iain Hay, Matthew Flinders (2017), How to become an academic super hero

Chapters 1-9 and Chapter 11

 

 

Session n. 3

20 January 10-13.30

Publishing in international journals

This session will focus on the challenges and opportunities of publishing in international journals

 

Guest speaker (12.45-13.30) Manuela Caiani:

“Citing Sources - Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper/Thesis”

 

Suggested readings and videos:

1.      Demystifying the review process 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj2z2Bv3oL4

1.      Neil D. Fligstein (2019), Publishing in Modern Times, Sociologica. V.13 N.1 

 

 

Session 4 

27 January 10-13

Publishing your dissertation/book

This session will focus on the challenges and opportunities of transforming the PhD in a publishable book

Guest speaker (12-12.45): Donatella della Porta 

 

Suggested video:

Dominic Byatt, How to Publish Like an Academic Rock Star

https://www.geg.ox.ac.uk/publication/video-how-publish-academic-rock-star

 

 

Session n. 5

3 February 10-13

Applying for research funds

This session will focus on the practical modalities of how to identify and apply for research funding 

Guest speakers: Richard Higgott (Brussels School of Governance), Lorenzo Cini (Dublin), and Alice Mattoni (University of Bologna)

 

Suggested readings:

Iain Hay, Matthew Flinders (2017), How to become an academic super hero

Chapters 12-15 and Chapter 21

 

 

Session 6.

10 February 10.30-13.30

Life outside academia: a job or a research experience in the policy world

This session will focus on the opportunities for PhD outside academia with the help of practitioners in international and European institutions.

 

 

Session n. 7

24 February 14-17

The job interview

Job search committee: Marco Deseris, Guglielmo Meardi, Hans Jorg Trenz