Spring Dissertation Day / Postdoc Day 8 May 2017

Location: Restaurant Claar, Voor Clarenburg 7, Utrecht

What previous participants have said about WTMC Dissertation Days:
“It is great to have an in-depth discussion with a couple of people who have made an effort to go deeply into your work.”

“Discussions were constructive, not only critical.”

“I liked the informal atmosphere, and the amount of time to discuss our chapters.”

“It provided me with a deadline to finish some work…”

On Monday May 8th, 2017, WTMC will again organize a Dissertation Day and Postdoc Day. The D-Day is meant for those WTMC members who are in the final phase of their PhD (in other words, who have completed all of the workshops and summer schools). The P-Day is meant for WTMC members who completed their PhD thesis in 2014 or later.

This day offers an excellent chance to receive comprehensive comments on your own work. Also, you will read work by your fellow PhD students. Carefully reading the work of others in order to give feedback teaches a lot about writing. At the D-Day we also discuss more general issues around finishing dissertations, and what to do with them once they are done. At the P-Day, there is room for discussing any early-career concerns as well.

We are happy to announce that Dr. Johanna Höffken of Eindhoven University of Technology will act as a senior discussant for the D-Day. Johanna is Assistant Professor in the group Technology, Innovation and Society. She received her PhD at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University in 2012, where she finished her dissertation “Power to the People? Civic Engagement with Small-scale Hydroelectric Plants in India”. During her time as PhD candidate she had the privilege to participate as fellow in the Program on Science, Technology and Society at Harvard University. Her current research, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), includes ethnographic studies in India, where she studies the development and implementation of smart grids in rural areas (indiasmartgrids.com). Another line of research in which Johanna is involved revolves around the issue of urbanization, especially the notion of smart cities, and how this takes shape in Asia. Amongst others she has published in Energy Research and Social Science and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

The idea of both the D-Day and the P-Day is as follows. Each participant sends in a chapter or article (for PhDs, this work has to be part of the PhD manuscript), or a journal paper, research or book proposal (for postdocs). During the meeting, each participant very briefly introduces her/his work. Two discussants then provide comments – a fellow participant and a senior scholar. The author has an opportunity to respond to these comments before the discussion is opened to everyone. Each paper is discussed for a total of 45-55 minutes.

This D-day will be chaired by Bernike Pasveer ([email protected]) and Govert Valkenburg ([email protected]), PhD programme coordinators of WTMC. Should there be many participants, a WTMC coordinator or an extra discussant may comment on your paper.

The P-day will be chaired by Sally Wyatt ([email protected]), Scientific Director of WTMC, and does not involve an additional senior discussant.

The word limit for contributions is 10,000 words. The manuscript must be academic work-in-progress (i.e. not already published). Do not worry if your text is not perfect yet: this is precisely why you want to discuss it in this forum. The draft should be well enough developed so your readers can understand the argument and the material, in order to get more specific and helpful feedback. Make sure your paper includes a short introduction, explaining how the piece fits into your PhD (or postdoc career), which journal you plan to send it to, or any other relevant details to help the reader understand your plans.

Contributions must be sent to Marjatta Kemppainen ([email protected] ) by 18 April 2017. She will then distribute all of the chapters/articles and send them to participants prior to the meeting so that everyone has time to read all of the chapters.

Depending on the number of participants, the day will last from about 11 until 6, and will be followed by dinner (paid for by WTMC). Dinner is usually finished by 8.30 pm.

To reserve your place, please complete Google registration form not later than 20 March 2017.