Being part of a doctoral network like TWEED comes with many unique experiences, and one of the more memorable one is the secondment: an extended stay at a partner institution during the program. In our program, I was the first to complete one, and I can say with full honesty that it was both exciting and demanding.
At the beginning, I was sceptical. Just after half a year I was already scheduled to pack up and move to Spain for six full months. I only just finished all the paperwork and endless journeys through bureaucracy, and then I had to leave and restart at a new place. What helped me initially was that my arrival coincided with a scheduled training event, which meant I was immediately surrounded by my fellow doctoral candidates and friends. Having that community around me made a big difference.
Soon after my arrival, I got to know the project director and staff. They welcomed me warmly and helped me get settled. Beyond their open arms, they gave me a behind-the-scenes look at how a large-scale European research project actually runs. There is lot going on beneath the surface! From coordinating many people in several countries, to progress reporting, dissemination, standard office and university documentation and more. Furthermore, I met a researcher at the institute. It was very interesting to learn about their work and methods, which also led me to reconsider some aspects of my own research.
That said, the primary goal of such stays is to collaborate with local researchers. This is very important for two reasons: research is an iterative process that requires input and scrutiny from a body of researchers with diverse expertise. And secondly, it is part of the program to publish work together with fellow doctoral candidates. Both are achieved best in person. During my stay, I worked closely with DC08 on anomaly detection modelling. Together, we built a shared model and ran experiments across our respective machines, which taught us a great deal about managing collaborative codebases and synchronising workflows across different computing environments.
Looking back, I’m really glad I did it. Seeing how other researchers tackle problems, which methods they use, and how they structure their work-life balance helped me form my own approach. Seeing how other PhD students handled the pressure and workload was a shared experience of motivation. In the end, I left Spain with new skills, a richer perspective on my research and new friendships. I sincerely hope that I also gave something back: a fresh perspective on foreigners, useful tips, and hopefully a good time.
Yannic Janal
DC09