Completing an Academic Secondment During My PhD

Earlier this year, I was pleased to be awarded an AAPS CDT International Travel Grant, to fund a 6-week travel placement. Having completed my Undergraduate, MRes, and PhD all at Bath – I was excited to experience the dynamics of another University!

After lots of research, I came across Otto-von-Guericke University (OVGU) Magdeburg in Germany, and Professor Ellen Matthies’ Environmental Psychology group. Their work had strong synergies with my own in climate policy and environmental behaviour change, with strong ties to real-world policymaking. It felt like an excellent fit – not to mention that I’d be able to practice my German whilst there and visit my nearby family.

A few weeks later, I was excited to hear back from Ellen – who warmly welcomed me into her group. With travel, accommodation and logistics planned out, I made my way to Germany in mid-April. A slight regret at this stage was packing *solely* for the weather as I left the UK – neglecting to bring much summer clothes and boiling alive during the surprise May heatwave that awaited me!

Arrival

Arriving in Magdeburg, I was greeted by my lovely host and her two tiny dogs – probably the cutest housemates on Airbnb! Getting around in the city definitely tested my German - I was simultaneously excited for the practice & exhausted by the end of days. I noticed my confidence grow over the 6 weeks, as my colleagues jokingly taught me the longest or funniest German words they could think of (highlights included Wissenscaftsetiarbeitsvertafggesetz – a scientific employment agreement, and Vokuhila – mullet!).

On my first day at the University, I took the (very efficient!) tram into University, where a desk and equipment was set up for me sharing an office with another lovely PhD student. I was introduced to the welcoming Environmental Psychology group – many of whom came to be great friends during my time there.

The cute housemates!

The lovely OVGU Environmental Psychology Group

Experience

At Work

Though I continued working on my PhD during some of the time there (even drafting an entire paper!), I made the most of my visit – network building, planning future collaborations, and sharing my research far and wide in Germany. Within OVGU, I presented my PhD as a whole to Ellen’s group, and a Machine Learning project to Professor Florian Kaiser’s research group. It was brilliant to receive thoughtful feedback from such diverse perspectives.

In six short weeks, I was also able to visit four surrounding institutions – thanks to Ellen’s generous introductions. Within academia, I was fortunate to visit Professor Sophia Becker’s brilliant group at the Technical University of Berlin – to share my work on transport policy acceptability and hear about theirs. Whilst in Berlin, I was excited to visit the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS), where I met some incredible professors, postdoctoral researchers and PhDs working in the interdisciplinary climate space. In the beautiful Potsdam, I also had the opportunity to visit the Wuppertal Institute. Excitingly, I also was able to visit the German Environment Agency (‘Umweltbundesamt’) – who conduct environmental and climate research for the German Government. It was great to see how the research to policymaking process happens in Germany, after experiencing this in the UK during my placement with the Climate Change Committee last year.

My visit to the German Environment Agency

Presenting to Prof Florian Kaiser's group

Outside of Work

Magdeburg sits between the beautiful Harz mountain region and Berlin – both of which I made time to visit. Spending weekends exploring the mountains was incredible, and the quaint villages on route felt like I had been transported back in time. Half-way through my trip, my partner visited and we stayed in Berlin – where we enjoyed unlimited options for amazing vegan food! On route back to Magdeburg, I visited Potsdam – and the famous Sanssouci Park. It was as beautiful as people say! In the evenings, there were lots of social activities including a research group pizza evening, lots of exploring and even a karaoke night.

Sanssouci Park, Potsdam

A village in the Harz

Exploring with new friends in Magdeburg

Lessons

My academic placement was extremely worthwhile, both professionally and personally. On a  professional level, I was able to experience a new research group, gather diverse perspectives on my work, understand how it relates to others’ work, and form a huge amount of useful connections and potential future collaborations.  Personally, I met many new colleagues and now friends, explored beautiful new places, and learnt lots of new German (though strangely – Vokuhila never comes up much in conversation!).