Hi Simon, you have been visiting our department now for almost four months and we are curious to hear about your experiences. How did it all start?

–Well, I wanted to go abroad during my PhD, and I thought it would be better earlier than later, so at first I was supposed to go to a university in Denmark. But then Covid19 started and… well, we know the end of that story. When I started to think about it again a few years later, I looked into universities and groups I found interesting, and Stockholm university and especially the HELP group was in my top three, so I wrote an email to you and Max and you answered within a week that you were happy to host me. That was a big relief! I was so very happy, still am of course!

How lucky we were that you approached us, as getting to know you has been a joy and we also feel that you have contributed to our research group in a good way, in discussions, by presenting your research, and of course in the collaboration with your supervisor here, Maria Weurlander. So, when you had decided to go here, how was the reception upon arrival?

–Maria was so nice to host me the first evening. I travelled by train from Germany (14 hours!!) and arrived kind of late. It was great to finally see her in person. But in general, the housing was a concern of course: I knew this could be difficult, as I had experience from a previous visit to Umeå university in Sweden where I ended up in a hostel for the first week or so before I arranged something. I imagined it being even harder here in Stockholm, so I asked Maria early on last year and she put me in contact with the International housing office at Stockholm University who I contacted immediately. As a guest researcher, you can apply through them for accommodation for temporary stays up to a year. I would recommend applying as soon as possible, at least several months before the stay since your application is placed in a housing queue. Two months before arriving I was offered a room to rent, which meant I knew where I was going, and this gave a very smooth start.

How nice to know, I guess a lot of international students benefit from this information. And how about your introduction at the department?

–On arriving I was super impressed by the welcoming climate at the IPD. My supervisor Maria also helped me out the first day. I immediately got organized with a room at the department, keys and card for the printer, big thanks also to Eva and David among others, of course. I even got a homepage! So, it was really easy to get started. The guest researcher room is a great room to stay in as it is where everybody passes by. A lot of people came in during the first weeks to greet me, not only to say hello, but for example Emma came by and said what she could help me with – that was really nice! It’s also where I met Rubén (Comas Forgas), Daniel (Blixt) and Liv (Alsterlund Hagberg), among others, who helped me out with all sorts of things, even with piloting my first study here.

Speaking of piloting your studies: In a few short sentences, could you maybe tell us what you worked on while you were here?

–Besides the things from my home university like grading papers and preparing my teaching for June, I was invested in two smaller studies here at SU, both in some form on the planning of teaching, one study with student teachers, the other with lecturers. I am interested in the teaching and learning of lesson planning and try to find explanations for the problems novice teachers actually face. Data collection will be almost finished when I am leaving, so all in all this went great, thanks a lot of course to Maria and to all the nice people at IPD who helped me reaching students and lecturers. It’s much too early to tell any results though!

I am glad to hear that you had a productive stay! And what about opportunities to talk to people outside your office, and your direct work, how did that go?

–Since I am here only for four months, I didn’t expect that everybody would leave their private lives and spend lots of time with me, so I went to many museums during the weekends which was wonderful. Also, I was able to reconnect to some old friends from my time in Umeå. I am interested in Film as well – the Filmhuset is a great place to be for every cineast! Of course, I have gotten to know the PhD students, Blanka and Alexandra from the HELP group for example, and we have met up several times which was a lot of fun. I was also included in many of the PhD-specific activities like the weekly Fika on Tuesdays. By the way, Fika breaks are THE opportunity to practice Swedish, that was fun!

But to connect this back to work: It is very good with the HELP group as you discuss research, not teaching or organization issues, but what people are really doing research wise. It’s kind of reassuring to hear about somebody else struggling with data collection as well, or planning a project or a contribution, and so nice to hear of peers having published a paper. The PhD seminars are also very interesting, for example I remember Cormac giving a great talk about a hero’s journey into research, and we had an in-depth discussion about Blanka’s first paper which was so very constructive.

Yes, the social aspects of a visit are also important, and we are of course hoping that you can continue to build on our relationship and that you will present your research from this visit at the SHERN-seminar eventually, since it is online. A question we are curious about is if you think there is something in particular that differs from your experience of being a PhD student in Germany?

–Yes, actually, the biggest difference is in the relationship between supervisor and PhD student, where there is usually a much stronger hierarchy in Germany. I have an amazing supervisor in Germany, we work together very closely and more evenly, so to say, than usual. But I know of a lot of German PhD students who struggle because you are much more dependent on that one person who also grades your thesis in the end. Like here, I understand that since you have several supervisors as a PhD student you can hear their perspectives and make your own decision of how you are going to proceed to a much higher degree.

Yes, that is interesting, I think there are probably some hierarchies here as well, but they are not as visible. Is there anything else that you would like to comment on?

–Yes, I have been very lucky since the HELP group had both the writing retreat, in which I could participate and also get to know you a bit better, and the conference on Research in Higher Education, organized by Maria and others from the department. The conference was really a great opportunity to get an overview of the field and what is happening in Sweden. We PhD students were given the chance to conclude the conference with some of our own reflections. It was a great event!

Yes, you picked a really good time for your visit. With that I want to thank you for this interview and for contributing to our group! Hope to see you again Simon!

–Thank you, me too! Tack så jättemycket to everybody at IPD and SU in general who made me feel so welcome during my time here!

Interviewer: Klara Bolander Laksov, professor of Higher Education and co-leading the research group Higher Education Learning and Practices (HELP)