Working Environment Forum – a new initiative for PhDs and Post Docs at AGRO
How do I maintain a healthy work/life-balance? Who can I talk to if I have an issue with my supervisor or mentor? How do I best handle a stressful stage of my project? These questions and concerns, along with many others, are most likely on the mind of many PhDs and Post Docs but despite this, we are not always good at sharing these thoughts with each other.
This is a shame, as it often helps to discuss an issue, concern, or question with someone else that might also be able to give some good advice on how to deal with a specific situation. This is the idea behind the group Working Environment Forum (W.E.F.) which is initiated and run by PhDs and Post Docs at AGRO.
What is W.E.F.?
The aim of the W.E.F. is to connect PhDs and Post Docs at AGRO-Foulum to facilitate sharing of challenges as well as to discuss and get advice from each other. W.E.F. is a platform to address all kinds of social, mental, or professional issues related to our work at AGRO-Foulum as well as a forum to share knowledge and relevant links for further help and information.
The group aims at being a dynamic and constructive forum to discuss relevant issues among PhD’s and Post Docs. It is dynamic in the sense that topics will develop over time according to the wishes and needs of the participants. This requires that participants are open and active (also outside of meetings). We encourage the participants to use it as much as possible, e.g., all participants have the opportunity to form smaller writing groups or other specific constellations that can benefit their specific needs and wishes.
W.E.F. is a safe space to discuss issues, challenges, complains, etc. within a closed group but also offers the opportunity to act on specific problems as the group can approach relevant persons or fora, e.g. The Department Forum, if changes are needed. United as a group we are more likely to make ourselves heard by the management/department/university as well as gain the confidence to address bigger issues. Working environment is not an individual issue, and it should be addressed together in the spirit of a union standing together.
Kind regards
Esben Øster Mortensen and Anne Cathrine Storgaard Danielsen
Who can join and how to do it?
All PhD’s and Post Docs from AGRO are very welcome to join W.E.F.! This also includes guest PhD’s and postdocs, who are strongly encouraged to participate in order to benefit from the experiences of others. This can be related to the work that is demanded by the university or the expectations we are faced with (or that we put on ourselves). Furthermore, everyone is invited to the Teams channel AGRO share and connect where links and files can be uploaded. Contact the group to join this channel.
Main meetings occur every month, and you should get invitations to the meetings in your outlook calendar via your email. If not, contact PhD student Esben Øster Mortensen (eom@agro.au.dk) or head of the PhD committee Lis Wollesen de Jonge (lis.w.de.jonge@agro.au.dk).
W.E.F. works in a democratic way and all participants are encouraged to take initiative and responsibility. The W.E.F.-moderator group will call for meetings, prepare the meeting agendas and act as moderators during the meetings. The meeting agendas will be based on the wishes from all participants. Anyone who wish to participate in the W.E.F.-moderator group is very much welcome!