What motivates PhD students who juggle jobs and family commitments to continue working on their dissertations? In Episode 20 of Doctor It!, we shine the spotlight on self-funded PhD candidates who are in full-time employment – a topic that is still rarely discussed in academia. Join our co-hosts Olga Malashkina and Beate Krapfenbauer as they speak to Ricarda Götz-Preisner, doctoral candidate in communication. Ricarda represents a marginalised group of doctoral researchers who do not follow the traditional academic path. She is a full-time employee, mother to a four-year-old daughter and carer for her family, as well as a committed doctoral candidate working on her dissertation project. Tune in to hear Ricarda discuss the challenges she faces, her goals and motivations, and how the skills she has developed in her professional life will help her reach the end of her PhD journey.

This episode was written and hosted by Beate Krapfenbauer and Olga Malashkina, recorded, produced and photographed by Christian Lendl. Special thanks to our guest Ricarda Götz-Preisner.

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Are you curious about how PhD students find and use their research sources? You’re in the right place! In Episode 19 of Doctor it! PhD candidates tell us how they track down their sources in all their varied formats and how sources influence their research methodology and questions. Join our host Emily Genatowski as she speaks with Dorota Vargová, doctoral candidate in History, and Felix Maile from the Department of Development Studies about their experiences with archives and data bases. Learn about the extraordinary lengths they had to go to chase primary sources down, which ethical questions they have to deal with and why they are not using any AI tools for their analyses.

This episode was written and produced by Olga Malashkina, Emily Genatowski, and Atika Aisyarahmi Munzir, recorded and edited by Ying Liang Zhang, photographed throughout by Christian Lendl, and hosted by Emily Genatowski. Special thanks to our guests, Felix Maile and Dorota Vargová.

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How do you best reach out to potential co-authors? How and when do co-authors agree on the order of authors when writing a paper? In Episode 18 of Doctor it! you will find answers to these questions. Our hosts Giorgia Zogu and Ying Liang Zhang talk to Jana Bernhard-Harrer from the Department of Communication and Nisa Iduna Kirchengast from the Department of Classical Archaeology. Jana and Nisa provide insights into how they have navigated expectations and hierarchies, dealt with challenges, and benefited from contributing to publications. Listen in when we discuss the disciplinary specifics of co-authorship and offer practical advice on building productive research partnerships.

This episode was written and produced by Giorgia Zogu, Ying Liang Zhang and Atika Aisyarahmi Munzir, recorded and edited by Christian Lendl, and hosted by Giorgia Zogu and Ying Liang Zhang. Special thanks to our guests, Jana Bernhard-Harrer and Nisa Iduna Kirchengast.

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