Starting the year with energy is a constant at EC3, also amongst the PhD students, Victoria Di Césare and Elvira González-Salmón. Two main events took place during September that have worked greatly towards being focused and having the confidence to keep on working on the dissertation.
Firstly, they became part of the RESPECT fellowship, a cohort of dozen international and inter-disciplinary PhD students. The goal of this mentorship programme is to create a community and a space in which we can “understand the barriers and opportunities for early career researchers in incorporating their lived experiences into research design”. During the first meeting, they met each other, talked about what to expect from RESPECT and designed the agenda for the following meetings. Exciting!
Secondly, Vicky and Elvira defended their thesis plan (you can check Elvira’s here). In order to continue with their work, PhD students at Universidad de Granada have to defend their thesis idea before the first year of the doctorate ends. The day of the defence finally arrived, and they did it wonderfully. They got very insightful questions, remarks and comments that will take with them during the duration of the thesis.
We are very proud of their work and their achievements, and we cannot wait to see the things they will do in the future (and for you to see what they’re working on now! Like the kids say, “se vienen cositas”). We’ll keep you updated!