Doctoral Studies as part of an Innovative Training Network (ITN): Early Stage Researcher (ESR) experiences

Roshni Biswas; Axel Schiller; Chiara Casolani; Elza Daoud; Albi Dode; Eleni Genitsaridi; Laure Jacquemin; Nuwan Liyanage; Matheus Lourenco; Punitkumar Makani; Vinay Parameshwarappa; Constanze Riha; Jose L Santacruz; Maryam Shabbir; Jorge Simoes; Natalia Trpchevska; Stefan Schoisswohl

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.13094.2

Doctoral Studies as part of an Innovative Training Network (ITN): Early Stage Researcher (ESR) experiences

Open Res Eur. 2021 Sep 6:1:34. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.13094.2. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Roshni Biswas^{1

2

3}, Axel Schiller^{1

4}, Chiara Casolani^{5

6

7

8}, Elza Daoud^{5

9}, Albi Dode^{1

10}, Eleni Genitsaridi^{1

2

11}, Laure Jacquemin^{12

13}, Nuwan Liyanage^{1

14

15}, Matheus Lourenco^{1

16

17}, Punitkumar Makani^{5

18}, Vinay Parameshwarappa^{1

9}, Constanze Riha^{1

19}, Jose L Santacruz^{1

18

20}, Maryam Shabbir^{2

5}, Jorge Simoes^{1

4}, Natalia Trpchevska^{1

21}, Stefan Schoisswohl^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ European School on Interdisciplinary Tinnitus Research (ESIT), Regensburg, Germany.
² Hearing Sciences, Mental Health and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
³ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
⁵ Tinnitus Assessment Causes Treatments (TIN-ACT), Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Hearing System Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
⁷ Oticon A/S, DK-2765 Smørum, Denmark.
⁸ Interacoustics Research Unit, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
⁹ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
¹⁰ Institute of Databases and Information Systems, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
¹¹ NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, Nottingham, UK.
¹² Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium.
¹³ Dept. of Translational Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
¹⁴ University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Experimental Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ Health Psychology Research Group, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences,, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
¹⁸ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²⁰ Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
²¹ Experimental Audiology, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Biomedicum, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: The Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions' (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN) is a doctoral training programme jointly implemented by academic institutions and industries from countries across Europe and beyond. To our knowledge no study has examined the experience of students participating in MSCA-ITNs. This study aims to evaluate and report MSCA-ITN Early Stage Researcher (ESR) experiences. Methods: The Innovative Training Network - Evaluation Questionnaire (ITN-EQ) was developed to assess supervision, training, collaborations and experiences of ESRs and forwarded to two tinnitus-related ITNs and seven ITNs of other disciplines. Results: Key advantages identified included better career prospects, multidisciplinary research opportunities/collaborations, international exposure, personal/professional development, plus generous salaries and research budgets. However, lack of a common EU framework resulted in the experience being largely dependent on the host institution, country and supervisor. Moreover, managing the dual requirements of ITNs and host institutions while completing a three-year PhD seemed challenging for most ESRs. ESR involvement in workshop and training school planning was desirable. More than 80% of ESRs rated the overall ITN experience favourably and 98.3% would recommend the same to prospective PhD students. Conclusions: This report could provide valuable insights in planning and management of future ITNs and could assist prospective students in their decision of joining an ITN for their PhD.

Keywords: European Union; Innovative Training Network; PhD; PhD experience; doctoral training.

Grants and funding

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No [722046], (ESIT) and grant agreement No [764604], (TIN-ACT)..