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How to make hard choices?

September 25, 2015/0 Comments/in Academic life, choice, PhD, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

To academe or not to academe?

For many early career researchers this is the hardest choice they faced so far. And it is a big, momentous choice. Especially if you are intrinsically motivated for your topic of expertise and if your research matters to you.

Other hard choices in this stage of building a research career turn on your choice for a place and way to live. What city to settle in? Whether or not to uproot your life to work abroad? Have children now or wait for a more permanent job? These questions seem excellent occasions for agonizing, hand-wringing, brooding, sleepless nights etc.

However, thinking deeper about what makes some choices hard, you can better understand the role they play in our lives and uncover a hidden power each of us possesses to solve them.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2015-09-25 18:55:182015-09-28 18:02:07How to make hard choices?

Hoe kun je verschil maken in de wetenschap

December 19, 2014/0 Comments/in Academic life, Confidence, PhD, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Verslag van het evenement De Geheimen van Verschilmakers

door Claartje van Sijl
Lang geleden, in een universiteitsstad hier niet heel ver vandaan, was er eens een loopbaandag voor promovendi. “Wie wil er allemaal hoogleraar worden?”, vroeg de hoogleraar en directeur van de organiserende onderzoeksschool. Meteen schoten een paar vingers de lucht in. Ja, hij daar: heeft zelf zijn promotie-grant binnen gehaald, iedereen kent hem, hij spreekt altijd bij landelijke bijeenkomsten, zijn outfit straalt een overdosis zelfvertrouwen uit. En zij natuurlijk: zij is goede vriendjes met die invloedrijke hoogleraar, stapt altijd meteen op hooggeplaatste gastsprekers af en heeft allerlei lijntjes lopen naar verschillende onderzoeksgroepen die nieuwe projecten voorbereiden. Oh, en hij ook: hij weet die professor precies voor zijn karretje te spannen, krijgt altijd leuke klussen toegespeeld en troeft je in vergaderingen af met voorstellen die hij in de wandelgangen heeft voorbereid. In hun boek ’Kantoorgeheimen’ noemen Linda van der Wal en Carla van der Wal hen de bokito, de carrièretijger en de kantoorpoliticus.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-12-19 19:17:072016-04-09 07:24:53Hoe kun je verschil maken in de wetenschap

How mindset and personal attitude influence your employability

November 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Academic life, PhD, Philosophy, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Experts on sustainable employability of university employees assume that you are responsible as an individual employee for consciously shaping your own career, while the university as employer should facilitate and support you in this endeavor. This implicit hypothesis emerged in an expert meeting about a research report by dr. Judith Semeijn and prof. dr. Tinka van Vuuren on sustainable employability of university employees.*

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-11-26 18:46:282016-04-09 07:25:41How mindset and personal attitude influence your employability

The number one tip against stress in your PhD

October 15, 2014/1 Comment/in Academic life, Balance, PhD, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Be honest: as a PhD or PostDoc, how often do you get to work outside, somewhere green, where you can feel the sun shine, the wind blow, hear birds, smell flowers or fall leaves? When do you get to see and experience some nature? For most of you the basement lab, the library, or even your computer screen define your daily working environment.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-10-15 13:57:132016-04-09 07:28:56The number one tip against stress in your PhD

Philosophers who work outside of academia – part 4

August 4, 2014/0 Comments/in Balance, Confidence, PhD, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

A couple of weeks ago Helen de Cruz conducted in-depth interviews with philosophers who work outside of academia. She published the complete interview series at the New APPS: Art, Politics, Philosophy, Science group blog: part 1, 2, 3. The interview series has also been featured at the Atlantic. I have been posting selections from the interview she had with me (here, here, and here). Below I elaborate on some of the points and add some answers that did not make it into the original series for reasons of space.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-08-04 13:13:222016-04-09 07:35:11Philosophers who work outside of academia – part 4

Philosophers who work outside of academia – Part 2

July 21, 2014/0 Comments/in Academic life, PhD, Philosophy, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

A couple of weeks ago Helen de Cruz conducted in-depth interviews with philosophers who work outside of academia. This is a selection from the interview she had with me. Helen published the complete interview series at the New APPS: Art, Politics, Philosophy, Science group blog: part 1, 2, 3.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-07-21 11:00:162016-04-09 07:38:03Philosophers who work outside of academia – Part 2

Philosophers who work outside of academia – part 1

July 14, 2014/0 Comments/in Academic life, PhD, Philosophy, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

A couple of weeks ago Helen de Cruz conducted in-depth interviews with philosophers who work outside of academia. This is a selection from the interview she had with me. Helen published the complete interview series at the New APPS: Art, Politics, Philosophy, Science group blog: part 1, 2, 3.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2014-07-14 10:16:172018-01-15 10:47:16Philosophers who work outside of academia – part 1

De onzekerheid van een promovendus

September 16, 2013/0 Comments/in Academic life, Confidence, PhD, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Jenny (pseudoniem) heeft zich aangemeld voor een ultra korte speed-coaching sessie tijdens  een groter loopbaan-event voor promovendi. Ze is bezig met haar promotie-onderzoek en hoewel ze inhoudelijk aansluit bij de wetenschappelijke mode binnen haar vakgebied, vindt ze het moeilijk om met de onzekerheid van het bestaan als wetenschapper om te gaan. Ze twijfelt of ze sterk genoeg in haar schoenen staat “om de competitie aan te gaan”.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2013-09-16 08:29:472016-04-09 08:19:26De onzekerheid van een promovendus

What am I about?

April 14, 2013/0 Comments/in Balance, PhD, Postdoc, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Some weeks ago my article “Create Your Future” appeared in Pandora, a magazine for the women network of Utrecht University. On their biennial network day I provided a workshop on how to balance professional and personal images while profiling yourself as a professional scientist using social media that require a more personal perspective. The main challenge that we tackled that day is to find an overall fitting answer to the question: what are you about?

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2013-04-14 18:34:142016-04-09 08:31:32What am I about?

Value of the Dutch Approach of the PhD

January 22, 2013/2 Comments/in PhD, Purpose & direction/by Claartje van Sijl

Today, the Dutch government confirmed the current Dutch approach to the PhD, i.e. where PhD candidates are seen and rewarded as employees, not students. Dutch universities (VSNU) have been trying to create the option that PhD candidates get a student status, which would be much cheaper. They encounter much resistance, both from organizations of PhD candidates (who joined forces at e.g. promovendus.org) and from trade unions. The discussion has been going on for years now (e.g. article Trouw and DUB). I will not bore you with a summary of all arguments, but briefly indicate the main reasons that have been brought forward.

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https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png 0 0 Claartje van Sijl https://vansijl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Van-Sijl-Counseling-and-Training-Logo-300x138.png Claartje van Sijl2013-01-22 14:34:592016-04-09 08:31:58Value of the Dutch Approach of the PhD
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