Since the last Bulletin, the PhD Network has worked towards the Annual Conference and through to the end of the academic year, including the summer break. The theme of Cultivating Curiosity and Community-Engaged Research has stayed with us through our activities during the 2026 Annual Conference in Girona.
In Girona, we kicked things off with our pizza event on the evening before the conference, an informal way for PhD researchers to meet before the programme began. It was also a way to get to know the city a bit, as the conference team kindly invited us to a community centre that regularly hosts the university’s activities. On the first day of the conference, we hosted a panel discussion followed by an interactive workshop, both still circling around Cultivating Curiosity and Community-Engaged Research. The setting, an old church, added a certain gravitas to the conversations and gave the sessions an atmosphere we will not forget easily. Many thanks to Iba Planchart and Ana Beatriz Pelicioni for moderating the sessions, as well as to Duha Ceylan, Marta Guarda and Eila Prats-Brugat for taking part as panellists.
The IMISCOE PhD Blog also has a new contribution. Our very own Tulya Su Güven wrote “Where Do We Connect – or Where Can't We?”, a reflection on loneliness in PhD life and research, which she connects to her research on third spaces and newcomers. You can read it on the IMISCOE PhD Blog.
With one academic year ending and another beginning, we have also recruited new Board members. We received 55 applications and selected four candidates: Giorgia Cacciotti (University of Bologna), Ioana Dobre (University of Strathclyde), Nate Webb (UNU-MERIT, University of Maastricht) and Lisa Motzig (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles). Welcome to our new board members! We also want to thank everyone leaving the board, and everyone staying, for their work.
The Coffee Chats have resumed as well. Our September edition took place on 24 September, with 25 people joining from all around the globe. The October one took place on 22 October. Feel free to join the ongoing conversation, wherever you are! Regular information is shared through our newsletter.
At the moment, we (Yowali Kabamba and Denis Zeković) are preparing for the Regional Forum, where we will discuss the role of regionality in research, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean. There will also be an online option, so please sign up for either online registration or in-person attendance.
For the coming year, we have decided to drop the annual theme and instead focus our activities on skills that are important for early-career researchers. We are excited about what’s to come and will continue to support early-career researchers throughout their PhD trajectories!
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Yowali Kabamba & Denis Zeković
IMISCOE PhD Network Co-Chairs