PhD students' club

The vision of the Doctoral Students’ Club is to create an environment in which doctoral students find inspiration, support and opportunities to develop their research potential. As an institutionalised initiative within the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine — a research centre that organises and conducts basic and applied research on the most important social and scientific problems — the club will also give doctoral students an understanding of high standards of professional conduct and academic culture.

The mission of the Doctoral Students’ Club is to foster the research potential and academic growth of young researchers in sociology. We seek to create a stimulating and supportive environment in which doctoral students can develop as researchers, receive support and work with experienced scholars, and advance the social impact of their research.

Objectives:

1. Creating a supportive environment: providing conditions in which doctoral students can talk to colleagues and exchange ideas, research results and experience.
2. Research support: giving doctoral students opportunities to improve their research skills, for example through seminars, training sessions, academic discussions and conferences.
3. Academic cooperation: maintaining links with the Institute’s management and departments, and running the Institute’s mentoring scheme and productive cooperation with more experienced researchers.

Values:

We seek to establish practices that make the club a valued part of academic life at the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The young researchers’ initiative of the Institute of Sociology, the “Doctoral Students’ Club”, works on the basis of voluntary participation, equality, free discussion, mutual respect, productive cooperation and the exchange of ideas and research experience among former, current and future doctoral students.

We believe that a strong doctoral community is a necessary part of a successful research environment. We also recognise the importance of research support and training for doctoral students. We seek to use opportunities for professional development, information exchange and productive discussion that will help doctoral students improve their research skills, broaden their knowledge and prepare for further work in sociology.

The club’s activities are shaped by its priorities and working principles, which are directed at developing and supporting the research growth of doctoral students in sociology. We set out the following lines of activity:

1. Organising academic events: seminars, conferences, lectures and other academic events for doctoral students.
2. Research: supporting research and creating opportunities for doctoral students to take part in research projects.
3. Networking: interaction between doctoral students of different years, and growth in the number and quality of their professional contacts with other institutions and research organisations.

Surveys:

In October 2023 the first pilot survey was conducted, covering both the desired topics for meetings and the working format of the club itself — how members communicate and interact, how often they would like to meet, and so on.

News:

1. Meeting with first-year doctoral students; discussion of plans for the 2023–2024 academic year.
2. Meeting with Serhii Serhiyovych Dembitskyi, Deputy Director for Research of the Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine, Leading Researcher, Doctor of Sociological Sciences.
3. Meeting with Olga Burova, Senior Researcher at the Department of Socio-Political Processes and Ukraine’s national representative to WAPOR.
4. Meeting with Volodymyr Paniotto, Ukrainian sociologist, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Director General of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Professor at the Department of Sociology of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
5. Meeting with Anastasiia Shurenkova, Head of the Socio-Political Research Department at Info Sapiens.
6. Meeting with Maksym Parashchevin, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Leading Researcher.
7. Meeting with Oleksandr Poznii, Director of the research company Active Group.
8. Meeting with Ivan Verbytskyi, researcher of urban development, civil society and civic participation.
9. Meeting with Valentyna Pliushch, Doctor of Philosophy, Junior Researcher.

Contact person:

Yuliia Hetman, doctoral student at the Department of Socio-Political Processes

yuliiahetman2021@gmail.com