New semester, new fellows & a little bit of normality › view all

With the beginning of September, the new academic year has arrived at BIGSSS and 14 new doctoral candidates from 10 different countries have started their PhD journeys at BIGSSS. For the next years they will profit from BIGSSS’ structured PhD education and a close supervision of our faculty. At the beginning of the program, the new fellows were guided by our O-week into PhD and everyday life at BIGSSS with various in-person, introductory workshops.

As an integral part of the O-Week, BIGSSS welcomed the new fellows and kicked-off the new academic year with its traditional Welcome (Back)-BBQ on Friday, September 3. Outside on Jacobs University campus, many BIGSSS members – faculty, fellows, and staff – took the opportunity to welcome the new fellows and meet each other again for the first time in a long time. Owing to the 3G-regulation, in-person events during the O-week and the BBQ has brought a bit of normality back into the BIGSSS everyday life. Only the weather was not “normal” by Bremen standards - the sun was shining.

Among the new fellows, six doctoral candidates, Carina-Carolyn Hartz, Gamze Ipek, Pay Laurin Jessen, Tanya Keni, Dariya Krasimirova Koleva, and Debing Lian will pursue their individual research projects within the DFG funded Research Training Group (RTG) “Social Dynamics of the Self” (Self). Read more about the new early career researchers of the RTG Self and the opening ceremony here.

Catalina Ganga Leon and Gonzalo Arevalo Iglesias were successful with their applications in the likewise new „Global Inequality, the Middle Classes and the Welfare State“ (GloWel) PhD Program at BIGSSS. Their projects will be funded by the DAAD Graduate School Scholarship Program. In the next 42 months time, Catalina will pursue her research project on “The emotional dimension of care work in old age. Contributions from familialistic regimes”. Gonzalo will focus on "Labor market outsiders, familiar safety nets and welfare preferences".

Furthermore, five affiliated and one adjunct fellows have started their PhDs at BIGSSS. They work in research projects with faculty members of BIGSSS at University of Bremen or Jacobs University and chose to opt-in into BIGSSS’ structured doctoral education. Constantin Huber works as a researcher at the Socium and FGZ with Prof. Philip Manow on “The impact of populism on European democracies”. Adio-Adet Tichafara Dinika is a researcher at the Zentrum für Arbeit und Politik (ZAP) working on “The Future of Work, Digital Labour Markets, Youth unemployment and empowerment”. Kristina Skau is employed at the Socium doing research on “Large-scale data and field research in the study of social networks''. Pia Gebbing and Xingyue Yang are both working as research associates in the department of Business & Economics at Jacobs University. Pia is focusing in her PhD project on “Fostering creativity, and sub-concepts thereof, in digital settings to enhance virtual collaboration”. Xingyue is doing research on „Fostering entrepreneurial spirit within organizations – Creativity in Intrapreneurship in Digital Age”. As a new adjunct fellow, Oghenekome Umuerri can attend courses and workshops offered at BIGSSS. He also works in the department on Business & Economics at Jacobs University.

We are curious to see how the projects of our new PhD Fellows will develop and are very much looking forward to next spring's proposal defenses.