WORKSHOP: From PhD to PostDoc (Tues 15 Oct, 4pm-5pm)

Tuesday 15 October 2024
4:00-5:00pm (AEST)
In person at the ADA Innovation Hub, Goodsell Building Room 102/103 and online via Zoom.
For those joining in person, the workshop will be followed by informal drinks.

Recent years have seen a move from approaching the PhD experience as aimed primarily at the production of a thesis, to the more expansive aim of cultivating a researcher (Lee and Boud 2009). In this workshop you will hear from two postdoctoral researchers who have recently completed their PhDs at UNSW. Speakers will share their experiences of moving from PhD to Postdoc, sharing tips and strategies learned along the way. The discussion will draw out the activities, roles and work beyond the production of the thesis that can be valuable or even necessary for HDRs who are aiming for pathways in academia. How can HDRs best position themselves for postdoctoral opportunities beyond the thesis? What is the contribution and value of research networks in the development of researchers? What are the opportunities and challenges of the increasing emphasis on impact and engagement and the growing expectations that HDRs develop entrepreneurial capacities? How can HDRs find Postdoc opportunities and then position themselves as the best candidate? The workshop will begin with short informal presentations and include ample time for questions and discussion.  

Featured speakers: Dr Danielle Hynes (Maynooth) and Dr Kevin Witzenberger (QUT) 
Chair: Professor Lyria Bennett-Moses (UNSW) 
Further comments: Scientia A/Prof Sukhmani Khorana (UNSW) and A/Prof Tanja Dreher (UNSW) 

SPEAKER BIOS 

Dr Danielle Hynes is an engaged social researcher with a background in both media and cultural studies, and urban studies. As a post-doctoral researcher on the Data Stories project at Maynooth University, Danielle is working alongside the team to examine how data is mobilised and used by various actors, focusing critical attention on Irish planning, property and planning housing data. Her doctoral research explored social justice in cities, and how imaginaries of the city are shaping the present and future of non-market housing, analysing the widespread influence of neoliberalism on the Australian social housing (for both residents and the structure of social housing) and identifying more just possibilities. 

Dr Kevin Witzenberger is a research fellow at QUT’s GenAI Lab. Grounded in media theory and science and technology studies (STS), his research focuses on the risks and opportunities of generative AI in society and making technical democracy a defining feature in governing the future of generative AI. In his role at the GenAI Lab, Kevin is also affiliated with the ADM+S where he contributes to the exploration of exploring authenticity as both a socio-technical challenge and as a contested cultural idea in the context of generative AI. Kevin received his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2023 where he investigated the impact of automation and AI on education governance as a member of the Media Futures Hub and is co-founder of the Education Futures Studio at the University of Sydney. 

Hosted by the UNSW Data Justice Reserach Network and the UNSW Media Futures Hub.