While studying our majors in University of Helsinki and Jyväskylä University, we were pondering whether an academic career would suit us. We would have required more information on how to get experience on working within academia and how to get started on a doctoral thesis. Despite us both originating from different fields, special education and sport sciences, we have found our way into doctoral students in the Active Numeracy research group. A shared desire of ours is to share our experiences, tips and silent knowledge on how to get started on your academic career, what it takes and how to advance.
We are Pinja Jylänki and Terhi Vessonen, doctoral students in the Faculty of Educational Sciences in University of Helsinki. Pinja is a second-year doctoral student with the aim of studying how children’s early numeracy skills can be improved by combining early numeracy and fundamental motor skill practices in the intervention program. Terhi is a first-year doctoral student focusing on improving student’s mathematical problem-solving skills by using 3D learning environments.
In this series of blog posts, ‘From the perspective of PhD students’, we will share our experiences on for example how to find a suitable research group and supervisors for your thesis, how does the publishing process for scientific articles proceed, how to prepare for a conference presentation and what does the practical work of a doctoral student include.