Building a student network
In 2017 the GCI has continued with student engagement sessions, bringing together young talent from different disciplines to share their research and proactively engage with each other.
The premise for our student engagement sessions is to encourage network building among students from different disciplines.
There are two types of sessions run per month: one focuses on the science side where postgrad students detail their research topics to fellow peers; and the other focuses on providing training in terms of soft skills and mentorship.
In the science sessions, students present their research to peers and then proceed to have a discussion. “Our students come from different disciplines and we are trying to create a platform where for example a Geography student can constructively engage with a Chemistry student. We hope that this can assist in planting the seeds for producing future transdisciplinary researchers,” says Jessika Samuels, GCI Operations Manager.
The other component focuses on soft skills training and mentorship. For these sessions GCI brings in specialists in particular fields to provide guidance. Eileen Maleka, from the Counselling and Careers Development Unit (CCDU) facilitated a careers session where she advised students on skills such as: how to structure a CV, the do’s and don’ts in a CV, what employers look for, research career options, and available support roles in academia.
The GCI also hosted a session encouraging an informal engagement between students and mentors/academics. At this session, students had the opportunity to grill Prof Barend Erasmus and Prof Bob Scholes about what it truly means to be a researcher. The Profs candidly shared their experience – the highs and the lows, juggling various tasks etc.
“Being a researcher is changing. The needs of our students and what it means to be a researcher in current times is different from how it was in the past. We need to adapt, accommodate and listen to our students needs because they face different pressures. They will be our future research leaders so we need to make an attempt to understand them. Many young researchers feel the need to be more in control of the decisions they make, the careers they choose and they are more driven to make a difference. These sessions provide a safe space for us to have constructive engagement with our students, and it also gives us the opportunity to look into providing the training they need for their development,” concludes Samuels.