Trine Brøns Nielsen, a PhD student at Aarhus University in Denmark, reflects on her six-week study visit to DECIPHer.
I am a physiotherapist by background with a MSc in health promotion. I’m currently working as a PhD student enrolled at Aarhus University in Denmark and employed at a research unit called DEFACTUM. I have worked as a physiotherapist with neurological rehabilitation before getting involved with research three years ago. So far, I have primarily been engaged with practice-orientated rehabilitation research and the field of long COVID.
In DEFACTUM, I am part of a research programme that works with the development and evaluation of complex public health interventions. We find great inspiration in the MRC framework for Process Evaluation developed by DECIPHer. Thus, when I had to choose a research unit abroad to do my mandatory placement during the PhD project, the choice of DECIPHer seemed natural to me. My supervisors and I contacted Jemma Hawkins, and we quickly came to an agreement that I could do a six-week research stay with DECIPHer from September 2024.
Everyone was keen to discuss their work and share insights on places to visit and things to see during my stay.
Before my arrival, I was very excited but also a bit nervous about going abroad for such a long time and being part of another research unit. Fortunately, I had participated in DECIPHer’s five-day short course in June a few months earlier, so I had already met several of the members of the staff, who I found very kind and accommodating, with whom I even got to play table tennis with throughout the lunch breaks at the course. So, I felt reassured that I would enjoy my stay.
And I did! I arrived at the same time as two other PhD students: Kajsa Söderhielm from Sweden and my colleague Mia Fredens. On our first day, Jemma gave us all a warm welcome and a guided tour around the building and introduced us to the rest of the staff and the other PhD students visiting from abroad. I quickly learned that DECIPHer is a great and welcoming place to work, and that everyone was keen to discuss their work and share insights on places to visit and things to see during my stay.
I have met the kindest and most skilled people, with whom I hope to stay in touch.
Throughout my stay, I had some very interesting talks regarding my own project with Rachel Brown, Jeremy Segrott and Jemma, and I learned a lot about the projects going on at DECIPHer through talks and presentations from other researchers and PhD students. I also enjoyed the writing clubs organised by Rabeea’h Aslam, which were a great combination of focused writing time and meeting up with other colleagues. Although I did not get to play table tennis again during my research stay, we did solve puzzles in the lunch breaks and enjoyed some good coffees, drinks and food at the local cafés and pubs.
Overall, my research stay with DECIPHer has been very valuable to me, both professionally and personally. I have met the kindest and most skilled people, with whom I hope to stay in touch. I have experienced the Welsh culture, beautiful Welsh nature and learned a few Welsh words. If anyone is considering doing a similar placement or research stay, I would definitely recommend DECIPHer.
I guess there is just one thing left to say: Diolch!