Institution: University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Supervisory team: Dr Susan Rasmussen. Position: PhD student. Current research: I am interested in the mechanisms by which childhood experiences can influence suicide risk. I am looking at emotional processing as a potential mediator in this relationship. Research interests: Adverse and positive childhood experiences and suicide risk The role of… Continue reading Kenvil Souza
By Jessica Leather Data collection through web-based organisations has become increasingly common in academic research, due to the promise of large sample sizes and lightning-fast data delivery. Companies such as Qualtrics, Amazon Mechanical Turk and YouGov provide researchers with the opportunity to purchase or ‘crowdsource’ participants for online surveys and cognitive tasks. Some offer in-depth… Continue reading Tips for collecting data through an external organisation
Mince pies are being eaten, research group meals are underway and School Christmas Jumper photos are hitting social media. This can mean just one thing: the holidays are nearly upon us! With the year drawing to an end, we thought it is the perfect time to review the feedback from the netECR survey. Thank you… Continue reading A Year in Review: netECR 2018
As Christmas draws closer by the day, we asked our members what was top of their academic Christmas list. There were some specific suggestions about research topics, with calls for more creative approaches, increased recognition of the value of qualitative and mixed methods research and the championing of more research looking at fluctuations in suicidal… Continue reading All I want for Christmas is…
By Isabela Troya. Suicide and suicidal behaviour are complex and multifactorial, influenced by a range of different determinants. Despite the complexity of suicidal behaviour, the approach taken within the field of suicidology in research has been mostly dominated by a single research design: quantitative methods. Hjelmeland and Knizek [1] have already documented the lack of… Continue reading The value of qualitative research methods in suicide prevention/suicidal behaviour research
Professor Heidi Hjelmeland currently works at the Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. What are your research interests? They have changed quite a lot over the years. I started off my career as a mainstream quantitative, risk factor researcher but realised quickly that this won’t get me far in terms of… Continue reading Interview: Career advice from Heidi Hjelmeland
By Kirsten Russell. The 10th of September 2018 was World Suicide Prevention Day and marked a year since the official launch of the NetECR blog. The theme of this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day is “Working Together to Prevent Suicide”. This theme resonates with the ideology underpinning NetECR in that we believe that we are… Continue reading Working Together to Prevent Suicide: The Value of Getting to Know Your ECR Peers
By Donna Littlewood and Emma Nielsen. Over the past year ‘work/life balance’ and ‘self-care’ has been a regular feature on our Twitter timelines. Sometimes discussion is instigated in response to a blog from The Guardian’s ‘academics anonymous’ series, at other times it has been in response to research which has shone a light on the… Continue reading You can’t pour from an empty cup: self-care suggestions for ECRs
Institution: Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences, Keele University, England. Supervisory team: Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham, Dr. Lisa Dikomitis, and Dr. Opeyemi Babatunde. Position: PhD Student Current research:I am interested in the experiences of self-harm as lived by those with self-harm behaviour. My PhD is a qualitative study that explores the experiences of self-harm… Continue reading M. Isabela Troya
When launched in September 2017, one of the main aims of NetECR was to encourage networking and collaboration between PhDs/ECRs in suicide and self-harm research internationally. Today, the community is comprised of ECRs from several different labs and institutions across the globe. To strengthen the connections made online, and provide an opportunity for others to… Continue reading NetECR Brunch
By Heather Sutherland. Perhaps the key, primary stress of the first year of doctoral study is about ‘literature reviewing’. “I’m working on my literature review” is the only identical phrase I’ve heard from peers across all subject areas, before they head off into their various quantitative or qualitative or mixed-method data-gathering phases. Whilst research topics… Continue reading Literature Review, meet personal knowledge…
One month ago – World Suicide Prevention Day 2017, we launched the International Network of Early Career Researchers in Suicide and Self-harm website – NetECR! Since then, we have been delighted with the response and support of ECRs in our field, as well as that shown by senior academics, institutions and charities from different parts… Continue reading One month of NetECR!
By Kirsten Russell. Undertaking a PhD provides an invaluable opportunity to train and develop as an independent researcher. However, PhDs can also be challenging and it is easy to abandon academic self-care in the face of heavy workloads and imminent deadlines. Sleep is often the first thing we sacrifice, with many seeing it as a… Continue reading Is prioritising sleep the first step in academic self-care? Tips for getting a good night’s sleep during postgraduate study
By Kirsten Russell. Suicide continues to be a major public health concern worldwide, and is one of the leading causes of death in young people aged 15-24 (World Health Organisation, 2014). University students represent a particularly high risk group for the development of suicidal thoughts and behaviours. A survey conducted by NUS in 2013 highlighted… Continue reading The importance of starting a conversation about suicide: Advice for supporting postgraduate peers
By A. Jess Williams. Recently, a senior professor has taken to saying to me “calm down, things go wrong, nothing’s perfect”. Sounds grand, right? But to my way of thinking, this is telling me that I’ve done something wrong or that people think I’ve made a mistake - that’s frustrating for anyone, but my sneaky… Continue reading One of these is not like the others: Imposter syndrome within early career researchers
By Emma Nielsen When I’m not PhD-ing I’m often covered in paint. Recently, I gifted two paintings to the ‘crisis house’ that helped me and held me together earlier this year. Today, I received the most unexpected of thank you cards from the house. It was one of those game changing, reflective moments and I… Continue reading Emma Nielsen – “Me too”: Mental health and disclosure as an Early Career Researcher
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