"At the start of academic careers...": the field stage of the Russian Science Foundation project

The field stage of the project "At the start of academic careers: student participation in scientific communities and initiatives as a vector for the development of national science", supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, continues. The research team delves into the world of student science through interviews and observations.

The field stage of the project "At the start of academic careers: student participation in scientific communities and initiatives as a vector for the development of national science", supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, continues. The main empirical material in the project is interviews with students involved in science and event guides, leaders and curators of student scientific organizations, and young teachers. Researchers conduct recruitment through online groups of student scientific associations and at events attended for observation. The Congress of Young Scientists in Sirius, which was attended by members of the project team, Irina Lisovskaya and Ekaterina Semenova, proved particularly useful. There were several sessions devoted to the development of student scientific associations, which were organized by colleagues from Peter the Great Polytechnic University and the Association of SSS and SMUS of the Northwestern Federal District, where they managed to acquire contacts of suitable colleagues for the sample. In interviews, the informants were struck by the level of reflection – the conversations planned for an hour and a half in some cases stretched for 2 or even 3 hours, and most of them were occupied by discussions about the place in the world of science, the importance of research, teamwork and the search for "their" people in the academic environment.

For observations, the researchers attended student conferences, seminars, and Science Slam, a format that requires young researchers to talk about their research in as much fun as possible in 10 minutes. Such events become an important resource for making acquaintances, networking students from different universities, and a space for discussion not only on specific research topics, but also on interdisciplinarity, innovation, and the distinction between scientific and non- and pseudoscientific. Student scientific associations organize not only "serious" events, but also create popular science formats that are open to the general public and help to move away from formal frameworks, relax and have some fun, which is important for students who often combine their studies with scientific activities and work or part-time work.

We are continuing our field work – it remains to collect a few more interviews, attend several events and begin analyzing the agenda of online groups of student scientific associations.