Some of our ROSEnet members reflect on the impact that being a part of the network has had on them.
I entered the ROSEnet Cost Action as a working group co-leader when I was a postdoctoral researcher in psychogerontology at the University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and being able to stay involved despite the fact I momentarily left academia to join a public information center about dementia (Luxembourg) was really an asset. Indeed, ROSEnet gave me the opportunity to strongly extend my research and policy network as well as to strengthen my CV. I am already planning future collaborations with ROSEnet members for the next step of my professional career, a 2-year Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (2020-2022) in United Kingdom on the topic of social engagement in older adults living with dementia.
Isabelle Tournier, Luxembourg
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Thanks to ROSEnet I developed my expertise in the field, and acquired tacit academic skills. The former are extremely valuable already in short-run. I will keep benefitting from the latter always. Being in the network enabled me to receive helpful feedback on my unpublished work; to invite a key-note speaker to my faculty annual conference; to consult methodological doubts in my empirical analysis; to discuss publication strategy; to improve my teaching. Foremost, it enabled me to set my long-term academic goals and identify the ways that are most likely to lead me exactly there.
Anna Nicińska, PhD , University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Poland
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As an early career researcher ROSEnet has had a significant contribution to my academic career. I joined the Action in 2016 right after finalizing my PhD. Before ROSEnet my international networks were limited and I was happy to be a part of such a wide and international collaboration. Most importantly it was great to get to know scholars who were interested and highly motivated in studying similar issues. During ROSEnet I participated in two of the Training Schools and undertook two international research visits, which were hosted by members of ROSEnet. Collaboration with scholars from ROSEnet will certainly continue even though the Action has finished.
Elisa Tiilikainen VTT, yliopistotutkija (tenure track) Kasvun ja vanhenemisen tutkijat ry:n puheenjohtaja, Itä-Suomen yliopisto, Yhteiskuntatieteiden laitos, Finland
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Personally I was so lucky because I got a lot of support from the project as an early career investigator. These conference participations, and the STSM in the Russian Federation basically focused my scientific interest to the service policy and service related exclusion among the CEE countries. Actually we are working on the new research that focuses exclusion of dementia patients in Hungary and the Russian Federation. It was a great possibility for me – as young researcher – to take part such an international programme, make new connections, find new ideas which forms my scientific focus and career.
László Patyán PhD, Associate Professor, University of Debrecen, Faculty of Health, Department of Gerontology, Hungary
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The involvement in ROSEnet helped me to design my doctoral project on Slovenian media representations of old age and old-age social exclusion. It has also improved my research and writing skills and my ability to present results at scientific conferences. The STSM was particularly beneficial in this respect. The scientific debates between different members of the ROSEnet community inspired me to organize two panel discussions on the issue of old age exclusion in Slovenia. Last but not least, ROSEnet helped me to establish new links that will enable future international cooperation on the issue of old age exclusion.
Otto Gerdina, phd student, Faculty of social sciences, University of ljubljana, Slovenia
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As an ECI, I largely benefited from the ROSEnet openness. The COST action not only gave me the possibilities for learning (training school in Camerino, seminar on publishing in Brussels), but also included me in collaborative work (joined publications, work group meetings), provided with feedback and support of senior researchers – I am especially thankful to Sandra Torres and Marja Aartsen. In sum, I am very grateful to Kieran Walsh and the ROSEnet for being included and localized in the European network of ageing researchers and hope that similar means for international cooperation will be available also in the future.
Dr. Gražina Rapolienė, Sociology Department, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Lithuania.
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As an ECR, connecting your research to other projects and meeting experts is viable for developing future career options. ROSEnet offered me countless opportunities to connect with other academics, from ECRs to seniors, in the field of ageing studies through regular meetings as well as training schools. Further, ROSEnet supported my work immensely through two short term scientific missions (STSM), which allowed me to travel abroad and intensively work with experts in the field. This exchange has been fruitful as it has produced two peer-reviewed publications, created new networks and career opportunities for the future.
Vera Gallistl, Dept of Sociology, Wien University, Vienna, Austria
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Taking part in the STSM at this point in my career as an ECR widened my horizons in terms of working with colleagues in Vienna, Europe. This experience was timely as the UK faces leaving Europe, and we worry about narrowing possibilities to help us co-ordinate and improve the wellbeing of older people. The mission allowed my colleague and I to work towards a funding bid, start writing a paper and collaborate on leading a lively symposium on cultural participation and social isolation held at the IAGG conference. We continue to work together and I hope the collaboration allows us both to develop our research ideas. I particularly enjoyed teasing out conceptual frameworks with which to understand cultural participation and learning – having the space to do this in the same room was rich and wonderful!
Dr. Anna Goulding, Research Associate, University of Newcastle., UK.
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As a member of ROSEnet PhD forum I had great opportunity to participate in all project activities, to get knowledge and to share experiences. Also, I was granted for several conferences which gave me opportunity to present public health research related to old aged. As a participant in STSM I visited National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing in Ancona where I became acquainted with the work of the Institute on improving care for the elderly, and where I laid the foundations for further cooperation in research on topics and areas of social inclusion of the elderly.
Katarina Vojvodic, MD, Institute of Public Health of Belgrade, PhD student in Public Health
________________________________________________________________Being part of a large and productive COST Action like ROSEnet has been a honour, as well as boost for my research and career. I had the opportunity to be stimulated with interdisciplinary inputs on old-age social exclusion, be updated on state-of-the-art international research, and discuss urgent societal issues with peers, senior researchers and stakeholders. The ROSEnet scientific milieu has been extraordinary to bound together members and lead to new publications, project proposals and visiting periods abroad. This includes my personal experience as awardee of a Short-Term Scientific Mission grant, spent in Athens in 2017. This fastened my collaboration with Dr. Ioannis Kostakis (Harokopio University of Athens) and produced two joint publications and one research project proposal.
Francesco Barbabella, Ph.D., EU Project Officer, Linnaeus University, Sweden
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Being part of ROSEnet offered me great opportunities to explore new domains in my ageing research (towards a more theoretical discussion of age, place and exclusion) , in a timely period of my academic pathway. The STSM was an excellent driver to meet new colleagues and operation this new exploration, which produced new publications too.
Thibauld Moulaert, Université Grenoble Alpes, France
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Being part of ROSEnet has been a great experience on both: academic and personal levels. It increased my research mobility through participation in Training Schools and Short Term Scientific Mission. I was able to meet my current collaborators (some of them are dear friends now) and catch up with hot topics in the field. Most importantly, in addition to scientific stimulation, the experience also stimulated my confidence to thrive for an international academic career which resulted in (successful) applying for post-doctoral positions outside my country of origin.Dr Anna Urbaniak, Institut für Soziologie, Universität Wien, Austria
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It is a pleasure for me to share my appreciation for the RoseNet Cost Action training schools on reducing old-age social exclusion, as it helped me to cultivate my scientific knowledge on the topic, as well as has shaped the early stages of my career as a researcher. I participated in two of the RoseNet Cost Action training schools: one in Camerino, Italy and one in Swansea, UK. These events constituted my first contact with the important issue of social exclusion in older age, where I was intrigued by its’ systematic and empirical examination from various disciplines. The first training school helped me rethink the approach I have taken in the fieldwork for my own doctoral thesis at the University of Sheffield, examining social participation in older age and the effect that it exerts on cognitive vitality. After the successful completion of my PhD, and through the RoseNet network’s dissemination channels, I was informed about a post-doc research position for a relevant research project (i.e., the GenPath project) at the LiU university in Sweden. After a successful application and one year in this position now, I have further applied and have been granted a 2-years post-doc grant from the Swedish government research council (Forte) to continue examining the effects of social exclusion in older age in an independent project. Therefore, I am grateful for the opportunities created by the RoseNet Cost Action on reducing old-age social exclusion and I hope to contribute further in creating knowledge that can contribute to well-being among older persons in Europe.
George Pavlidis, Linköping University, Sweden
