The second Young Researchers' Initiative on Hard Matter focused on soft skills for neutron and X-ray science

PhDs and postdoctoral researchers pictured at LINXS balcony during the YRI on Hard Matter.

Good for networking! Remarkable event. Great symposium! Fruitful poster session! This is just some of the positive feedback on the recent Young Researchers’ Initiative on Hard Matter. It took place at LINXS in October and gathered around 30 PhD students and postdocs.

Konstantin Werner is postdoctoral researcher at the Grenoble Institute of Technology.

Isac Appelquist Løge is postdoctoral researcher at the Danish Technical University.

Organisers Isac Appelquist Løge, Konstantin Werner, Annika Stellhorn, Asmaa Qdemat and Sandra Benter were all happy with the event. They agree that it was fun to organise, and say it was very rewarding to see how it created strong networking opportunities for the participants, as well as providing new knowledge on how to approach beamtime and design beamtime applications.

– Something happens when the attendees start to interact with each other, and this is exactly what the YRIs are for, says Konstantin Werner, postdoctoral researcher at the Grenoble Institute of Technology.

An agenda with a strong intention

As a group, they gave careful consideration to the agenda based on their previous experiences from organising the first Hard Matter symposium back in 2023.

Isac Appelquist Løge, postdoctoral researcher at the Danish Technical University, DTU, explains that they wanted to set a strong intention for the event. Overall, they found that a focus on – usually forgotten – soft skills and 'beamtime essentials' would be the best combination to create an event that would encourage active participation and networking while also providing important insights on aspects relating to beamtime experiments and proposals.

– We tried to insert topics that we would like to have been teached during our PhD-time in neutron/X-ray science. Mostly soft skills, like how to present yourself and how to write scientific texts, are overlooked but crucial in our field of science to get professional insight in, says Annika Stellhorn, scientist at the European Spallation Source, ESS.

Annika Stellhorn is a scientist at ESS.

Konstantin Werner adds that they also worked to facilitate as much interaction between participants as possible, as one of the aim of the YRI events is to help researchers build a network that is independent from their supervisors.

– We hoped that the focus on science communication and the lesson on "How to beamtime" would be good opportunities to get people to interact and maybe stay in touch after the symposium finished, he says.

Great feedback from the participants

The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive, who submitted their reflections through an online survey.

Asmaa Qdemat, postdoctoral researcher at Jülich Centre for Neutron Science.

– From what I observed, the event created an atmosphere where people both discussed soft and hard matters (pun intended); from struggles and prospects of a young researcher career, to catalyst degradation from carbon deposition, says Isac Appelquist Løge.

Continuing the Young Researchers’ Initiative events they all see as important. The format enables the creation of a unique space for people in their early scientific careers.

Sandra Benter is postdoctoral researcher at the ESRF, the European Synchrotron.

– The connections young researchers make may last throughout their whole career. We give them opportunity to meet new colleagues at similar life stages from Sweden, and all over Europe. This network might guide the young researcher’s future science projects, says Annika Stellhorn.

Asmaa Qdemat, postdoctoral researcher at Jülich Centre for Neutron Science, adds:

– As an early career researcher, it can be isolating working in a lab or focusing solely on your research. These events offer a chance to step out of the academic bubble, meet new people from diverse disciplines, and collaborate with others who might offer fresh perspectives on your own work. From my experience, the value of networking goes beyond just career development. It's also about learning from others' experiences – hearing about their successes and their failures, she says,

Sandra Benter, postdoctoral researcher at the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, reflects that:

– Best case scenario, you manage to get connections for your future career. Additionally, you can get insights from your peers that might help you tackle challenges you face with your research or challenges that come with being a PhD or postdoc.

Motivated by creating an active research community

Actively being part of building a research community and creating an environment where people feel at ease are what motivates all of them to drive the YRI on Hard Matter forward.

Participants discussing at the YRI on Hard Matter.

– Fostering a research community that is inclusive, and hopefully less guided by elitism and over-imposing seriousness, is really important to us. Science, in our opinion, should be creative and fun, and it is usually easier if different minds work together, says Sandra Benter.

– I love the idea of creating an environment where researchers feel comfortable and excited to share their work. It's energizing to see people come together and collaborate, especially when it leads to new ideas and perspectives, says Asmaa Qdemat.

They are already thinking about next year’s event.

– There is a huge interest from participants in getting involved in planning the next symposia. We will reach out and collect ideas on further symposia topics. Also, the feedback has shown high interest in more technical beamline aspects and speaking about beamtime results. We will take this into account for the next symposium, says Annika Stellhorn.

– Also, a connection between all Young Researchers Initiatives at LINXS – the hard matter, the soft matter, and the life sciences – is one next step to combine our ideas among the fields and find common interests, she adds.