On Thursday 2 April, the LDE Program Global Heritage and Development successfully held the first networking meeting for PhD and Early Career Researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam. The event was well attended by over 15 researchers from Erasmus University, TU Delft, and Leiden University who work on issues relating to heritage, the urban environment, (heritage) development, and many other topics.
The primary purpose of this meeting was to establish the needs and wishes of this community and to set the building blocks for future meetings. The meeting started with a presentation by Naomi Oosterman, Research Coordinator, on the Program’s aims and objectives,its educational and research opportunities, and particularly focusing on the available seed money. Oosterman gave a presentation about the current funding mechanisms and the deadlines for applications (1 May 2026).
After, we had two interactive components. The first was a speed-dating round that focused on the following questions:
- Who are you and what are you working on?
- Which question(s) currently excite(s) or trouble(s) you?
- What kind of connection(s) would be useful to you right now?
- Would seed money benefit you in any way?
The second part of the meeting focused on thematic exchanges and the needs of the community for future meetings. This centered around the following questions and themes:
- A shared challenge in early academic careers (e.g., publishing, supervision, co-authorship, funding, work-life balance)
- A successful strategy
- One open question
From these exchanges, we were able to determine some key aspects of importance for the community and establish focal points of attention that will be included in future network meetings.
Save the date!
The next network meeting will take place on Wednesday 27 May from 13:00 – 17:00 at Leiden University. Make sure to register for this event!