Join a support program for a group of doctoral researchers in English! The support group meets six times in the spring 2025. The group contains the same members throughout and has a maximum of eight members.
The program contains group conversations and supportive activities on shared and unique challenges to doctoral researchers. We discuss personal goals and values, managing stress and time, explore self-esteem and imposter syndrome, supervisory and peer relationships as well as self-care and support for one’s agency.
The group methods are based on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). SFBT is fundamentally a low-threshold psychosocial service, which concentrates on mild and specifically defined matters with the participants’ consent and motivation. The purpose of the group discussions is to support the doctoral researchers’ goals, functional ability, and life management.
In addition, each participant has a one-on-one counselling session (1 x 60 min) with the brief-therapist within the three-month period of the program.
The Participants
The group is for TATTE members. Priority is given (1) to unemployed doctoral researchers, (2) to grant researchers, and (3) to employed doctoral researchers, respectively. The group ethos is solution-focused, which means that you are motivated to set goals based on your values and priorities. As a group member, you are motivated to engage in listening and supportive conversations with others while you actively reflect on your strengths and resources to create a vision of your preferred and actionable future.
Meeting details
Each meeting is on Thursday evening and lasts for 2 hours 10 minutes. Please, only sign up if you can commit to all the dates of the group meetings.
The language of the group is English.
The group meets in the city center of Tampere.
Important Dates
Sign up for a support group for doctoral researchers by February 14th, 2025! You will be notified by February 18th, 2025. The group starts in March 2025.
March 2025
- meeting: Thursday 13.3.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Uncertainty management and goals during your doctoral process”
- meeting: Thursday 27.3.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Time management and cognitive ergonomics in research work”
April 2025
- meeting: Thursday 10.4.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Boundaries, self-compassion, and value-based life”
- meeting: Thursday 24.4.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Interpersonal relationships, assertiveness, and managing tensions”
May 2025
- meeting: Thursday 8.5.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Interpersonal relationships and social support”
- meeting: Thursday 22.5.2025 at 16:30–18:40 “Healthy autonomy and community as resource”
Registration
Sign up for a support group for doctoral researchers by February 14th, 2025. The registration link has been sent to TATTE members’ email.
Service Providers
The group is led by Dr Ira Virtanen. She works as a University Lecturer in researchers’ wellbeing, mentoring and supervision at the University of Eastern Finland. She taught communication courses for Tampere University doctoral researchers for nine years. Ira is also a solution-focused brief therapist in training (grad. 5/2025). Her research has made contributions to supportive communication in different interpersonal relationships, on helplines, with people with dementia, parasocial and intergroup interaction, and the communication of immediacy among strangers in virtual contexts. Ira has been an ASLA Fulbright Student Researcher at Purdue University (USA), and conducted her postdoctoral research in Belgium, France, and Romania.
The service is provided by TATTE (Tampere University Association of Researchers and Teachers).