An own website about a PhD project – why? There are several reasons. An important one is: a PhD project can and should also be presented in a comprehensible way. This is even more important in an international context, as I found out.

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Find out about my reasons to design a website and its functions in this video. I will also present myself here.

Why this website?

Many researchers probably know the problem: the question “So, what is your PhD topic?” causes headaches, especially when it comes from people who probably don’t know the topic that well. To name the registered title – impossible. And anyway, you don’t know it by heart because it’s too long.

And many people asking – whether from science or not – probably know the problem as well: The answer is not really satisfying. With a little imagination, you have a rough idea of the topic in the end. But maybe you also think: Nobody needs that.

I will not discuss now, whether research projects are (or have to be) always necessary. But the fact is: If research is not presented in a transparent and understandable way, much is lost.

The website was thus created with the following goals in mind:

To present the PhD project to everyone who is interested in it.

So I’m happy to have place to refer to when I try to explain my PhD topic – In German and in English. The first major presentation and scientific paper on PhD-topic were in English (see publications and presentations) and I’ve learned a lot from this experience. The German website is furthermore adressed also to students who may want to participate in my research.

Tracing the project in its development

A project is planned long in advance. The synopsis for the PHD registration includes a 5-year plan. And at the same time, we all know: in the end, things turn out differently than expected. So far, everything is going according to plan. And yet so much has already happened. I’m somewhat embarrassed by the videos from last year – I feel that I’m not standing there anymore.

The nice thing is that you have to learn and develop, especially in science. In the end, however, you only see the finished book or the articels in peer-reviewed journals that needed to revised. I’m happy to be able to show a little bit of my journey on this website. And yes: it also motivates me to keep up!

Translating context and concepts

The English version has, in contrast to the German one, yet on more function: before it comes to the presentation of my resarch topic, there’s some translation to be done – not only of words, but also of contexts and concepts, which are closely interrelated as you will see in the following post.