Foreign doctoral students suffer from isolation.

The pandemic has hit foreign doctoral students hard

The doctoral students whose studies have been hit hard by the pandemic should be entitled to extended employment. Clearer guidelines are needed regarding how and what applies when applying, and the question is who should pay. This is what the University of Gothenburg’s Doctoral Student Committee (GUDK) has stated in a recent report.

THERE IS NOT a single doctoral student who has not been affected by the pandemic. But those hit hardest should be entitled to an extension. This is a sensitive issue because it involves a lot of money. Who will ultimately pay if the department cannot afford it? asks Alex Cravcenco, Chairman of GUDK, who recently released a report on how the pandemic has affected the doctoral students.

The result does not surprise Alex Cravcenco, who is a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology. – Initially, many people were quite happy to sit at home and work all the time. But as the pandemic dragged on, many people started to grow tired and miss conferences and the postgraduate environment: the physical contact with supervisors and other colleagues, but also the coffee breaks and the conversations at the coffee maker. Many people feel cut off from the academic environment.

Some of the most important results are: About 60 percent responded that their thesis work has been affected quite a lot or very much by the pandemic. A total of 55 percent of respondents believe that they are entitled to an extension, of the foreign doctoral students, 45 percent believe that their application will not be granted. The same figure for Swedish doctoral students is 32 percent.

OF ALL THE problems mentioned, data collection and fieldwork have been the biggest challenges. The average delay is estimated to be 3.2 months. About half of the doctoral students state that the pandemic has had an adverse effect on their mental health.

One group that has been hit harder than others is international doctoral students. – They are even more isolated because they are new to Sweden. I also think they feel even greater pressure to perform at a high level to secure a career after graduation. For many of them, their studies have been delayed and they feel frustrated and worried about not being able to finish on time, which of course affects their mental state.

But as the pandemic dragged on, many people started to grow tired and miss conferences and the postgraduate environment.

ALEX CRAVCENCO THE RESULT DIFFERS somewhat between the faculties. Doctoral students at Sahlgrenska Academy reported that they were not affected by the pandemic to the same extent. On the other hand, more people are experiencing problems in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Furthermore, many projects in the artistic field have been severely delayed.

According to the survey, about 30 doctoral students have been granted an extension so far. Efforts have been made, the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, for example, has put together an expert group to evaluate applications in a transparent way. The School of Public Administration has already given all doctoral students an extra month to compensate for having to work from home.

– OUR SURVEY SHOWS that there are just over 250 doctoral students who want to apply for an average extension period of 2-3 months. Currently, it depends entirely on the department. Some can afford it, others cannot, and that leads to unfair treatment. Therefore, we demand more specific and