last updated: 24/04/2019
Requirements to become a candidate:
Be employed at NTNU as a temporary scientific employee (such as PhD student and Post-doc) and have a contract for at least 1 year more.
Send your short application including name, affiliation short bio and motivation (1 page max) to post@dion.ntnu.no preferably in advance of the elections and up to time before the announcement of the candidates during the AGM. Alternatively, contact the board during the AGM before the announcement of the candidates.
At the AGM, candidates will have the opportunity to present themselves. Candidates for board will have 1 minute to present, candidates for president 2 minutes.
If you cannot be physically present at the AGM, you could send a short video (1-2 min max) motivating your election as a board member.
For the president position, Norwegian proficiency is required.
For President:
For DION Board:
PhD Candidate
Department of biological science Ålesund
Bio and Motivation:
My name is Rouzbeh Keihani. I am a 36 year old male who is working as a PhD candidate at the department of biological science Ålesund.
I would like to apply for the position of Board Member with NTNU’s interest organization for PhDs, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees.
I am very much aligned with the goals and focus of your organization and I would like to use my skills and time to help organization with improving work and social related conditions of temporary scientific employees at NTNTU.
I have been a manger for 6 years in two companies and I have experience in chairing meetings and strategic solutions. I
Currently DION has no representive in Aalesund and therefore there is no specific connection between temporary employees in Aalesund and DION in Trondheim. I would like to represent the organization in Aalesund and open the way for further collaboration.
PhD candidate, SU-ISS
Bio and Motivation:
I joined NTNU at the beginning of my PhD in 2018. My research at the Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) focuses primarily on public health interventions and health inequalities in children in low- and middle-income countries. Before joining NTNU, I worked in the policy and advocacy sector for public health and health non-profit organizations in various European countries.
As I was new to both Norway and NTNU, DION was among the first sources of information in English I was pointed to when I started. It has been a valuable support for questions related to my PhD and for opportunities to socialize. This support is absolutely essential for all PhD candidates, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees and especially for those you are new to NTNU. This is the reason why I would like to support DION’s work by applying to join the 2019-2020 board. Should I be given this opportunity, I offer to focus on two areas: visibility and internationalization.
I would aim at continuing to increase DION’s visibility and facilitating the access to the resources DION offers by PhD candidates, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees. This involves exploring new channels of communication towards these staff as well as ensuring the dissemination of DION’s communication evenly across the different faculties and campuses.
Secondly, I would like to help promoting the development of international mobility and research opportunities for PhD candidates, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees by making sure that their needs and interest are taken into account in the implementation of NTNU’s internationalization priority. This involves gathering information that can be feedback to the university but also facilitating access to information regarding international mobility and collaboration opportunities that matches the needs and constrains.
I strongly believe that concrete steps in these two areas would contribute to improve the opportunities and working environment offered to PhD candidates, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees at NTNU and can be achieved within a year mandate. I would be honored to be given the chance support such projects as part of DION board for 2019-2020.
PhD Candidate
Department of Computer Science Gjøvik
Bio and Motivation:
My name is Davit Gigilashvili. I have served as a DION board member since last year. It has been a very rewarding experience, honor and pleasure to serve the interests of my colleagues from Gjøvik campus and beyond.
Now, when I have more experience, even more ideas and clear vision of what needs to be done for DION members, I would like to ask for your trust and support once again. I have set two primary goals to myself if re-elected: 1. Further increase involvement from all departments in Gjøvik. 2. Make monthly recurring social events for DION members to enable cross-department socialization on campus.
I believe that DION needs a board member on Gjøvik campus to promote DION and organize activities for them that would have been impossible without a board member permanently based in Gjøvik. Gjøvik-based temporary scientific employees need to have their voice heard, and to benefit from being part of the NTNU system.
Thank you!
PhD Candidate
Department of Biotechnology and Food Science
Bio:
Lisa Tietze is currently a PhD candidate in the NV faculty, Department of Biotechnology and Food Science. She fell in love with Norway when she did her ERASMUS student exchange in Trondheim in 2014/15. Originally, she comes from Germany where she studied Bimolecular Engineering at the Technical University Darmstadt. During that time, she became a part of a fraternity and was elected as a board member. Fraternity life meant being responsible for many different tasks including organization of different activities. Shouldering responsibility has been a big part of Lisa’s life also before studying when she helped out at home, as she has four younger siblings, all of them at least 13 years younger than she is. Besides studying, her main focus is on the sport quidditch. Quidditch has become a substantial part of her life in the past five years, not only as a player. Within the quidditch community, she has filled different roles such as being board member of the German national governing body, coach and referee. This experience helped her to strengthen her skills in team work and decision making. In the past year, she has been a board member of DION.
Motivation:
I enjoy my PhD life in Trondheim a lot. Part of the reason is the good working environment and offers from different entities at NTNU. Norway is known for its friendly work-life balance, embedded social structures and quality of education. For me it is vital to maintain and improve these aspects. One of the organizations working on this is DION. I would like to continue working for DION as a board member to be able to contribute to the always evolving and changing discussions around everything concerning the working environment here at NTNU. I hope I can work on strengthening the stance DION has in the structure of NTNU and therefore gain more impact on the work that is being done. Another important aspect of DION’s work is the advisor role for people with work related problems. I always enjoy helping others, so I would like to stay part of the team that is able to offer help in those situations and hopefully contribute to solving the problem.
PhD candidate
Department of Information Security and Communication Technology
Bio:
I am a 28yo PhD candidate at the department of Information Security and Communication Technology (IIK) at NTNU.
I come from Italy and I moved to Norway at the beginning of November 2018.
After 3 years at the Medicine school in Modena (Italy), I realised the Mathematics was what I wanted to do for the rest of my working life, so I got my bachelor degree in Mathematics at the university of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
I got my Master’s degree in Coding theory and Cryptography (Mathematics) in Trento and I had the opportunity to spend 4 years in the great North, so here I am.
I have a 4 years contract as research fellow at NTNU and I am focusing on NIST’s candidates for post-quantum cryptosystems, with a particular focus on Isogeny-based cryptography.
Motivation:
Being a newbie as Norwegian and researcher was not very pleasant. At the beginning I (as any non-Norwegian newcomer) had to face lots of difficulties, some of them related to meeting new people and finding something to do during my free time.
DION has such a broad offer that it is impossible not to find something interesting and funny to do. I joined the random-coffees and the choir for temporary staff. Lots of friends are very happy about the språk-kafe and I was impressed by the amount of activities that are offered by DION, such as Skiing trips and Shuffle-board nights.
I also found DION helpful when it comes to Norwegian regulations, totally different from the Italian ones, for example.
I would like to promote the current activities organised by DION, which are already efficient in connecting temporary staff and creating a safe net against an unknown bureaucracy.
As a newcomer myself, I can provide a fresh point of view on the necessities and the problems that one might face while trying to settle down in a foreign country.
I think that anyone of us can do something to improve his working and living environment, so I hope I will be given the chance to play my part.
Phd candidate
Department of Biotechnology and Food Science
Bio and motivation:
My name is Erland Årstøl, and I’m a PhD candidate working at the Department of Biotechnology and Food Science. I’m a 28-year-old Norwegian, and I’ve lived here in Trondheim for the last nine years.
Being a temporary employee at NTNU either as a Phd candidate, postdoc or in other positions can be immensely rewarding, but is clearly not without challenges. Having a support network that can help you deal with any issue that may arise is important, particularly for the many international workers at NTNU. Many in academia struggle with anxiety, depression, and stress, and I believe that DION can take an active role in combating these issues. Last year, DION organized a successful event concerning mental health, and I believe that this topic should be a central theme for the organization moving forward. If I’m elected to the board, I will work on organizing events, spreading information and in general making sure that DION does whatever it can to help employees struggling with mental health issues.
Effective communication is crucial to DION being an impactful organization, and I believe that I have something to offer in this regard. Before I started my doctorate, I worked as a freelance journalist, at the regional newspaper Adresseavisen and as the editor of the student newspaper Under Dusken. Hopefully, these experiences will enable me to communicate effectively with temporary employees at NTNU.
I believe that my motivation, background and organizational skills would make me a good board member for DION, and I hope that you will entrust me with this responsibility.
PhD Candidate
Department of Energy and Process Engineering
Bio:
I am a PhD candidate at the department of Energy and Process Engineering. My background consists of a bachelors in Civil Engineering (Osmania University, India) and a masters in Sustainable Critical Infrastructure (Masdar Institute, United Arab Emirates). At NTNU, my research is involved the Indoor Environment group, wherein I am working to improve simulations of energy related occupant behavior in buildings, in order to optimize building design.
Both my previous academic experiences were accentuated with my involvement in the respective university’s sustainability clubs, as well as being a board member for the college chapter of the Indian Concrete Institute.
Motivation:
As a newcomer to both NTNU and Norway, DION was my first point of contact for providing information and resources regarding temporary employees, as well as serving as the channel for all the social and cultural happenings at NTNU. My motivation for joining the board is twofold.
First, and foremost, is my desire to give back to the community I gained so much from, using the best of my skills and experience as an active member of student organizations to help keep this community thriving. As PhDs ad Postdocs, it is easy to get immersed into our work to the point that we start becoming a bit isolated in our own spheres, and DION provides wonderful mediums to keep that isolation at bay, which is something I would be very interested in boosting.
Secondly, my goal is also to foster more inclusion and diversity in the events conducted through DION. One means of accomplishing this task is collaboration with other organizations, such as the NTNU-based LGBTQ+ network, and groups for people with special needs. DION provides amazing opportunities to connect with different individuals, and this can be improved by making it more accommodating to a more diverse group of people.
Considering my background and motivations, I hope to be a valuable asset to the organization.
PhD-candidate
Department of Sociology and Political Science
Bio and motivation:
My name is Tor Anders Bye, and I am currently employed as a PhD-candidate of sociology at the Department of Sociology and Political Science at NTNU. Albeit my doctoral project is centered on digital transformation and the impact that digitalization has on the Norwegian public sphere in the context of democratic participation and deliberation through the use of social networking sites, my professional interests extend much further into the discipline of sociology. Before my doctoral project, I was involved in a number of research projects with attachment to NTNU in the capacity of scientific assistant, as well as actively participating and involved in the enterprise of the Sociology Clinic, an independent co-working space run primarily by sociologists with affiliations to NTNU.
Being a fairly fresh PhD-candidate with great passion for my discipline and contemplating a future career in academia, I am well aware of the perils that come with electing to pursue tenure in any field or discipline. Anyone seeking a career in pursuit of scientific endeavor will face years of temporary employment and adversity in adjusting to ever-changing working conditions with which little to no altercation can be made. Due to such concerns, I regard it as a personal (if not professional) obligation to dedicate some time towards investigating and deliberating on the subject of working conditions for all temporary staff in any respective academic institution to which I am currently affiliated. As your president, I will be committed to forwarding the discussion on core issues that DION is concerned with.
