Hello there, Nima Mohseni!
Besides being a PhD student, you are active in the doctoral student union at Lund University, LDK. But you are also the chairperson of the doctoral student council at the Faculty of Science. Tell us more about this!
– Well, students at all levels have the opportunity to get involved in student union work and thereby exercise student influence in matters concerning education or the students’ situation. Within the Faculty of Science, the doctoral students are organised through the Science Doctoral Student Council (NDR), which is one of six doctoral student councils under Lund’s Doctoral Student Union. LDK is unique in that it is one of only two doctoral student unions in Sweden – and it represents all the faculties within Lund University, except LTH (that has a student union of its own), says Nima Mohseni.
How did you get involved and why?
– I got involved during my first semester as I was interested in how we could represent ourselves in the different bodies of the university and how we could see to the PhD students’ best interests. I got an email from the previous chairman with an invitation to a general meeting. There was a vacant position for vice chairman and I nominated myself.
What do you do?
– We are mostly involved in faculty decision making policies, in the presidium, and in the research education board. We make evaluations of the doctoral studies programme and have representatives in every discussion about Science Village. LDK also engages in other activities on a national level – like language accessibility. It’s an ongoing issue, as documents are in Swedish and a lot of students don’t speak Swedish. We have also conducted a survey about the psychosocial study environment – with very concerning results such as high levels of stress. So, as you can see our work is very important!
Why do you think others should get involved – what’s in it for them?
– All the service you do within the student union is voluntary work and sometimes takes a lot of time, but you get your PhD contract prolonged for the time spent on student union related activities. So, you will not lose time on your PhD, and it looks good on your CV as you can show you have been dedicated and have done something outside the box of a normal study routine. If you are interested in pursuing a career in academia, it is a great experience!
Text: Anders Örtegren
More information about The Lund University Doctoral Student Union on their website: https://www.lundsdoctoralstudentunion.com/
