by Olga
Solomontis-Kountouri
Our second summer school took place in July 2003 at at the Marbach
castle, in Germany, during the period July 20-26, 2003. Eightteen Ph.D.
students participated (among which four from the United States) and the
presenters/mentors were Jacquelynne Eccles, Rutger Engels, Alexander
von Eye, Luc Goossens, Leo Hendry, Marion Kloep, and Rainer
Silbereisen.
Introduction-General
feelings
I try to put in words the wonderful, enlightening, unique, magic
experience we –participants- shared at Marbach Schloss during the 2nd
EARA Summer School. The comments from all the other students who took
part, helped to illustrate and enrich this report. I wish that the
reader could find in between our words the feelings and the mystic we
shared. From 20 to 26 of July, in Marbach Castle, in the magnificent
scenery of Lake Constance, students from all over Europe and USA lived
an ultimate learning experience, an unrepeatable intellectual activity,
the sharing of their precious work, the guide and the support of
excellent seniors, a luxurious service; moreover, they conceptualised
that above their national identities they mostly share the identity of
human race and from then onwards their horizons broadened. As Kerstin
Pahl from USA declared: “I will never forget the wonderful week that I
got to spend in Marbach. Not only did we receive a rich diet of
intellectually stimulating lectures, presentations, and discussions, we
were also treated to an array of worldly luxuries, including gourmet
meals, luscious wines, and bucolic scenery. All this took place in the
company of a diverse and interesting group of people who were talented
in both scholarly discourse and… shall we call it, recreational
pursuits.”
The organisation
of the whole program is near perfect and it fulfilled its basic aim,
which was to provide professional training to doctoral students.
Everything run smoothly and in time. Everybody respected the time
schedule and not a single person escaped from the program. This was
admitted in the last day’s evaluation. Luc Goossens, the
President-Elect of EARA and the Summer School host concluded in his
evaluation report: “Everyone
agreed that the second EARA Summer School at Marbach Castle was a great
meeting and a very intense week. The many suggestions made by the
students contributed to the formation of the ideal summer
school image that one can strive for in the future.”
Belen Martinez-Ferrer from Spain remarked that: “This type of event is very
useful since it allows us to know different investigation lines and
complementary focuses. Moreover, knowing people from different
countries who investigate adolescence has been very enriching. I am
sure that all that we have learned will be very useful to improve our
theses and our future research.”
Not only did we feel secure in such an environment, but we did feel
cared and important, and some of us felt that for the first time in our
studies we were offered such luxurious services. It is like being
honoured for working hard for our research. Muriel Carrere from France
said about the services: “We
worked in a wonderful place and the only preoccupations we had were to
think about research and psychology. We had no material worries to
think about and that was fantastic.”
The place
chosen for the event is definitely one of the most beautiful places in
Europe. Marbach Castle is located on the German side of Lake Constance,
in a slope of a forested hill and it faces the Swiss landscape, which
lies on the other side. In the middle, the lake shines as the
river Rhine runs through it. The Castle itself is a stunning five star
place.
The comments on the place and the services which were provided are
numerous: “Marbach
Castle seems to be such a nice place for such kind of activities. Being
far from any big city, did not offer so many opportunities for night
entertainment, therefore we could concentrate on our work. At the same
time everything was there: tasteful food, wonderful wines, bikes, the
lake and the park, a swimming pool, to name a few. That was great!”
Sergey Molchanov from Russia “The
surroundings of Marbach Castle were beautiful and conducive for
thinking and reflecting. Everything was well organized and thought of,
simply great: the food, the well-equipped environment, the nice views
on the lake Constanz, the rooms, etc. It was nice to experience this
luxury.”
Zeena Harakeh from Netherlands “I
must thank you for the choice of Marbach, where we couldn’t be better
received and taken care of and for the ambience created.”
Marta Texiera Bastos from Portugal “The
castle was an ideal place for learning and relaxation.”
Peter Titzmann from Germany “The
meeting was very well organized and took place at one of the loveliest
places in the southwest of Germany. Schlo� Marbach – a castle that is
quite isolated – turned out to be the best environment for meeting both
students and senior scientists.”
Dagmar Strohmeier from Austria "The
training program was very intense and stimulating. It started at 8.00
o’clock in the morning and finished at 6.00 in the afternoon with two
short coffee breaks and the lunchtime. During the week we attended
seven three-hour presentations from senior researchers and eighteen
45minute presentations from the PhD students. We learnt so much, in
such a good educational way and in such a short time. Seniors’
presentations were highly professional and apart from the state of
knowledge they offered an overview of recent state of methods and
theoretical trends in the field of adolescence."
Uta Jaschinski from Switzerland states: “This is one of the best ways to
learn about contents and research methods in adolescent development.
During the week, I received a lot of new information and developed some
ideas for my future research. The combination of instructions, student
presentations, discussions and informal communication was simply great.”
Zenna Harakeh from Netherland says: “It was a great and wonderful
experience, which I will always remember. I learned a lot during this
week about other areas of research on adolescents by reading papers on
different topics, listening to lectures of senior researchers and
presentations of other Ph.D. students, and by working in smaller groups
thereby sharing information and knowledge and presenting this to the
whole group. It was also useful to present my own study and the derived
results so far, and to get feedback or advice on it.”
Sonia Ranieri from Italy made similar comments: “The formal lectures and the
activities organized by senior researchers, and the comparison with
other PhD students from different countries gave me the opportunity to
improve my knowledge about the research on adolescence, both at
theoretical and methodological level. We discussed many content areas
of adolescent research and different methods (i.e. qualitative and
quantitative research). Moreover, during the week I received useful
feedback and suggestions about my own research project, in order to
improve my work.”
The people:
seven seniors and eighteen students participated, representing their
own country and their own academic work and in a week’s time they
developed life-time ties amongst them. As Zeena Harakeh said: “I have met a lot of wonderful
people from all over the world and everybody was very kind,
approachable and willing to discuss regarding the topics presented at
the school. It was fruitful for me to find out in which specific areas
they worked by listening to the presentations, and it was also very
stimulating to meet people working in the same specific area as I do.”
Therese Johansson from Sweden added: “Not only did I learn a great
deal about research on adolescence, I also met many very interesting
people with whom I hope to be able to collaborate in the future.”
Jessica Garrett from USA concluded: “It was an honor to meet generous
senior researchers who are at the top in their field and other students
who are poised to join them. Being in the company of others
who are thinking about the same issues that I care about, though
perhaps from a slightly different angle, encouraged me to broaden my
perspective academically. And with so many countries and so
many cultures represented, the summer school also forced me to think
outside of my Ameri-centric box.”
The seniors:
Luc Goossens, Jacquelynne Eccles, Rainer Silbereisen, Leo Hendry,
Marion Kloep, Alexander Von Eye, Rutger Engels are all simply great
people. Sergey Molchanov from Russia described them as: “democratic and open to student’s
questions and eager to discuss scientific themes.” Peter
Titzmann from Germany said that: “The
teachers were excellent and did not only cover a wide range of topics
in adolescence research, but also had different methodological
approaches.” Vilmante Pakalniskiene from Lithuania added: “Senior researchers suggested
that we could write to them, if we have any problems with our research.
They left ‘the door open’. I think, that is very good for people from
small countries.”
Seniors presentations, the activities they organized and the feedback
they gave to the students were the cores of the success of this summer
school. Students received the best picture of the seniors and have
models to work for themselves. Hence, they made the best comments:
“I liked the lectures of
our senior researchers very much, especially those that were devoted to
the identity and its components”. Sergey Molchanov from
Russia “The most
interesting and useful thing was the activities organized by the senior
researchers in conjunction with their more formal lectures. I think
that is a very good way to learn something and to see how theoretical
bases are realized. It’s a good way to test theory. I have never had
such activities at my university." "In Lithuania it’s not popular to
make such activities. But I think, that is the best way to simplify
complicated things. And also activities make you involved to work as a
team member, to talk, to discuss, to think, and not only to be a
passive member or listener.” Vilmante Pakalniskiene from
Lithuania. “The group
discussions during the working sessions were amazing and a pure
pleasure. Exchanging ideas and opinions were just fascinating.”
Dagmar Strohmeier from Austria.
Students praised seniors’
feedback and counseling in particular.
Personally, the feedback I received after my presentation and the
individual counseling from the seniors attributed to me, made me feel
ready and confident to write up my thesis. The impressions from the
other students are similar: “All
the senior researchers have done a great job in providing us with a
unique and productive academic environment, where we could get feedback
and advice for our project” Marta Texiera Bastos from
Portugal “During the
numerous interactions with the teachers, both formal and informal, I
came to realize how much each and everyone of them made efforts to give
the students the very best information and feedback.”
Therese Johansson from Sweden “The
seniors researchers were fantastic, always open to questions. They
helped me answer some of the questions I had on the second part of my
thesis and to solve some problem on the first part. It was very
enriching.” Muriel Carrere from France “…rarely do American students
have such a forum to receive feedback from some of the world’s best
researchers in the field of adolescent research. The knowledge I gained
during this week is some of the most valuable knowledge I have ever
learned, most basically calling into question the basic values and
assumptions I make in my research.” Jordan Wright from USA
“Especially useful were
consultations with senior scientists, where students could discuss
issues of interest face to face during breaks or in the evening.”
Peter Titzmann from Germany
The students:
Uta, Silvia, Kerstin, Marta, Sergey, Therese, Vilma, Jessica, Neslihan,
Peter, Dagmar, Jordan, Muriel, Zeena, Sonia, Belen, Kristin and me,
Olga were impressed by each other and we enjoyed each other’s company
and became good friends. Sergey Molchanov from Russia expressed these
feelings: “I was
impressed that the students themselves were very warm and cared about
each other. The presentation itself seemed quite nervous for most of
us, and students provided mutual psychological support. That seemed to
be very natural and warm. People were ready to communicate with each
other and different themes were aroused. That helps to understand other
cultures better and this is also very important.”
Marta Texiera Bastos from Portugal also remarked: “Students from both sides of the
Atlantic and from very different countries could get to know not just
each others’ work, but also each others ways of living.”
Students’ presentations
were all presented in a power point and were praised for their quality
and their administration. As only one meeting room was
available, there were no parallel sessions for the student
presentations and each student presented his/her work for all. Students
welcomed this change, which proved to be very beneficial. Here are some
positive comments from the students: “I liked the form of students
presentations when after your speech you answer questions and listen to
comments. That helped me see the disadvantages of my work and think how
to avoid them in future. I’ve done already some changes in my future
dissertation work. Moreover, I can say that listening to other
presentations also helps to estimate your own work. That’s why I think
that it is better not to have parallel sessions for student’s
presentations but to have one session for all of them.”
Sergey Molchanov from Russia
“I was very impressed
with the excellent projects, which were presented by the PhD students.”
Dagmar Strohmeier from Austria
“As a PhD student I took
beneficial knowledge from senior researchers and PhD students. I
presented my own PhD. It was a wonderful opportunity for a
PhD student. I received very useful feedback and counseling from
everybody who participated in the summer school. I believe this
information will be useful for my research.” Neslihan
Guney from Turkey
“It was a great help to
my dissertation project, and I could get a lot of useful advice from
other students and senior researchers”. Szilvia Jambori
from Hangary
Students’ experiences
were exchanged during informal discussions. A favourite topic was the
different PhD programs in Europe and USA. As Kristin L. Moilanen from
USA writes: “Although
the week was primarily spent in intense working sessions, opportunities
for informal socialization were built into the busy
schedule. Over gourmet meals, students and faculty discussed
expectations for students and researchers in their home countries and
compared notes on their respective doctoral programs. Several European
students were surprised that doctoral programs take so many years to
complete in the United States.” Dagmar Strohmeier from
Austria also remarked: “The
warm and friendly atmosphere between the participants made it easy to
engage in challenging discussions during and after the working
sessions. To get in touch with a very diverse group of people –
students and seniors from both Europe and the United States – gave us
all the opportunity to learn not only from the scientific work but also
about the various countries and circumstances at the Universities all
over Europe and the States.”
The relationships that developed are a life asset for everyone,
strengthened our EARA Students’ organisation and established a
brotherly connection with SRA Students’ organisation. All students
invest in these relationships:
“It was very nice to
meet other people, students from different countries. It’s good to
choose summer school participants from different countries. So, then
you have a chance to compare your opportunities, the education system
and research with other countries. You have also a chance to make new
contacts, to discuss common projects and to collaborate with them in
future.” Vilmante Pakalniskiene from Lithuania
“All in all it was a
delightfully memorable week. I liked the people and all that we learned
and the beautiful accommodations and the connections we all made. I
believe we made some lasting relationship that we will be able to build
on. These personal, international ties among young researchers
are what will build an international community of inquiry into the
future.” Jessica Garrett from USA
“Students from both
sides of the Atlantic and from very different countries could get to
know not just each others’ work, but also each others’ ways of living.”
Marta Texiera Bastos from Portugal
“I had a lot of friends
from different countries and I realized the cultural
differences on adolescence and education. I believe
that we will continue this relationship in the future.” Neslihan
Guney from Turkey
The future careers
of the students were marked by the experiences, the benefits and the
relations from the 2nd EARA Summer School. Peter Titzmann from Germany
made the first step: “Besides
discussions and gained knowledge the atmosphere was very productive and
students as well as senior scientists got into contact very well; that
will last even after this summer school (e.g. there will be a
submission of a symposium at the coming ISSBD conference in Ghent as a
direct result of the EARA summer school in Marbach)”.
Dagmar Strohmeier from Austria remarked: “I think attending a meeting like
the EARA summer school is such a big gain for students and their future
careers.” Sonia Ranieri from Italy said: “Finally, the Summer School gave
us the possibility to create a widespread network of nice and bright
PhD students, and approachable and qualified senior researchers.”
I would like to conclude this report with a remark from Jordan Wright,
SRA students’ president: “On
a more personal note, I feel that I have made both friends and
colleagues that I am excited about working with for the rest of my
life. I am forever indebted to the Jacobs Foundation for
affording me this opportunity to broaden my horizons, think about
issues of adolescent research that are rarely discussed within the
United States, have some of the most stimulating conversations I have
ever had, and begin networking with potential collaborators Americans
too often do not have the resources to seek out.”
For all these and from the bottom of our heart thanks to the
contributors of the successful 2nd EARA Summer School:
Hakan Stattin - the visionary, Peter Noack - the organiser, Luc
Goossens - the host, Jacque Eccles – the unifier, all the seniors – the
gurus and to all unknown contributors. Mostly and especially we own
great thanks to Jacobs Foundation, the sponsors of this event, without
their financial cover this event would not be possible.
Below you find presentations
given by senior researchers and doctoral students.
You can click on them to download them to your computer.
Senior researchers:
