Ms Pawellek, you recently completed your master’s thesis and are now starting your doctorate. How or when did you realise that a doctorate would be right for you?
Sabine Pawellek: While writing coursework during my studies, I already noticed that working together with supervisors, searching for topics, academic work in general, interested me a lot – as did the topic of obesity. We had seen the Pre-Doc Award on the website and thought that we would develop the foundation for my master’s thesis from my coursework. Building on the results on digital obesity interventions in childhood and adolescence, we then decided to expand the topic area to explore therapeutic options, which provided the basis for my doctorate. This was a natural consequence of my studies and led to me completing my master’s thesis last December.
Dr Hagen Wulff: We have been implementing the research internship module in our master’s programme “Sport Science: Rehabilitation and Prevention” for the past four years. This involves working on a topic with a supervisor or external partner over a set period of time. The module aims to have students actively participate in research projects, whether at the University or with external partners, and to gain important experience in professional and research fields that will be of relevance to them in the future. It is important for our institute to work with people who are motivated, creative and effective.
- “Essentially, the pre-doc project aims to answer questions that are necessary in order to provide services to overweight and obese children and adolescents. These services are designed to support and enhance existing therapy to demonstrate higher levels of behaviours that promote health.”
Sabine Pawellek
Ms Pawellek caught my attention because she has an eye for exciting research questions, understands how issues are connected, and is goal-oriented. We quickly realised that we also work well together – and that the topic of her coursework could also be expanded for her master’s thesis. We have also published joint articles together with our colleague Alexandra Ziegeldorf. This is a very favourable condition when considering eligibility for the Pre-Doc Award. It was very important to me to integrate Ms Pawellek directly into our team, to make her feel like one of us. So I was delighted that she was able to work as a graduate assistant after the research internship.
Pawellek: Essentially, the pre-doc project aims to answer questions that are necessary in order to provide services to overweight and obese children and adolescents. These services are designed to support and enhance existing therapy to demonstrate higher levels of behaviours that promote health. In our basic research, we will first evaluate what kinds of services are available and what kinds of services the target group actually needs. Once we know more here, we will be able to think about how to best reach children to digitally expand the existing content of their therapy, or even offer follow-up therapy.
- “One example is the video platform TikTok. If used properly as part of a therapeutic approach that focuses on movement through music and dance, TikTok can open up new methodological potentials.”
Dr Hagen Wulff
Wulff: Furthermore, we also address the professional and media competencies of therapy providers who are significantly older than their target group. This leads to different media, software and apps being used by both groups. One example is the video platform TikTok. If used properly as part of a therapeutic approach that focuses on movement through music and dance, TikTok can open up new methodological potentials: approaches to therapy can be communicated in a completely different way, and children and adolescents become more motivated because they use TikTok anyway. This topic is also becoming relevant for the education and training of therapists and also for follow-up care. As part of previous research, we have also already surveyed various therapy facilities on this to get a picture of positive and negative experiences in the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Wulff, you are currently an acting professor for health education at the University of Potsdam. How are you able to supervise Ms Pawellek’s doctorate here in Leipzig at the same time?
Pawellek: We have a set day and time each week when we see each other. That allows us to talk about everything, plus we are in contact digitally anyway. So it’s by no means a disadvantage for me and my work that Mr Wulff is not here all the time.
Wulff: I just enjoy helping young people move forward. All my colleagues on the team, but also my students, know that I am here and available for them on Thursdays. The project work is also ongoing. A big thank you therefore also goes to the dean’s office and my institute management, because I am able to continue my research work in Leipzig alongside my acting professorship.
The award is tied to a twelve-month 50% position as a graduate assistant …
Pawellek: I spend 19 hours a week here with the team and feel right at home.
Wulff: The aim, by the way, was never to employ Sabine as an assistant in the literal sense of the word, but rather for her to develop as quickly as possible in order to become a qualified member of the team.
What else does the Pre-Doc programme offer?
Pawellek: There are workshops, for example. They are currently digital. One of them is on the subject of scholarships. They are a way to meet other people and interact with fellow pre-docs from our cohort. Every two to three weeks, we meet online to talk about our experiences. It is also interesting to see that everyone is at a different stage, meaning that different experiences or even problems arise in our daily work.
We can also submit requests for workshop themes. We also get support through the Academic Lab, such as with how to write an application for external funding. That tends not to come up at all when you’re a student. Just writing the Pre-Doc Award application was in itself a good start, since it is similar to a project funding application.
- “In the last few months, I have already collaborated on one national publication and one international publication. We also submitted my master’s thesis as an article to the Bundesgesundheitsblatt a few weeks ago. We received a highly positive peer review within a very short time.”
Sabine Pawellek
Wulff: Our institute is well positioned when it comes to securing external funding. Our partners include the Federal Ministry of Health, the Saxon State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, and partners from the business community. Hopefully this will increase the chance that Ms Pawellek will be able to continue her successful research with us in the future. Right from the start, we have provided structure and attached great importance to international publications in order to create a good starting point for proposals and to reflect expertise in research fields. That is why we tried to bring forward the first publications directly in the initial phase, so that we could hit the ground running.
Pawellek: So in the last few months, I have already collaborated on one national publication and one international publication. We also submitted my master’s thesis as an article to the Bundesgesundheitsblatt a few weeks ago. We received a highly positive peer review within a very short time. We have revised the article based on the expert advice and look forward to seeing it published soon.
And it is precisely because I can participate in research here from the very beginning that I learn from real-world examples. If I have problems, I can get help and support, for example in our team meetings on research and teaching. Overall, the learning curve and the motivation curve are very steep.
Wulff: Dr Nolting has organised everything excellently, even in this digital form. I am looking forward to the upcoming events and sharing information and experiences with all programme participants.
Where will you be in a year, Ms Pawellek?
Pawellek: I hope that I will be able to apply the research methods that we are developing and I will see that my work is bearing fruit, so I will be in the middle of my doctorate.
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About the Pre-Doc Award
The call for applications for the Pre-Doc Award 2022/23 will start in April 2022. It was first awarded in 2017, when 15 tandems received funding. A jury consisting of members of the Research Commission decides which tandem applications to accept. The Pre-Doc Award 2022/23 will fund twelve to 15 tandems.
In its current form, the Pre-Doc Award is unique to Leipzig University and offers both pre-docs and postdocs accompanying skills development programmes and workshops. In the five rounds so far, a total of 82 tandems from almost all of the University’s faculties have been funded. More than half of the tandems who participated in the programme up to 2020 managed to secure funding for their doctoral project.