DION board Candidates 2018/2019

Candidates appear in the order we received your application

last updated: 19/04/2018

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 2018/2019:

Thea Marie Valler

PhD candidate,
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (KULT)

Short Bio

My academic background is in the social sciences and humanities. I hold two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Bergen, one in Sociology and one in Development Studies. I hold a master’s degree in Culture, Environment and Sustainability from the University of Oslo. I recently joined the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at NTNU as a PhD candidate in a four-year position, where I research sustainable transport in urban China.

For DION, my relevant experience includes the following. I have served as both President and Vice-President of the Bergen Student Society. I was a student representative for the board at the Centre for Development and the Environment (University of Oslo). In addition, I have been a group leader for the Red Cross’ Norwegian language practice for immigrants.

Motivation

The interests of temporary employees are politically important to me. As a large group of the employees at NTNU, PhDs interest is vital to a good work environment. Providing information and assistance to international PhDs appears especially pressing. Although this may be small contribution, I am convinced that social activities at platforms can serve as a buffer for a group that we know is overrepresented in a range of psychological issues. As the number of activities and outreach of DION is growing, it appears very much inspiring to continue this work. With my experience within a variety of student bodies and organizations, I wish to continue the effort to make DION a natural part of the lives of PhD candidates in Trondheim.

Nina Helen Aas Røkkum

PhD Candidate
Department of social work, NTNU

Short bio

I’m an ambitious and socially engaged sociologist from Hallingdal, and started studying at NTNU in 2010. I hold a master’s degree in sociology, as well as specializations in psychology, and physical education and sports. In addition, I have studied abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. I also have experience within a variety of student organizations, including board member of the study association in sociology and sports director in NTNUI floorball.

I started working as a PhD candidate at the Department of social work in February 2017, where I research family complexity and innovation with families in contact with child protective services. Until August, I am the representative for temporary staff in the NTNU board. Through the NTNU board I have gained insight into how decisions are made at higher levels, which will come in handy if I get elected as president of DION.

As a member of the NTNU board, I have had the pleasure of cooperating with DION and appreciate the work they do to safeguard the interests and rights of temporary staff. I have also cooperated with New University Norway, which have hosted a series of Protest Pubs dealing with different matters on the future of the university. In addition, I serve as a deputy board member in the institute board at the Department of social work. I also work at Sit, where I lead classes at Dragvoll and Gløshaugen for students and staff at NTNU. Thus, I know the organization from different levels and angles, and believe this to be a resource for the future work of DION.

Motivation

I am concerned with the working conditions of temporary staff at NTNU and how they experience their working day. I wish to become the next president of DION because I want to influence NTNU to better the rights and working conditions for PhD candidates, post doctors and other temporary staff. I believe that both the working day and the future of temporary staff should be more predictable and that NTNU actively should improve this predictability.

As is known, temporary staff experiences a lot of stress in their working day. During the course of the year, I have learnt about the important work that DION does with hosting informative and social events. It’s important to take a break from the stress and unpredictability of working in a temporary position, and I believe it’s important to find a good balance between work and social life. Here DION makes an excellent effort to make the daily life of temporary staff less stressful, and I wish to continue this work.

For DION Board 2018/2019:

Steven Hardey

PhD Candidate/Research Fellow
Department of Information Security and Communication Technology
Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Short Bio

My name is Steven Hardey, I’m a PhD student in Gjøvik in IIK, I have recently started my studies at NTNU. I am an Australian with an education in primarily in law (both a LLB (Hons) and a LLM), although I also have a Master of Computer Science as well. I practiced law in Australia (in commercial and criminal law) and also tutored law at an Australian university prior to moving to Norway. My interests include ice hockey, Japanese culture, and animal welfare. I am a dog person at heart, but being an Aussie, can appreciate nature and its beauty (when not trying to kill you!).

Motivational Statement

When I came to Norway, especially Gjøvik, I felt very isolated and only new a handful of people from the office in which I worked. DION through its events and in turn, guidance, gave me a medium in which I could engage others in a more relaxed and informal setting and develop tighter bonds with those I already knew, as well as new bonds with those who I had yet to become acquainted. I believe it is important that DION be seen to be active and accessible to all parts of the NTNU and would like to increase its diversity and representation. I don’t have any obvious election promises, as the truth is I’m not sure what the entire capabilities of DION are, nor do I know the extent to which its “brand” is recognised within the PhD and Post-Doc cohort. What I can promise is to stick to the purpose of the profession I joined and the goals of DION and that is to help and advise my colleagues (if you’re reading this you are included) to the fullest extent possible. My hope is that in doing this I will also improve relationships between members of all departments, campuses and walks of life. I would like to encourage everyone to vote and to enjoy the festivities associated with the AGM.

Lisa Tietze

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 tha she is. Besides studying, her main focus is on the sport quidditch. Quidditch has become a substantial part of her life in the past 4 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.

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 join 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 become part of the team that is able to offer help in those situations and hopefully contribute to solving the problem.

Besmir Tola

PhD Student
Department of Information Security and Communication Technology
Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Short Bio

My name is Besmir Tola. I am currently pursuing the PhD degree at the IIK-Department of Information Security and Communication Technology, Trondheim. Originally from Albania, I hold a Bachelor and Master degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from University of Siena, Italy. My current research interests include any kind of research problems regarding Cloud Computing Technologies and Communication Networks.

Relevant to DION’s board mission, I believe my experience gained through several involvements in student representative bodies, starting from high school to under and post graduate studies, could be very useful. I have hold a VP position in the student council during high school, have been for two years a student representative in the Faculty board of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Siena and in conjunction to that a student mentor for three years in a row. In addition to that, I have been a student volunteer in helping and assisting in their everyday life disable students under the supervision of the Disable Student Office of the University of Siena.

Motivation

It is well known that temporary employees form a large part of employees at NTNU and as such they are very important and often represent a driving force for NTNU. Thus, politics applied in their regard and their interests should be very important not only to me, as part of this group, but even to policy makers in the higher levels. For such reason, I firmly believe that a strong, committing and persistent representation of their interests would come with significant benefits. I would like to have the opportunity to be part of the board so that I can make a good use of my previous experiences in representing temporary staff interests. Frankly said, I am not sure about the DION influence strength into the NTNU policy making bodies but what I can promise is that through my contribution I will try to strengthen it and safeguard temporary staff interests.

Silje Marie Smitt

PhD Candidate
Department of Energy and Process Engineering, IV.

Short bio

My name is Silje and I am a PhD candidate within thermal energy systems at the department of energy and process engineering. My current research is within heat pumping and refrigeration systems for hotel buildings. I started my PhD candidacy last autumn, after finishing a 2-year master at NTNU. Before moving to Trondheim, I have studied at the University College in Bergen (HiB) and the University of Bergen (UiB). I have therefore experienced how important it is with the right support, network and social possibilities that organizations like DION offer, for the welfare of new students and researchers.

Motivation

I would like to join DION as a board member to contribute to the important work that is being done to improve the working environment at NTNU. We are from all over the world and we are many, and I believe it is essential to have an arena where good discussions can take root – and for us, this is DION. Another important aspect of DION is the social platform, where we can come together and share experiences and bond over fun activities. It can be quite challenging (and sometimes frustrating) to get around a new institution without knowing the “tips and tricks”. As many departments (including mine) does not have a buddy-program, it is often up to each person to figure this out unless there are some helpful souls around. I enjoy helping others, and would like to become part of the team to welcome and aid PhDs and Post-Docs. I am looking forward to meeting you all at AGM.

Olena Meleshko

PhD Candidate
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Department of Natural History

I started my PhD in evolutionary biology at NTNU Museum in 2016, and before that I did my bachelor and master in Ukraine. My research is about speciation in peat mosses. I joined the DION Board last year and found it very interesting and useful! I have a big experience in organizing both scientific and social events from my student times, when I was leading the Student Scientific Society at the Faculty in the University I have studied in. This experience helped me a lot during my term in the DION Board. I was responsible for social media, and organized several events for DION members, as well as participated in other DION’s projects. I like to bring people together and to provide an opportunity to learn something new. I think, DION is making an important job for temporary scientific employees, who often need help in integration and establishment in the new environment, both in social and administrative way. I learned a lot during my term in the Board and I want to continue being a part of it, and I’ll try to do my best for DION members.

DION brings together different people, and it is very important to have some expertise in the Board. When I started, we had several members, who were in the Board before us, and their input and help were difficult to overestimate. At this stage, I am the only one from the current Board members who want to join the next board. I think that I could help the next board to dig into the ongoing projects and collaboration much faster, and to navigate in what we have experienced during our term.

Chris Carr

Ph.D Candidate

Department of Information Security and Communication Technology
Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Elena Catto

PhD Candidate
Department of Architecture and Technology

Short bio

My name is Elena and I am PhD candidate within the department of architecture and Technology. The topic of my research focuses on the analysis of double-skin facades, a type of glazing system. I started my PhD in December 2017. I come from Italy, where I finished both my bachelor and master in Building Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. After graduating in 2015, I worked as an energy consultant in Turin for two and half years. I have therefore experienced the support that, associations like DION, offers to new foreigner researchers in settling in a new work environment, as well as in a new country.

Motivation

The main reason I would like to join DION as a board member is to continue the important work that has been done to improve the working environment at NTNU, especially among new researchers. I think DION has to play an essential role in guiding both faculties and PhDs in getting started their work experience at NTNU. DION already connects people from different faculties, by organizing social events and different fun activities. DION also has to play a crucial role in creating a common “welcome guide” for all departments. I think it is important to guarantee to all new employees the same possibilities to fit in the academic and social life in the smoothest and most efficient way. I always enjoy meeting new people and helping them as much as possible; therefore, I am eager to become part of this team to give all the possible support to PhDs and Post-Docs.