Hi, Susanna Pozzoli!
– chair of the EECS PhD council
We had a chat with Susanna Pozzoli, chairperson of the EECS PhD Council since January this year. Among other things, she talks about the challenges she faces in her role and the council's focus areas for 2022.
Hi Susanna! Please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do at EECS.
"Hej! Thank you for inviting me! Where do I start? I moved to Sweden to complete my Master's at KTH. I was then accepted for doctoral studies, and here I am! I work for the Division of Software and Computer Systems (SCS), and my research revolves around machine learning with graphs."
"Since I come from an engineering background and I can't help but think about everything from a practical point of view, let me take a social network as an example. Essentially, I find new ways of learning about users' functions from how they are connected."
You have worked as chairperson of the EECS PhD Council since January 2022 – please tell us about that role and the PhD Council.
"That's right! I started as chairperson in January, but I've been a member since 2019. It's a multifaceted role, but long story short, I coordinate the work of the PhD council in representing doctoral students at the school level. This is done by contributing to doctoral education, work environment, and faculty recruitment and promotion, to name but a few."
"Of course, I'm not alone in this. At the moment, we are 16 representatives, both on Campus and in Kista, spread over four doctoral programs and ten divisions, but the door is always open for new members!"
What are you planning to do within the PhD Council for 2022?
"Our to-do list is always very long! This year the PhD council is prioritising two points. First and foremost, we will organise more events because there is much need for doctoral students to socialise and network, especially in these challenging times. Keep your eyes open for the invitations to the next events!"
"Then, we want to make our feedback loop more efficient. A two-way communication channel between representatives and PhD students is essential."
Which challenges are you facing in this role?
"I think I've already mentioned a few, but I believe a challenge with a capital C is how to make the huge amount of information about doctoral education, employment, and so on easier to access for doctoral students."
"We want all doctoral students to feel comfortable that they have access to accurate, reliable, and updated information."
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