Hello everybody!
My name is Anastasiia Petrova, I’m a research fellow at the PARTICIPATE project. I’m based at the University of Turku in Finland. I’d like to tell you about my academic secondment that started in April 2025 and is still going on at the University of Stavanger in Norway.
The process of getting ready for this secondment was quite challenging: many documents had to be filled out, things had to be booked and resolved. I especially appreciate a great support that my supervisor Prof. Christina Salmivalli provided to me regarding accommodation in Norway.
This hard work has led to an exciting experience that I’m able to have now staying at the University of Stavanger, so I have no regrets. As a result of this painstaking work done by several people, I started my trip from Helsinki to Stavanger through Copenhagen on April 3rd.
My supervisor for this secondment is Prof. Simona Carla Silvia Caravita. She is affiliated with the Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education. This Centre aims to advance research on learning environments and socio-emotional challenges in youth while also supporting educational institutions in fostering healthy learning settings. This idea resonates with me deeply, so being part of this Centre, even for three months, gives me a huge boost of motivation and inspiration. Besides, I have a very comfortable workstation in a room with other PhD students, so it also helps me with my research.
Moreover, Simona Caravita is very engaged and tries to make my stay as comfortable and valuable as possible: I feel great support from her. We had several meetings together discussing my PhD project, and Simona gave me meaningful comments based on which I was able to spot some details in my work that needed my careful attention.
Simona introduced me to her colleagues in the Centre and booked one of the Brown Bag sessions at the Centre for my presentation. This event aims to gather useful feedback from other researchers, so I was very grateful to be able to share my recent findings. I also gathered great comments and suggestions regarding the way results can be presented.
Furthermore, I attended the workshop where Neil Humphrey and Margarita Panayioutou talked about the empirical assessment of theories of change for school-based interventions. It was very engaging and meaningful for me. I especially liked the way the workshop was organised (so we as participants could participate actively) and the real-life cases that illustrated the importance of the assessment process when it comes to interventions. For instance, we discussed the assessment of the intervention that aimed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children in the UK.
I don’t feel lonely while I’m on my academic secondment at the University of Stavanger. Besides Simona, there are two (three in total, one is taking her secondment in Ireland) research fellows from the PARTICIPATE project here, at the University of Stavanger, Ebru Ozbek and Shan Hu. They take great care of me, showing me nice places in Stavanger and introducing me to other PhD researchers. Such secondments are great examples of the power social ties can have. My professional and personal network is getting wider and more diverse while I am at the University of Stavanger, and it means a lot to me as an early-career researcher. It gives not only emotional support from others who are as passionate about their research as I am but also an opportunity to collect different perspectives on my study.
Last but not least, I adore Stavanger and Norwegian nature! The city is very tidy and beautiful: there is a great combination of light-blue sky on the top, greet trees in the middle and blue water on the bottom.
I still have one month until the end of my secondment, and I planned great events for this time. I plan to finish my first paper, attend WABF, enjoy nature and meet many passionate and nice people.
