Tutoring at the UPWr Doctoral School – It works!

• Sepideh Fallahi believes she owes her positive transformation to tutoring
• Joanna Bubak admits that tutoring has taught her how to relax and be less hard on herself
• Hassanali Mollashahi says that through tutoring he learned about his strengths and weaknesses and how to use them

Tutoring is a modern academic support programme that has been available at the UPWr Doctoral School for a year now. It’s based on an individual relationship between the tutor and the PhD student taking part in the programme. Participants are given the opportunity to take part in a journey, the direction and purpose of which is set individually. This may be solving a specific scientific issue, personal development, getting to know oneself better, or learning more about a particular area of knowledge.

Whatever the topic, tutoring offers the chance to establish an individual student-mentor relationship, which is considered by many to be the most effective form of learning. Tutoring is based on a flexible plan designed around the needs of the doctoral student, which includes both academic and personal development. This means that not only the topics but also the working methods are tailored to the individual tutee’s abilities and needs.

Trust and mutual communication are important elements of this programme. The tutor not only helps the student gain more knowledge and skills during the PhD, but also supports the student to become more self-aware.

"I have become more confident in following my dreams and facing new challenges."

– As an international student, I struggled with various challenges during the first year of my PhD, both in my personal life and in my new role as a PhD student. I owe my transformation to tutoring. The more I got involved in the programme, the more I enjoyed being part of it. With the help of my tutor, Professor Jan Kazak, I became more confident in following my dreams and facing new challenges. The tutoring programme helped me organise my mind, prioritise my goals, and recognize my abilities more – says Iranian PhD student Sepideh Fallahi, who is pursuing her PhD in Animal Science at the UPWr Doctoral School.

Her research work is related to poultry welfare and production. – I am investigating the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) derived from a hemp plant on different aspects of poultry welfare. I would like to discover new features of this additive  on poultry health and improve the quality of eggs and meat – says the PhD student.

Cannabidiol showed antioxidative and inflammatory reduction effects in some studies. Most of the research has been conducted on animals like dogs and cats so far. In the industry, poultry welfare is a major concern. The broilers with fast growth rates are prone to some health disorders, also the laying hens that are kept for a long time need proper care. Using CBD for poultry could have positive effects on welfare and consequently the quality of the products.

"I realised that I needed to focus on myself first"

– I signed up for the tutoring programme because I was at a scientific crossroads. It seemed to me that I needed scientific support, structuring, but the meetings with my tutor made me realise that I needed to focus on myself first. Of course, academically this collaboration was also fruitful, but most importantly I learned to relax and let go. I don't have to get everything right straight away, mistakes are part of progress, and stopping to catch your breath is normal – says of her experience in the tutoring programme PhD student Joanna Bubak. Her mentor was Professor Małgorzata Ochota, and Joanna compares the meetings with her to catching up with a good friend. – I had a great sense of support – she says.

As part of her PhD, Joanna Bubak is working on the topic of breast cancer in female dogs. She is also in the PROCHUM programme, which aims to combine human and veterinary medicine. This collaboration is intended to contribute to finding various solutions on animal models that can benefit human medicine. Both in diagnosis and treatment. – I hope that, based on the markers I am looking for during histopathology, my research will contribute to a more efficient and accurate diagnosis of cancer. I’m looking for systems and methods of identifying cancers that can facilitate the work of practising physicians and researchers who want to delve deeper into the subject. There are certain proteins that are responsible for the development of cancer. If we identify them, we can use them as a basis for selecting appropriate chemotherapeutics or targeted therapies. However, it’s not that simple, because in one patient these proteins will express themselve, and in another patient they won't. In other words, a tumour can change its appearance under the microscope, and I’m trying to unmask it – explains Joanna.

“I realised the programme could act as a mirror for my personal development”

– The tutoring programme is great for international PhD students– says Hassanali Mollashahi. – We have access to a tutor who supports us in our academic career and teaches us to find our way in the new educational system – adds the PhD student, emphasising that the tutoring programme under the guidance of Professor Witold Rohm helped to improve his academic skills, taught him how to deal in case of a rejection from a scientific journal, and showed him how to keep going when he found his reviewers comments frustrating and unintelligible.

– Professor Rohm has helped me identify both my weaknesses, which I am working on, and my strengths, which I am trying to use in my studies and personal life. I have also gained more opportunities to develop my future academic career, as he introduced me to the projects and funding of the HORIZONT 2020 programme. In my opinion, the tutoring programme was an opportunity to learn from someone who has more academic experience which can help me improve and push me in the right direction for my future goals, and could act as a mirror for my personal development as well – says the PhD student.

Hassanali's PhD focuses on improving the ecosystem services provided by urban greenery. His work focuses on low-lying greenery known as urban grasslands. His research ranges from lawns, roadside greenery to wastelands, which form an important part of a city's green infrastructure as habitats and migration routes for different plant and animal species.

The PhD student's work covers an interdisciplinary research area in which he collaborates with scientists from other scientific disciplines. It deals with topics such as 'urban connectivity', i.e. the connectivity between communities in the urban environment, which is important for the maintenance of urban biodiversity, as well as genetic analyses of plants associated with 'urban grasslands', carried out using molecular methods. – At the same time, my project includes field research analysing the flora and soils of urban grasslands, and exploring the possibility of enriching 'urban grasslands' with species useful for insects. We are also trying to understand the microbial profile of urban soils, which, by providing a large amount of data, will help urban planners and public health officials. My research will help create ecosystems that are more adapted to current climate change, making cities a better place to live – says Hassanali Mollashahi.

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