As a postdoctoral researcher working primarily with secondary data, I spend a lot of my time in front of a computer. Research, however, does not start and end with the analyses. It involves careful consideration of relevant variables, discussions with colleagues to consider various perspectives, and familiarising yourself with the context in which the data was collected. This is why I was excited to learn about the opportunity to conduct a transnational access visit (TAV), which allows successful applicants to spend up to three weeks analysing cohort data in a place where the data was collected. For me that meant three weeks of learning about Irish history, customs, and culture, while cross-validating findings from the Millennium Cohort Study in the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) cohort.
My current research, which I usually conduct from Edinburgh as part of the EDIFY team, focuses on the identification of risk and protective factors for eating disorders in young people. Although eating disorders are a serious illness with far-reaching consequences, only few cohort studies provide sufficient information on eating disorder experiences. For this reason, it is essential to make use of all the available information to improve our understanding of the development and progression of eating disorders. Being able to access and analyse the GUI data to replicate and extent our analyses was therefore immensely helpful in progressing our research.
During my time in Ireland, I was able to experience campus life at University College Dublin (UCD), was invited to give a talk at a research group meeting for the UCD BodyLab, and presented the outcomes of my TAV visit at the annual GUI conference. It was incredible to see how much one can achieve when given the time and resources to focus on just one project. As an additional benefit, I was able to explore Dublin and its surrounding areas whenever I wasn’t working. I ate my lunch listening to music in Grafton Street, hiked along the cliffs in Howth, enjoyed Fish n’ Chips in Dún Laoghaire, and learned about Irish history and culture through exhibitions in the National Gallery, the modern arts museum, and bus tours through the city. If it hadn’t been for my TAV visit, I wouldn’t have learned so much about the people behind the data I was working with. In fact, at the GUI conference I even met some of the parents whose children are currently part of the study, which provided unique opportunities for science communication.
I am very grateful for this opportunity to build by research independence and professional networks. Thanks to the financial support of COORDINATE and the European Commission, I was able to immerse myself in a different culture and research environment to enrich my research ideas and contextualise my research findings.
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