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What preoccupies you right now?
Right now, I am focused on getting properly started as the section leader for research and communication in the faculty administration. I began my new role this week and am currently working on recruiting new research advisors to the section and planning for the reception of a new research dean after Easter. Changes in the conditions for external funding are giving us a lot to consider now, and we must work together to meet new challenges. Fortunately, we have a great team of talented research advisors at both the faculty and our departments and centers, with whom it is enjoyable to collaborate to find solutions. I just returned from the national academic conference NARMA and will soon attend a similar conference for European research advisors (EARMA). These meeting places always provide a lot of inspiration and ideas for the further development of research support.
If you had to explain to an eight-year-old what you do at work in three short sentences, what would you say?
At the university, there are many people who research how humans behave, and how they organize themselves as groups, societies, and countries. I help these researchers to get money for their projects. It can help those who decide to make good choices, and lead to all of us becoming a bit wiser.
What motivates you in your job?
Working together with good colleagues, who make each other better, and being able to contribute to a good interplay between researchers and administration. I find it fun to contribute to simplifying and improving, whether it’s procedures and routines or complex academic texts. It’s very motivating to work in such a knowledgeable organization and with social science researchers who are leading at the international front.
If you were to become something completely different, what could it be?
No one plans for a research administrative career, and I was probably thinking more in terms of diplomacy or international humanitarian work when I studied political science and languages. But if I were to change fields today, it would have to be to run a small B&B in the very south of Sicily, where I lived as a student.
What do you do when you completely switch off?
I enjoy running and hiking in the woods and mountains, and I'm happy to spend a night in a hammock in ?stmarka. Apart from that, I love to cook, share good food experiences, and watch indie films!