Interview with doctoral researcher Mark Beumer

Next in our series of mini-interviews with fellow doctoral researchers is an interview with Mark Beumer, current ČAD Board member and a PhD researcher at the Institute for History of Medicine and Foreign Languages, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague

1. Why did you go for your PhD and what are you doing?

I was asked in 2008 to do a PhD at Leiden University by em. prof. dr. Manfred Horstmanshoff, Professor of Ancient Medicine. He asked me to transfer my Master's Thesis about Hygieia (ancient goddess of health and hygiene)  into a PhD thesis. 

2. What problems and challenges does doctoral study bring, what motivates you in your work?

Problems concerned with supervision and the expectations. Horstmanshoff suddenly became emeritus, which caused me to search for a new promotor. My professor of Classical Archaeology at Radboud University, Eric Moormann said yes, but this too did not work due to other functions. Then, I went to Tilburg University, where I was guided by prof. dr. Paul Post and dr. Martin Hoondert, who introduced me to the field of Ritual Studies. Unfortunately, this also did not work in the end.

3. Why did you join ČAD?

In 2021, I transferred to Charles University under my current supervisor. Since I was President of our local PhD group, PhD Organization Nijmegen, it seemed interesting to join the Czech equivalent of the Dutch national organisation for PhD candidates, PNN.