Interview with doctoral researcher Petra Topková

Next in our series of mini-interviews with fellow doctoral researchers is an interview with Petra Topková, a doctoral researcher at the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Education of Charles University.

1. Why did you decide to study PhD and what is the area of your interest?

I enjoy research and have become enthusiastic about the topic of wisdom from the perspective of psychology, which is not yet addressed in our country. I then applied for a PhD with a project exploring wisdom. At the same time, I had the idea that I would like to give something back to the department where I had been studying and perhaps teach a little or participate in its functioning. Unfortunately, for various reasons, this did not happen.

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

In general, the challenge is the underfunding of PhD students; it is not possible for me to study without working at the same time, which leads to work having priority over studying. There’s no time left for my studies, which then get prolonged.

At the same time, it was a great challenge to go abroad with my two young children for an internship, which is part of my individual plan. In the end, I managed to pack up the whole family and go to Austria for 4 months to visit a wisdom research expert and it was the best part of my PhD so far. I don't regret it one bit despite all the worries and hardships associated with it.

Motivation is very low at the moment, I'm running between kids and work and have no energy left for research or dissertation writing.

3. Why did you join CAD?

I joined CAD after attending a seminar for PhD students focused on how to survive one’s PhD studies in good health :D I miss a closer connection between PhD students and I consider it being such a pity, especially in times when the vast majority of research is carried out in multidisciplinary teams. I like being proactive and wanted to be involved in building a community, getting to know colleagues from other disciplines and keeping up to date with current events.