Johanna is a researcher developer on a mission.
Johanna Stadlbauer is Head of the Research Careers Campus at the University of Graz in Austria, offering development and support for early to mid-career researchers.
Sarah and Johanna talk about
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We try to create the space where we assume the people have
Johanna Stadlbauer:skills and knowledge and know what to do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They just need like a sparring partner
Johanna Stadlbauer:The Dutch universities, they have a slogan that's called Room for Everyone's Talent.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That would mean, little bit of the loosening of the different staff
Johanna Stadlbauer:categories and just thinking in terms of the shared mission of a university.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Although posting stuff on the internet isn't probably the way to make a big
Johanna Stadlbauer:impact on a structural level, but I think people who read it feel seen.
Sarah McLusky:Hello there.
Sarah McLusky:I'm Sarah McLusky and this is Research Adjacent.
Sarah McLusky:Each episode I talk to amazing research adjacent professionals about what
Sarah McLusky:they do and why it makes a difference.
Sarah McLusky:Keep listening to find out why we think the research adjacent space
Sarah McLusky:is where the real magic happens.
Sarah McLusky:Hello and welcome to episode 79 of the Research Adjacent podcast.
Sarah McLusky:We are back to the usual interview format for this episode, and I feel
Sarah McLusky:like if you spend any time at all hanging around on LinkedIn, you will
Sarah McLusky:probably have already come across today's guest, Johanna Stadlbauer.
Sarah McLusky:With a mission to make academia kinder and more fun, her posts certainly embody
Sarah McLusky:that blending compassionate advice with the odd horse or elk picture.
Sarah McLusky:And if you're not already connected with her, then use the link in the
Sarah McLusky:show notes to go and find her now.
Sarah McLusky:Johanna also brings this spirit to her day job, which is running
Sarah McLusky:the Research Careers Campus at the University of Graz in Austria.
Sarah McLusky:Their holistic development program for early to mid career researchers offers
Sarah McLusky:everything from microgrants and training to writing retreats and yoga sessions.
Sarah McLusky:You can get a good sense of Johanna's ethos in the lineup for their Communities
Sarah McLusky:of Curiosity Festival in April.
Sarah McLusky:And again, you'll find a link to that in the show notes as well.
Sarah McLusky:In our conversation, we talk about how she transitioned from anthropology
Sarah McLusky:research to researcher development, the ethos and activism that underpins what
Sarah McLusky:she does and why free pizza is always a good way to bring people together.
Sarah McLusky:Listen on to hear Johanna's story.
Sarah McLusky:Welcome along to the podcast, Johanna.
Sarah McLusky:It is fantastic to have you here as a guest.
Sarah McLusky:And I wonder if we could begin by just hearing a bit about
Sarah McLusky:who you are and what you do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yes.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Thank you so much, Sarah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I'm very excited because I've been following your podcast and you
Johanna Stadlbauer:following you for quite a while.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I feel very honored that you give me this 30 minutes to talk about myself today
Johanna Stadlbauer:and to have this conversation with you.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So my current job is I lead a unit for researcher development.
Johanna Stadlbauer:We work with people from PhD candidates, actually earlier than that, Masters
Johanna Stadlbauer:students who would be interested in doing a PhD are a lot of our bread and butter,
Johanna Stadlbauer:but generally we, we develop from PhD candidates to tenure track staff and
Johanna Stadlbauer:we offer them events, funding, small microgrants, networking opportunities,
Johanna Stadlbauer:more structured programmmes, retreats like the writing retreat, networking
Johanna Stadlbauer:opportunities and all normal skills workshop, which are one or two days.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And also a listening ear and quick and easy advice if they shoot us an email
Johanna Stadlbauer:or a longer term brainstorming sessions.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Anything they need to make the next step in their career.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so I lead this unit, which is called Research Careers
Johanna Stadlbauer:Campus, and was established on the first of April this year.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And before that, I was in the same team but responsible for
Johanna Stadlbauer:establishing the Postdoc Office.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Which still exists just now as part of this unit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And my colleagues or my team are will be soon eight people.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They're all researcher developers and we're also recruiting an
Johanna Stadlbauer:administrative officer or operations professional right now to help us with
Johanna Stadlbauer:the 40 plus workshops we do a year.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And sending over all that funding, all these mini grants for the people
Johanna Stadlbauer:to do their research trips and organized conferences and so on.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that's my job.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So maybe just for context, the University of Graz is in Austria and
Johanna Stadlbauer:is Austria's second largest university.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It's been around for many hundreds of years and it has 30,000 students and it
Johanna Stadlbauer:has about 4,000 staff members, no, 3,200 academic staff and 4,700 staff overall.
Sarah McLusky:That's, yeah.
Sarah McLusky:So it's a big operation.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Fantastic.
Sarah McLusky:And you said that the, this Research Careers Campus is a new unit, a
Sarah McLusky:new thing that's in existence.
Sarah McLusky:What was the rationale behind it?
Sarah McLusky:Why did the university want to set up a unit like this?
Johanna Stadlbauer:So since 2011, we had services for our PhD candidates.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That was roughly the time in Austria where the first of these services were made.
Johanna Stadlbauer:The first was made at the University of Vienna quite a few
Johanna Stadlbauer:years earlier, I think maybe 2008.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then we came, I think second and that was the time of the Salzberg
Johanna Stadlbauer:principles and of in general thinking about how to structure doctoral
Johanna Stadlbauer:education to create well-rounded researchers and also well-rounded
Johanna Stadlbauer:professionals for other sectors.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Basically, what is doctoral education for and how do we do it
Johanna Stadlbauer:so that we create excellent talent.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And after that, I'd say was the time of the postdocs.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So in Austria in 2016 the first association was formed that would
Johanna Stadlbauer:care for this later career stage.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then we came in 2022, was when we established the Postoc Office and now in
Johanna Stadlbauer:our higher education context is the time for the mid-career researchers, let's say,
Johanna Stadlbauer:as, as far as I can understand the trends.
Johanna Stadlbauer:We've, managed to get the university on board to also cater now to people
Johanna Stadlbauer:who are currently fulfilling tenure track agreements so that they can be
Johanna Stadlbauer:made permanent and also try to think of an even later career stage and
Johanna Stadlbauer:how can we engage with researchers who are already rather established
Johanna Stadlbauer:in their careers but might still want good professional development and you
Johanna Stadlbauer:asked me before we talked what else is around in terms of staff development
Johanna Stadlbauer:and our university has had leadership development as many universities
Johanna Stadlbauer:have from the staff development unit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that's attached to HR and that's been always around.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So this support for the tenure track phase and for PIs has
Johanna Stadlbauer:been always in existence only.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It is a smaller subsection of the general staff development and HR
Johanna Stadlbauer:operations, and we are now since 2025, basically the central institution
Johanna Stadlbauer:for this academic career support.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So we all have a background ourselves in research and
Johanna Stadlbauer:we are like try to be on eye level with the researchers if they wanted.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah, it makes sense.
Sarah McLusky:And you've said that it's, now that it's come together because of this
Sarah McLusky:understanding that, it's not just early career researchers that need support,
Sarah McLusky:it's more mid-level senior researchers as well who need professional development
Sarah McLusky:and certainly are, there's some situations I've been in where you, you find yourself
Sarah McLusky:thinking, yeah, it's not really the younger ones that need this training.
Sarah McLusky:Some of the older ones definitely need this training as well.
Sarah McLusky:But yeah, I think it is interesting that direction of travel.
Sarah McLusky:I think I've noticed that in the UK as well as people starting to say
Sarah McLusky:why are the PhD students in the early career researchers getting everything?
Sarah McLusky:What about other people.
Sarah McLusky:And one thing that I think, I'm particularly interested in is not
Sarah McLusky:just what about the mid-career and senior researchers, but what about
Sarah McLusky:all the people who are working to support the research as well?
Sarah McLusky:So people like you, people like researcher developers.
Sarah McLusky:What professional support are they getting?
Sarah McLusky:Is that something that's on the radar at all in Austria?
Johanna Stadlbauer:So we have no technician commitment
Johanna Stadlbauer:or something like that.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I don't think we have as of yet, a large that's not actually true
Johanna Stadlbauer:there, there have been already since the Doc services at the university.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So the PhD services started also professional networking activities,
Johanna Stadlbauer:for example, professionals in doctoral education as it was called then.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that's started, I think in Austria and is all over Europe.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And now this PRIDE network has also spawned one for postdoc
Johanna Stadlbauer:development professionals.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So the awareness and associations are certainly there.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And in terms of where can we get our own development from our own institutions.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That would always be within HR and staff development.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So they offer the normal, what's called internal development opportunities.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So workshops from project management to leadership.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So for example, my colleague Gerald and me so we are now head and deputy,
Johanna Stadlbauer:head of this unit, which we would just enrolled in this normal leadership
Johanna Stadlbauer:development at our university.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And now we had the pleasure of doing a leadership workshop with new PIs.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They're all together.
Johanna Stadlbauer:All the staff groups get developed together in, in terms of leadership and
Johanna Stadlbauer:that's been going for a long time as well.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I suppose in Austria, if you are a research professional services
Johanna Stadlbauer:person you'd get your professional development from your own HR staff
Johanna Stadlbauer:development unit, and also within european and German speaking networks.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So there is another called UNIWIND which is an association of all the graduate
Johanna Stadlbauer:centers in the German speaking countries.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Austrian, Switzerland are associated partners.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So we can also go to their yearly meet ups where all the people in our job
Johanna Stadlbauer:get together who work with researchers.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So when I came here, which was in 2020, the team has,
Johanna Stadlbauer:that has been here since 2011.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They would be part of all the relevant networks and would
Johanna Stadlbauer:regularly get professional development from these networks.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Another one is COIMBRA, which is a network of many universities in
Johanna Stadlbauer:Europe and they also have a working group for doctoral education.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And also there's university alliances, so the European University Alliances
Johanna Stadlbauer:every university in Europe is in one of these alliances, and there are, if you
Johanna Stadlbauer:have a working group in your alliance for PhDs and postdocs, you will meet
Johanna Stadlbauer:your opposites at the other universities.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that's also a form of professional development.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Oh, that also sounds really useful.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah, it's great to know that it isn't just the researchers that
Sarah McLusky:are getting all the attention.
Sarah McLusky:There's also something for the whole research community.
Sarah McLusky:'cause that's how I like to think of it is as a whole team that does the
Sarah McLusky:research rather than just the researchers.
Sarah McLusky:So we first connected via LinkedIn and I particularly love that your,
Sarah McLusky:your kind of tagline on LinkedIn is to make academia more fun and more kind.
Sarah McLusky:Tell me a bit about that and how you're bringing it into
Sarah McLusky:the work that you're doing now.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That stems a bit from my own experience as a postdoc and
Johanna Stadlbauer:from my own experience going through the different contracts I had in academia.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I graduated with a PhD in 2014 and I was a PhD candidate employed
Johanna Stadlbauer:from 2012 on, and no one ever told me much about how to do stuff.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I was always the only PhD or postdoc at my department.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I took part in all the women's empowerment programmmes and tried to
Johanna Stadlbauer:build peer networks and try to learn from modeling what other people did.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And sometimes I will get rejected when I wanted to do something collegial or
Johanna Stadlbauer:when I wanted to do something for, just for the sake of it, because people had
Johanna Stadlbauer:the milestones they had to achieve and couldn't do the collegial, solidarity
Johanna Stadlbauer:type thing that I wanted to do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And also I was really stressed out by the workload and so when I came back to
Johanna Stadlbauer:the university in this role I'm having now or in this role I had before I came
Johanna Stadlbauer:into the, this leadership role, I thought how will I survive being confronted
Johanna Stadlbauer:with all these stressed academics, of which I was one just a few years ago.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I, so I just make this work that I do and my communications and the spaces
Johanna Stadlbauer:that we create as relaxing as possible.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I was in for example, a women's network, which was meant to be like an
Johanna Stadlbauer:accountability group where you would push yourself for the next career steps.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I got so stressed out in this group because they were always telling
Johanna Stadlbauer:me, ah, you need to be more firm with your boss, or you need to do this and
Johanna Stadlbauer:this, and set your boundaries and.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That pushed me almost to the brink of burnout with all that other stuff I had.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Not that this group was had a part in that, but the messaging
Johanna Stadlbauer:you have to do didn't help me.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that's what I try not to do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And we try to create the space where we assume the people have skills
Johanna Stadlbauer:and knowledge and know what to do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They just need like a sparring partner and they need a good pizza, and they need
Johanna Stadlbauer:three nights in a hotel so that they can focus on their writing and they maybe
Johanna Stadlbauer:need some sauna and yoga and they need some fun enjoyment where they can be
Johanna Stadlbauer:together and also build good networks.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So we never do anything where you wouldn't get something tangible out of it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:But we always try create an atmosphere that's somehow nourishing
Johanna Stadlbauer:and not stressing people out.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And we offer many external coaches and trainers and we try to select them.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that they have messages that focus on the innate talent and skills and
Johanna Stadlbauer:motivation of the people and less on like it's a rat race and you will not
Johanna Stadlbauer:survive if you don't work 60 hours.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And also, so we look at the good things the the good life, the nourishing
Johanna Stadlbauer:aspect, the joy in your work, and how we can create a space where people can
Johanna Stadlbauer:tap into that basically without, we also talk about the bad things and the
Johanna Stadlbauer:challenging things but we don't say this is necessarily the way it needs to be,
Johanna Stadlbauer:and, for example we will have, people will approach me and say, I've experienced an
Johanna Stadlbauer:instance of power abuse in my last job.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Can you tell me if I could talk to someone to find out what actually happened?
Johanna Stadlbauer:So people know that they can approach us for the hard things, for the burnout type
Johanna Stadlbauer:things, for the people not doing they're duty towards you, for stress and overload.
Johanna Stadlbauer:They know that they can talk to us about it, but we don't go around
Johanna Stadlbauer:and say academia is only for the very hard people or something.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:And how is that received?
Sarah McLusky:To me it sounds amazing and I think some people listening might already
Sarah McLusky:know that I'm a yoga teacher.
Sarah McLusky:I'd be like, yes, sign me up for all of this stuff.
Sarah McLusky:But how do people react coming in?
Sarah McLusky:Because that's potentially quite different to what people expect from
Sarah McLusky:a professional development programmme.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It, they can get their normal workshops on how to become
Johanna Stadlbauer:tenured and they can get 2000 euro for a conference or for a research
Johanna Stadlbauer:trip and some only want the 2000 Euro.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That's fine.
Johanna Stadlbauer:If you are in a very vibrant lab and your PI takes care of your journey
Johanna Stadlbauer:and you just need a further 2000 euro, you can get it from us and if
Johanna Stadlbauer:you need coaching with someone who really pushes you to the next step.
Johanna Stadlbauer:You can also get it from us, but if you are seeking for some feminist academic
Johanna Stadlbauer:sisterhood, you can also get it from us.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I haven't had I, I suppose the people who feel this is different, they'll
Johanna Stadlbauer:just take the money and the workshops.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And they will still come to the pizza because pizza is networking, yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And everyone likes a good free pizza.
Sarah McLusky:Absolutely.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Even people who are here a very short amount of
Johanna Stadlbauer:time will find their way to us and will get the message very quickly.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That they can talk about these things or that they, can meet people or that they
Johanna Stadlbauer:can do startup groups to do together.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So we have this writing group that's open every Friday and people come
Johanna Stadlbauer:up with all sorts of other groups.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And we also support this peer grouping a lot.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So there's like mothers in science.
Johanna Stadlbauer:We try to give them, for example, money for speakers, or we try to give them the
Johanna Stadlbauer:space to meet or we pay for a buffet.
Johanna Stadlbauer:There's Open Science Graz.
Johanna Stadlbauer:There's many other self-built organizations where we just
Johanna Stadlbauer:try to support a little bit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So people who are into that and get the message that they can get it here.
Sarah McLusky:It's good that there's there's options for everybody depending
Sarah McLusky:on their preferences, which sounds really, yeah, really important.
Sarah McLusky:'Cause that's one of the most important things about
Sarah McLusky:professional development, isn't it?
Sarah McLusky:Is that everybody finds their path and they get the support
Sarah McLusky:that they need because it isn't a one size fits all kind of thing.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Excellent.
Sarah McLusky:You've said there, you've hinted at the fact that you
Sarah McLusky:were a researcher in the past.
Sarah McLusky:Tell us a bit about your journey what you did and how you've
Sarah McLusky:ended up where you are now.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yes.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I've already said, so I'm an anthropologist, a cultural anthropologist,
Johanna Stadlbauer:which means you do qualitative research and you talk to people about their lives
Johanna Stadlbauer:and you're interested in the everyday, and you're also interested in the
Johanna Stadlbauer:things like capitalism and larger scale societal power structures, let's say.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I think that prepares one very well for everything.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And my PhD research was actually on expatriates.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So people who work in international companies who get sent around and do
Johanna Stadlbauer:these 1, 2, 3 year contracts abroad and bring their family with them.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So in that sense I know already from empirically research how
Johanna Stadlbauer:it is to move every three years.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And it was also I had a gender studies component in there that
Johanna Stadlbauer:also relates to what I do right now because academia and inequalities
Johanna Stadlbauer:are very much should be thought together if you think about careers.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So you have to think about who gets to, do which things and who, which
Johanna Stadlbauer:people maybe are, act actively hindered by the way the system is right now.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I'd say that PhD and the research topics I did prepared me a little
Johanna Stadlbauer:bit for this and what led me to this professional path was all these
Johanna Stadlbauer:peer grouping activities I did, I think and all the trainings I took
Johanna Stadlbauer:that the university offered already to researchers because before the
Johanna Stadlbauer:professional research development units were built, we've had women's
Johanna Stadlbauer:empowerment units for about 30 years.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And they.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Did everything from leadership development to, trying to fix the
Johanna Stadlbauer:leaky pipeline by giving you mentorship opportunities and all of that.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I took every opportunity that they offered and I also modeled myself a
Johanna Stadlbauer:little bit after the person who was the main figure in our University of
Johanna Stadlbauer:Graz equality office because she had this one-on-one interest in you and
Johanna Stadlbauer:she would just also open her networks to you and she'd also take no shit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So she would be like, if you, don't show up to one of the
Johanna Stadlbauer:workshops you're on my blue list.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so that's good.
Johanna Stadlbauer:If you know who you are engaging with, you are really taking the opportunities
Johanna Stadlbauer:they give you also seriously, because you know who will think about you
Johanna Stadlbauer:not showing up to that workshop.
Sarah McLusky:Yes.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so through a mentoring programmme there and through
Johanna Stadlbauer:the interventions of this woman, I was also able to make the step out
Johanna Stadlbauer:of academia when I quit my postdoc job that I got after my PhD job.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And set myself on the path to creating more educational programmmes from
Johanna Stadlbauer:research, so after I decided not to continue with my postdoc I switched
Johanna Stadlbauer:to work with NGOs where we would do research on violence prevention and
Johanna Stadlbauer:then make training programmmes for professionals from this research.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then I worked in the equality offices as well at two different universities.
Johanna Stadlbauer:One in Germany and one in Austria.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And in Austria I was responsible for starting a project towards
Johanna Stadlbauer:a non-binary university.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So how all areas of the university could recognize that there are people
Johanna Stadlbauer:who are neither men or women, and, how that would work in IT, how that
Johanna Stadlbauer:would work in teaching and so on.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that was a very short project.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And the other one was a longer project about creating a portal against
Johanna Stadlbauer:sexualized harassment on campus.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that also necessitated going through the whole institution from director to
Johanna Stadlbauer:IT service to the deans to individual researchers and see how they position
Johanna Stadlbauer:themselves against sexualized harassment and then build an informational portal
Johanna Stadlbauer:that people could get information for if they are affected themselves, if they want
Johanna Stadlbauer:to be an ally to someone who is affected, if they want to create environments
Johanna Stadlbauer:that are a culture of care against this.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I did some organizational development for a few years, and
Johanna Stadlbauer:then I got a maternity leave cover in 2020 in the Doc service here.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So in the unit that served then doctoral researchers and then was tasked by
Johanna Stadlbauer:the man who is now the president of the Austrian Science Fund, who was
Johanna Stadlbauer:then the vice director for research with building up postdoc services.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then after I had done that successfully we widened our remit,
Johanna Stadlbauer:and I was promoted to be the leader of this unit we have built now.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah it really makes sense.
Sarah McLusky:Everything from the research that you did.
Sarah McLusky:I know that sometimes when we look at our careers, you go, oh, it went all over the
Sarah McLusky:place, but to me it really makes sense.
Sarah McLusky:You clearly had this really deep interest in helping people to progress,
Sarah McLusky:whether that's, going right back to the impact that moving around, with
Sarah McLusky:jobs has on people up to the impact that gender has on how people show up
Sarah McLusky:in the workplace and how the workplace accepts and supports those people.
Sarah McLusky:So it makes sense that you've ended up doing career related type stuff now.
Sarah McLusky:Does it feel like it makes sense to you or is that just looking back it makes sense?
Johanna Stadlbauer:I know my job that I have right now is, the
Johanna Stadlbauer:mix of everything I did before.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So in that sense, it makes sense.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So there's really nothing I did that doesn't fit into this job.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I basically created this job myself.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So it's not a surprise that it encompasses everything that I like to do.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I wouldn't say I have an innate love of helping people.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I would maybe more say I have an innate love of talking and writing
Johanna Stadlbauer:and creating knowledge and imparting it, and also engaging with people and
Johanna Stadlbauer:doing stuff collaboratively and getting to, set my own agenda a little bit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:But obviously my job is to help people very much.
Sarah McLusky:No that's, that's really, that's really fascinating because,
Sarah McLusky:because yeah so it's almost like you, you approach all this career related stuff,
Sarah McLusky:then maybe from a slight remove then.
Sarah McLusky:You're more taking a kind of cooler, more theoretical approach to it than
Sarah McLusky:necessarily just in there to help people.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:That's fascinating.
Sarah McLusky:Love it.
Sarah McLusky:I also love, I often say to people that doing a maternity cover is a really
Sarah McLusky:good way to get a foot in the door.
Sarah McLusky:And I think, yeah you've proved it, but to be in a position where you've essentially
Sarah McLusky:created your own job is fantastic.
Sarah McLusky:I've on occasion, been in that position myself and it can be
Sarah McLusky:a very satisfying place to be.
Sarah McLusky:Although it isn't always sunshine and roses is it, isn't always exactly how you
Sarah McLusky:expect even when you design your own job.
Johanna Stadlbauer:No.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So the maternity cover was actually, you asked the, when you when we
Johanna Stadlbauer:talked about beforehand, what we would talk about, there is also a bullet
Johanna Stadlbauer:point called challenges you faced.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yes.
Johanna Stadlbauer:One of my bullet points for that is maternity covers.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Because I was always bit stressed out when I had a temporary role and
Johanna Stadlbauer:especially a maternity cover in Austria is you don't actually know how long
Johanna Stadlbauer:the contract will be until the person has birthed their child and then they
Johanna Stadlbauer:get to determine how long they are out.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that sort of, so you have a few times that your contract duration is
Johanna Stadlbauer:being renegotiated depending on the needs of the person who is on leave
Johanna Stadlbauer:. I just was, I always was really proactive in what I want out of
Johanna Stadlbauer:this maternity cover and what I would like for myself afterwards.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I know when they employed me in 2020, someone told me, oh,
Johanna Stadlbauer:this will not lead to anything.
Johanna Stadlbauer:But thankfully we were able to make it lead to something and in no
Johanna Stadlbauer:small part from my advocacy and in showing the hard work that I did.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I think that's also the key there.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And in fact my boss at that time told me she was a little bit overwhelmed
Johanna Stadlbauer:by me advocating for myself so often because I came regularly and said,
Johanna Stadlbauer:so what do you think needs to change?
Johanna Stadlbauer:That we get another position in here?
Johanna Stadlbauer:And yes, you have to strike a balance in that you don't piss
Johanna Stadlbauer:off your superiors by being too proactive, but also show them there
Johanna Stadlbauer:is actually something I could do here.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And, there is a need for that in that institution.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Oh, interesting that you might be perceived sometimes
Sarah McLusky:as being too proactive.
Sarah McLusky:That's not something that people often complain about.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Says more about me, I think because at that time I
Johanna Stadlbauer:was already 35 or 36, and I thought.
Johanna Stadlbauer:What I actually want is a permanent role.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I would like this to be here.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so I was also more communicating and see these other conditions
Johanna Stadlbauer:in which I would like to work.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And can you somehow tell me what to do?
Johanna Stadlbauer:That we can meet this conditions together?
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I was 35.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It was being more, on my own terms.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I knew that I could do things and that people would need these
Johanna Stadlbauer:things so I was selling myself.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Oh it's clearly worked well where you are now.
Sarah McLusky:And one of the other things I encouraged you to think about before
Sarah McLusky:we came on the conversation as well, is what you're most proud of.
Sarah McLusky:What did you come up with there?
Johanna Stadlbauer:That was lovely to think about.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And actually I had something from my time in academia because I quit this
Johanna Stadlbauer:postdoc was a six year postdoc role, and I quit it after two years, but I
Johanna Stadlbauer:quit it in 2016 and in 2015 I was a keynote speaker at the conference with
Johanna Stadlbauer:500 people and it was the Berlin Methods Meeting, which is a very, in the people
Johanna Stadlbauer:who do qualitative research, it's a very prestigious very nice conference.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And I really enjoyed being that keynote speaker there.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And on a qualitative approach that is very niche and.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I thought that's nice that I can go out on a high and this research I did on this
Johanna Stadlbauer:very niche approach is still being quoted and I still get some people who approach
Johanna Stadlbauer:me and want me to do workshops in that.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so I think the little I did as a researcher has actually made a big impact.
Johanna Stadlbauer:At least for the people who are interested in this specific topic.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So I'm proud of that and I'm proud of this portal against sexualized
Johanna Stadlbauer:harassment that I created in 2020 because that's also still around.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that's something I always wanted when I was a researcher, that I
Johanna Stadlbauer:could see an immediate impact and an immediate use case for what I did.
Johanna Stadlbauer:If you work against sexualized harassment, you never have to ask
Johanna Stadlbauer:yourself, why are you doing it?
Sarah McLusky:No, absolutely.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So the societal impact is immediately apparent and that's
Johanna Stadlbauer:also cool that they still have that.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:On a related note, I'm also proud that everyone I ever worked with would
Johanna Stadlbauer:still be available as a networking contact and has yeah, got gotten a good
Johanna Stadlbauer:impression of me and that I left some things that are still there, basically.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:But you've left a positive impact on the world it sounds.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yeah, people still contact me sometimes
Johanna Stadlbauer:and I can also contact them.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that's nice.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that's also useful for my work right now because people who are researchers who
Johanna Stadlbauer:are now department chairs, for example, I can invite them as experts for our
Johanna Stadlbauer:postdocs or for our tenure track staff.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that's very useful.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And what I'm also proud of is the, this LinkedIn sideline I have, which
Johanna Stadlbauer:is also how you found me probably.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Why, what was it about LinkedIn that made you want to just go for it and start
Sarah McLusky:building a network there and posting?
Johanna Stadlbauer:We got an evaluation as a unit from external
Johanna Stadlbauer:evaluators, and they said now's the time you should grow on social media.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that really social media is where you could also service
Johanna Stadlbauer:your target group, so to say.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And so I took that and tried to do it strategically and read a short
Johanna Stadlbauer:thing from an ad agency or from a marketing agency on how to do LinkedIn.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then I just did it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then I thought since I have, I don't have a Facebook
Johanna Stadlbauer:or an Instagram or anything.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that was basically my first foray into how to, put the
Johanna Stadlbauer:picture of yourself online.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I think I just enjoy the attention as well because of no other social media.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And then it, I could see, since I did it with a goal, I could see that this
Johanna Stadlbauer:goal is being fulfilled so that, our researchers actually take notice of it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Researchers we maybe want to recruit also take notice of it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:My colleagues take notice of it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And the people in the university who we engage with regularly
Johanna Stadlbauer:started taking me more seriously.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It had many positive benefits and that's why I kept at it.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Oh definitely.
Sarah McLusky:For anybody listening who isn't already connected with you on
Sarah McLusky:LinkedIn, I can definitely recommend going and finding Johanna there.
Sarah McLusky:We'll put the link to your profile in the show notes.
Sarah McLusky:People can come and connect with you there.
Sarah McLusky:You post really, like with this whole fun idea.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:You post some stuff that's perhaps a little bit out of the ordinary for
Sarah McLusky:LinkedIn, so definitely worth a visit.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yeah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And there's also a way to maybe shape the research culture a
Johanna Stadlbauer:little bit through conversations.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Although posting stuff on the internet isn't probably the way to make a big
Johanna Stadlbauer:impact on a structural level, but I think people who read it feel seen.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And they get a different message than the ones I got when I was a postdoc,
Johanna Stadlbauer:and that must be worth something.
Sarah McLusky:So yeah, I think well, change starts with people, doesn't it?
Sarah McLusky:It starts with people deciding that they want things to be different,
Sarah McLusky:and sometimes you have to start having those conversations first,
Sarah McLusky:or planting the seeds, planting the ideas before change actually happens.
Sarah McLusky:So I think it's useful.
Sarah McLusky:I think it's changing things maybe just a little bit, but
Sarah McLusky:it's definitely changing things.
Sarah McLusky:So speaking of changing things, I do like to ask my guests, if you had
Sarah McLusky:a magic wand, what would you change about the world that you work in?
Johanna Stadlbauer:Also a very difficult question.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah.
Sarah McLusky:That's why I love it.
Johanna Stadlbauer:I put down, make it more collaborative and less hierarchical.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So make academia maybe more like in the spirit of the Dutch universities,
Johanna Stadlbauer:they have a slogan that's called Room for Everyone's Talent.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That would mean, little bit of the loosening of the different staff
Johanna Stadlbauer:categories and just thinking in terms of the shared mission of a
Johanna Stadlbauer:university and how everyone can contribute to the shared mission.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that means also everyone can take the organizational development
Johanna Stadlbauer:into their own hands so everyone gets rewarded and acknowledged for the
Johanna Stadlbauer:things they do for their institution.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that would mean professors take on the mentoring and don't see it as a
Johanna Stadlbauer:burden in the fulfillment of all the other things that need to be achieved.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That means research support gets together with established academics
Johanna Stadlbauer:and co-create the institutions.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That means technicians are recognized, that means PhD candidates are
Johanna Stadlbauer:recognized and they all get into how to create these structures.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Basically though universities are democratic institutions and they
Johanna Stadlbauer:already have the different committees in which you do that, just to see
Johanna Stadlbauer:that being more rewarded and just to see that spirit maybe more.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And that people don't feel that they need to look down on someone and put someone
Johanna Stadlbauer:down just to maintain their own position.
Johanna Stadlbauer:It's very naive, but I think you sort of learn to move through these hierarchies
Johanna Stadlbauer:by insisting on these spaces which are exclusive and that thereby you
Johanna Stadlbauer:are in the inner circle and you are creating an outer circle and you're
Johanna Stadlbauer:trained to do it through many instances.
Sarah McLusky:Yeah, I think, as you say, it's, you say maybe naive, but it is a
Sarah McLusky:magic wand, so you're allowed to dream.
Sarah McLusky:But yeah, I think it is really interesting that we're trying to, it is almost baked
Sarah McLusky:into the whole idea of a university, that it is to some extent exclusive.
Sarah McLusky:It's like you have to be really clever or really special or whatever
Sarah McLusky:to go to university and it's still seen as that within society.
Sarah McLusky:But then that just as you say, reinforces some of these barriers and hierarchies,
Sarah McLusky:which are yeah, definitely standing in the way of making progress in some of the
Sarah McLusky:ways that I think we need to, but yes.
Sarah McLusky:So that sounds like an excellent use of the research adjacent magic wand.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Oh, thank you.
Sarah McLusky:Just thinking about wrapping up our conversation.
Sarah McLusky:So yeah, so the best place to find you online then is LinkedIn.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Yes, LinkedIn.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And we also regularly do interview series.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Sometimes it's interviews with postdocs about their journeys
Johanna Stadlbauer:after the stint with us.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And sometimes it's interviewing people from the University of Graz
Johanna Stadlbauer:who have also research experience and now work with researchers.
Johanna Stadlbauer:So that would be the library, open access professionals, the gender equality
Johanna Stadlbauer:professionals, the research managers, research development professionals.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And these interviews are always archived on our website, and most of them are
Johanna Stadlbauer:in our blog, which is the RCC blog.
Johanna Stadlbauer:And you could post a link to that.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That has 124 or 130 entries already.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Small snippets, that would be an archive of everything
Johanna Stadlbauer:I've ever posted on LinkedIn.
Sarah McLusky:Fantastic.
Sarah McLusky:Although that sounds like really useful resource 'cause that sounds essentially
Sarah McLusky:quite like Research Adjacent but just within University of Graz yeah.
Sarah McLusky:Fantastic.
Sarah McLusky:We'll get a link for that and put it in the show notes as well.
Sarah McLusky:And yeah, so thank you so much for coming along and sharing your story and sharing a
Sarah McLusky:bit about what things are like in Austria.
Sarah McLusky:It's fascinating.
Johanna Stadlbauer:Thank you Sarah.
Johanna Stadlbauer:That's was so great to get given the space.
Sarah McLusky:Thanks for listening to Research Adjacent.
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Sarah McLusky:Research Adjacent is presented and produced by Sarah McLusky,
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Sarah McLusky:And you, yes you, get a big gold star for listening right to the end.
Sarah McLusky:See you next time.