– I think some of the issues within ageing are very similar in Sweden and Scotland. The big issues around social care and climate change really require an interdisciplinary perspective. Having a large network, gives a variety of different thematic perspectives. You're likely to find somebody that's doing similar topic as yourself, so it's a good way to get peer support very quickly and easily, says Professor Judith Phillips.
With other collaborations, not just with SWEAH, but in some joint work with Canada for example, she has seen that PhD students’ careers take off because of those international connections.
– Researchers learn different ways of doing things, different innovative methodologies from an European or Nordic perspective, which can be different from or sometimes similar to the way we are looking at it. That's a real strength.
– In Sweden, for example, you've got fantastic data sets on ageing and we don't have those to the same extent. We can look at comparable data, but it's not the same, we can't drill down to the sophistication that you can. Having access to those kind of data sets or learning from people who are working on those data is really critical. We can learn what kind of data we need, how we promote our needs for data to government, to get funding and so forth, Professor Phillips continues.
Sweden can learn from UK
The students are learning what the differences are, what the disadvantages are of particular systems, and they learn whatever countries are doing. Of course, also Swedish future researchers have things to learn. UK government funding through UKRI of the Healthy Ageing Challenge has come to an end and researchers there have experience in finding ways to fund initiatives further.
– Leaders in ageing research must really get together and have discussions with our funders. That's really important. A lot of funding is needed to keep the momentum going.
Professor Phillips thinks Horizon Europe might be an area to look for funding together and with other countries as well.
– I think there's some work between Forte and Economic Social Research Council, ESRC through the More Years, Better Lives initiative.
Bring business and industry on board. Working together with older people themselves.
She advices to do some imaginative work.
– For example, through the Swedish Gerontological Society, the British Society of Gerontology and other gerontology societies. Perhaps through annual conference symposia of alumni from SWEAH, but also through the early career researchers. I think having something that's much more grounded and has funding behind it, is the way to go.
– I think one of the things that we've done quite well in the last four years with the Healthy Ageing Challenge here in the UK, is to bring business and industry on board. Working together with older people themselves.
Joint publications are one way to make sure there's visibility to that international cooperation and coordination.
– So when you ask for funding, you can refer back to these joint initiatives. It's really looking at how do we stimulate the economy through research and innovation and bringing older people to the centre of that. I think we've done that really well in the last four years through the Healthy Ageing Challenge and hopefully we'll continue through our big funding resources.
Ghosts, castle and VR
What can the future researchers from SWEAH look forward to in Stirling in September?
– We will be sharing experiences of methods; we have sessions on qualitative-quantitative and mixed methods. I think we do a lot more mixed method work than you do in Sweden. And we will be talking about the Healthy Ageing Challenge. We also have writing sessions, pecha kucha and three minutes thesis, where you have to prepare your thesis in three minutes. We also have quite a nice social program, lined up with a ghost walk and castle tour and so forth. We've got a fantastic campus with a castle on site.
There will also be a chance to look at issues surrounding work-life balance and mental health of PhD students, and also see the coproduction with older people, the use of VR.
– We've redesigned a couple of homes based on VR with our architect. There'll be an opportunity to try out some of these VR methods and navigate around a house that's designed for healthy and cognitively ageing.