'Challenging from the start': novice doctoral co-supervisors' experiences of supervision culture and practice

There is a widespread interest in doctoral supervision, yet novice doctoral co-supervisors' experiences remain understudied. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how supervision culture and practice are experienced by novices. This thematic analysis is based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with 23 novice co-supervisors from two Swedish research-intensive universities. The study reveals three dimensions related to the challenging experience of the supervision culture, namely closedness, dependence and competition. Moreover, the analysis proves that co-supervisors' practices are embedded within the 'hidden curriculum', here defined as the unplanned and implicit support outside formal meetings and activities. Novice co-supervisors bridge the gap between main supervisors and doctoral students and make the path to the doctoral degree smoother when engaging in emotional, intellectual, practical and mediation support. This study has practical implications and suggests improvements for co-supervision that would also benefit the doctoral students

“Screwed from the start”: How women perceive opportunities and barriers for building a successful research career

After finishing the PhD, the researcher enters a stage in their early research career where more independence is expected. Within a relatively short time period, the researcher needs to gather research experience and support in the form of tangible resources as funding, and intangible resources like access to research networks, close collaborations, and mentorship to support their next career stage. How resources are allocated are therefore important determinants for the success of researchers. However, research shows that the resource allocation decisions in academia are biased in favor of men, with many of these gender biases that influence the success of research careers increasing. In this study, we asked women employed as early-career researchers (WECRs) about how they view their opportunities and potential for long-term success within academia, and how this relates to the resources that they have access to. We found that the WECRs were given few resources and support, and that they perceived that finding resources important for their career was up to themselves. The noticeable male dominance in who receives resources and positions within the university and the lack of women as role-models signals to WECRs that they are not wanted in academia. The WECRs suggest several ways to improve the possibilities for a successful research career for women on more equal terms as their male collegues: these include transparent processes for resource allocations, equal opportunity officers in all hiring processes, and mandatory gender training for all senior research and administrative staff. All the actions suggested are within the control of the university

Forest Products and their Reputation, the consumers mindset towards single-use products and their industrial sector

Klimatförändringarna och hållbarhetsfrågan kopplat till skogsnäringen har gett upphov till en del av skogsdebatten, där mål kring bioekonomi ligger i konflikt med att avsätta mer skog till förmån för biologisk mångfald. Förnybara produkter tillverkade av skoglig råvara har en roll i denna debatt, och är idag ett kontroversiellt ämne. Då olika målsättningar redan idag ligger i konflikt med varandra i ett ständigt växande samhälle uppstår problem. Vad ska skogen användas till? Ska förnybara produkter tillverkas för att bidra till en växande bioekonomi för att sträva mot en fossilfri framtid, eller ska fokus ligga på att bevara mer skog? Skogen tyngs idag av många anspråk, vilket föder frågan: hur ställer sig människor till detta? Mer specifikt, hur ställer sig människor till produkter tillverkade av förnybar råvara och hur relaterar denna syn till inställningen till skogsindustrin? Syftet med studien är att undersöka dessa attityder och ta reda på vilka samband som finns bland människors åsikter. Utöver detta ämnar studien till att undersöka om och iså fall vilka demografiska variabler som kan påverka ställningstagande i denna kontext. Dessutom undersöks vad skogens viktigaste roll anses vara. För att lösa denna uppgift har en enkät utformats. Enkäten bestod av ett antal avsnitt för att bilda en uppfattning om respondenternas syn till konsumtion av förnybara produkter, hållbarhet och skogsindustrin. Svaren analyserades med både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder. Resultatet visade signifikant skillnad mellan vissa demografiska variabler, och majoriteten ansåg sig vara hållbara och ställde sig även positiva till förnybara produkter. Attityden mot skogsindustrin var däremot hos många av dessa negativ. Svaren på den öppna frågan resulterade i tre teman, där biologisk mångfald var en dominerande ståndpunkt till skillnad från produktion. Sammanfattningsvis råder en generell konsensus om att förnybara produkter tillverkade av skogsråvara är något positivt. Däremot råder inte samma enighet kring skogsindustrin, till vilken majoriteten av respondenterna ställer sig kritiska. Dessutom är det tydligt att bevarandet av biologisk mångfald är en hög prioritet bland större delen av de som besvarade enkäten.The ongoing debates around climate change and sustainable development connected to the forest industry has produced a forestry debate, where goals surrounding bioeconomy lie in conflict with further preservation of forests in favor of biodiversity. Renewable products manufactured from raw forest material are crucial factors in this debate and thus part of a controversial topic. Problems arise when conflicting objectives stand against one another in an ever-growing society. What should we use the forest for? Should renewable products be manufactured to contribute to a growing bioeconomy and thereby strive towards a fossil-free future, or should preserving more forests be the primary concern? Today, the forest is weighed down by different claims made by different stakeholders, which begs the question: what are the perceptions of people regarding this topic? More specifically, what perceptions about products made from renewable raw materials do people have and how does this view relate to their attitude towards the forest industry? The purpose of the essay is to explore these attitudes and find out what connections exist among the opinions of people. Furthermore, the study aims to investigate if, and in that case, which demographic variables have an influence on decisionmaking in this context. In addition to this, the most significant role of the forest is investigated. To answer the research questions, a survey was designed. The survey was divided into several segments to form an understanding of the respondent's views on consumption of renewable products, sustainability, and the forest industry. The answers were analyzed with both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results showed significant differences between some demographic variables and the majority considered themselves to be living a sustainable lifestyle in addition to showing a positive attitude towards renewable products. The attitude towards the forestry industry, however, was considered negative according to many of these individuals. Analysis of the responses on the open question resulted in three themes, with biodiversity being the dominating standpoint as opposed to production. In conclusion, there is an overall consensus in the fact that renewable products manufactured by forest raw material is a something positive, however, this consensus does not prevail regarding the forest industry. In addition, it is clear that the preservation of biodiversity is a high priority among the majority of respondents

Economic consequences of a production and inventory control policy

The economic performance of a generalized Order-Up-To policy is investigated in response to an Auto Regressive stochastic demand process. Focus is on the case where the physical production/distribution lead time is one period and where demand is forecasted with simple exponential smoothing. Two sets of convex piece-wise linear costs are considered. The first set is the traditional inventory holding and backlog costs. The second set of costs is piece-wise linear and increasing convex costs associated with the production order rate within and above a capacity constraint. Numerical investigations reveal that the classical Order-Up-To policy is no longer optimal when a broader range of costs is considered in the objective function