Reworlding Doctoral Network Scholar Anannya from India Shares Her Journey of Securing a Fully Funded PhD at the Aalborg University, Denmark

I am Anannya, and I hail from India. I came from a non-academic background, having worked in several consulting firms for much of my career.

While I have a master's degree in service design, my current research, under the guidance of Prof. Maurizio Teli at Aalborg University, focuses on leveraging participatory design ideas to identify key success factors and impediments for platform cooperatives led by people from marginalised communities. My study focuses on the cooperative landscape in Denmark.

My journey from consulting to a PhD scholar was catalysed by my passion for teaching and community building. I always wanted to be involved in academia besides my job. I taught service design modules in universities in India, alongside my job. I have been visiting faculty at the National Institute of Design, Bangalore, since 2020.  During the service design course I was teaching in 2022, one of my students chose her dissertation to be “Service Design Interventions for improving working conditions of gig workers”. While guiding her on this, I came across the concept of platform co-operatives. The concept intrigued me, both resonating and conflicting with my day job. The resonance came from the fact that I had witnessed firsthand the power of service design and participatory design in unlocking efficiencies for governmental initiatives. The dissonance emerged due to the departure of platform co-operatives from traditional, capital-led ownership models, which I came to accept as the norm during the course of my job. It was this combination of social impact and the challenge of exploring viable alternatives to the traditional finance models that inspired me to decide to pursue further education in this field. More so, as a founder of a service design community in India, I always believed in the power of community and collectivism.

Reworlding Doctoral Network Details

This scholarship is provided through the Reworlding Doctoral Network, funded by Horizon Europe, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks under the grant agreement 101119451. My scholarship, granted for a period of 3 years, covers my salary, secondment accommodation, and other research expenses.

Were You Offered Any Other Scholarships?

I had applied to two positions in the MSCA REworlding, both at Aalborg University. I was offered both positions, and I chose to take up my current one since it provided me with a platform to build on the work I had done in design thinking and institutionalising innovation in a social context.

Educational Background

My academic background is in service design, with a master's in service design from Politecnico di Milano. Additionally, my professional experience has been a tremendous asset during my PhD. As somebody being trained at top consulting firms like McKinsey, I learnt 3 key things which I leverage every day during my PhD:

Structuring Problems and simplifying answer: My professional stints ingrained in the muscle memory to bring structure to complex, multi-faceted problems, and break them down into mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive (MECE) sub-blocks. The structured breaking down of the problems enables me to identify multiple root causes that impact an outcome and look for simplified, first principles-based answers for the specific causes.

Discovering interconnected moving parts: Consulting taught me to appreciate interconnections and patterns - across issues, behaviours, thought processes, and outcomes. The acumen developed helps me today to spot patterns across various schools of thought, prior research in my field, and various disciplines like business, sociology, economics, and design.

Managing Stakeholders: A significant part of my consulting journey involved influencing stakeholders across the board without authority. The skill sets I developed during my stint enabled me to interface seamlessly with government officials, co-operative groups, and members of co-operatives, who are all key stakeholders in the ecosystem that I am trying to create in Aalborg as a part of my project.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to Aalborg University?

I discovered the concept of platform co-operatives as a part of my teaching engagements. It was during the same exercise that I came across the two programmes on platform co-operatives which were being offered under the Marie Curie Programme.

Did You Take Any Standardized Tests? If So, How Did You Prepare for Them?

No

How Did You Prepare to Apply for the Reworlding Doctoral Network?

In my preparation, I was extremely topic-driven. While preparing for my statement of purpose and my interview, I dived into the theoretical constructs of the field, working on forming a level 1 clarity of key concepts, constructs, and tools. It also helped me develop a high-level visualisation of my research approach, questions, and potential challenges, which helped me immensely.

How Do You Rate the Institution Academically and Why? 

I would rate the institution very highly academically. The university provides a diverse academic environment, which cultivates cross-disciplinary thinking. For example, our department shares offices with the oceanography department, which enables the intermixing of ideas from the sciences and social sciences. Additionally, the focus of the university on research catalyses access to the latest thinking in our field as well as a wealth of printed and online resources.

How Does Aalborg University Support International Students?

There is an International Staff Unit at my university. They invest quite a lot in onboarding new students and staff members through structured interventions like housing support, banking-related procedures, etc. They have also developed online resources such as onboarding webinars, Facebook groups, and even spouse-related resources, which can be accessed seamlessly.

Are Your Classes Conducted in English or Danish?

The classes and other academic engagements are conducted in English.

Would Potential Students Have Any Problems Not Knowing Danish?

I face some problems, especially during field work, where I have to interact extensively with citizens, collectives, and quasi-statutory bodies. However, the project structure helps in breaking that barrier. For example, the Aalborg Kommune is a partner for the project. The involvement of the Kommune helps in understanding the Danish societal context, regulations, and developing ties with the larger government ecosystem.

What Do You Think Made Your Application Stand Out?

In my mind, my application stood out due to my uncommon background. My application and interviews not only focused on theoretical concepts but also stressed significantly practical considerations of operationalising platform co-operatives, the associated challenges and how, as a PhD student, I could enable social experiments with the target communities to enable changes that can drive a difference on the ground, hands-on experience in co-creating solutions with diverse stakeholders, and working with institutions.

What Would You Have Done Differently if You Were Going Through the Process Again?

Since there were two projects dealing with the same meta-topic that were advertised, I would have liked to gain some clarity about how these two projects were related and how they differ from each other.

What Advice Would You Give Those Looking to Apply for a Similar Scholarship?

In my view, the most important aspect of applying for a similar scholarship is developing conceptual clarity on the field of study and having an outline of what outcomes you want to achieve from your research and a high-level pathway for achieving these goals. While you will continuously build on your knowledge and modify your approach in the course of the scholarship, the initial clarity signals investment on your part and helps to show your ability to think and structure problems, which PhD guides value.