{"id":101598,"date":"2019-08-16T13:16:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T11:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=101598"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:24","slug":"its-kind-of-lonely-on-campus-at-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/08\/16\/its-kind-of-lonely-on-campus-at-present\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s kind of lonely on campus at present\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 99 per cent of the tens of thousands of people who can be found on EUR on any given day, the summer months are when they enjoy some peace and quiet and their holidays. It\u2019s when they take a brief break from all the exams, re-sits, deadlines and meetings.<\/p>\n

However, there are people on campus who are working very hard indeed at the moment. So who are these people, and what are they doing now that many other people are enjoying lazing about on a hot summer\u2019s day? Greek PhD student Georgia Antonopoulou, 32, is working on a paper whose deadline is drawing near.<\/p>\n

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What on earth are you still doing on campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working on a paper about the subject of my dissertation: international commercial courts. It has to be submitted by the first of September, which means I don\u2019t get to have a holiday this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your stress level like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not too bad just yet. I\u2019m on schedule. The main thing bothering me is that it\u2019s kind of lonely here on campus in mid-August. There\u2019s not an awful lot going on here at the moment, although it\u2019s not too bad at the departments in the Sanders Building where I work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing to deal with is the fact that even the Food Court is closed this week. This means I have to get my lunch from Spar now, even though I love having a warm lunch in the afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

How is your dissertation coming along?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m currently in my second year, which is when I\u2019m supposed to be writing chapters of my book. I\u2019m reasonably on schedule. The only thing is, sometimes I have to write papers in between chapters, but that\u2019s what you get when you\u2019re an academic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why am I doing this? Because you have to publish and show others that you\u2019re doing this for your future career. It\u2019s just that sometimes it takes up time you could be spending on your dissertation.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s so interesting about international commercial courts that you\u2019re willing to devote four years of your life to them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dutch commercial court was not founded until January 2019. Prior to that, companies always had to go abroad to settle commercial disputes. This is relatively expensive for small companies, which made it harder for them to file a dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the Netherlands and several other countries have now established their own courts of law, they have engaged in much marketing and many campaigns to raise people\u2019s awareness of their existence. It\u2019s interesting to watch how they\u2019re going about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018You just have to be disciplined, be able to deal with all that freedom and be able to set good boundaries. If you manage to do all that, it\u2019s all fine, and you won\u2019t be overworked\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve read a lot of horror stories about PhD students\u2019 lives. For instance, I\u2019ve heard that many of them suffer depression and that their position at their department is complicated. How are you in those regards?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThings can be complicated, but if you have the right personality, it can also be a great position, actually. And my department happens to be cool \u2013 I can always turn to colleagues if I have any questions, and they like to help me out, even now that my supervisor is on holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my former fellow students are now lawyers and have to deal with non-stop cases for their law firms. I am given tremendous freedom to research and do whatever I fancy, and I get to attend conferences abroad where I talk to people working in the same field, which is very interesting and educational, not to mention enjoyable. You just have to be disciplined, be able to deal with all that freedom and be able to set good boundaries. If you manage to do all that, it\u2019s all fine, and you won\u2019t be overworked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of discipline, when will you be able to take a break again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to visit my family again in Corinth, Greece, in September. I visit them three times per year. Do I miss them? Of course I do. But I knew what I was getting myself into when I embarked on my PhD here in Rotterdam, and I\u2019ve always wanted to live abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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