Veronica-Aurelia Costea, doctoral student at PROCOME

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. What did you do before you started your doctoral studies? 

After living in Sibiu for 25 years, I moved to Aarhus, Denmark in 2011 to study a Bachelor in Global Nutrition and Health, with a concentration in Public Health Nutrition and Food Policy. I chose to move there because I wanted to experience a significantly different culture and school environment and see how I would adapt. The program sparked a deeper interest in research and in the social sciences, particularly sociology. 

After graduating, I explored many career options before deciding to move to Sweden to study a master’s program in International Health at Uppsala University, a decision I’m very glad I made.  I learned a lot, I made lasting friendships, and I also got involved in extracurricular activities through the Swedish Network for International health. Shortly after graduating in 2018, I started as a trainee at CES, which later turned into a permanent position in the Unit for Implementation and Evaluation.

How did you become interested in doing research and what made you want to be a doctoral student at our department LIME?  

I didn’t originally set out to pursue a PhD, but the opportunity came when CES offered me the chance to apply for a doctoral position at KI. I developed a research proposal grounded in questions relevant to the unit’s scope of activity but also interesting to me personally. It was a chance to take a more structured, long-term approach to issues I already had questions about.

Most of my supervisors are affiliated to the research group PROCOME, which is based at LIME, and PROCOME has had many projects that focus on the topic of my PhD project. But I think LIME in general is a great fit for me because it values interdisciplinary research and a practice-oriented approach.

If you were to describe your current doctoral research project in one or two sentences for a class of eight-year-olds, how would you describe it? 

I study how people who work in places like hospitals learn how to do their jobs differently when things change, so they can take better care of people. I try to understand what support and training they get to help them solve new problems.

Can you tell us about your PhD research project? What makes your research stand out?

My research focuses on interventions that aim to build generic implementation capacity, which is the ability of organizations and individuals to adopt and sustain new practices. I study the activities and content of these interventions and their effects. It’s still an understudied area within implementation science, but it can be of great relevance to practitioners and organizations. Furthermore, it can inform the activity of knowledge centers such as CES, which already provide capacity building programs and support to welfare organizations. 

What are you working on right now?

I am analyzing the data I and my co-authors extracted for a scoping review on interventions that build generic implementation capacity in healthcare, public health, and social services. Over the next few months, I’ll be finishing and submitting the manuscript and start focusing on my last study and writing the kappa.

What is the best and most interesting part of being a doctoral student? 

One of the most interesting parts for me is how the long timespan of a PhD allows ideas to evolve slowly and unexpectedly. There’s something very satisfying about suddenly being able to connect something you read months ago with current data or discussions. I think the extended focus of a PhD makes space for that kind of deeper synthesis in a way other roles don’t always allow.

Can you describe the challenges (if any) in being a student at doctoral level? 

I’ve experienced quite a few challenges in my time as a PhD student, which were probably necessary for the learning process. One challenge was accepting that the research sometimes progresses slowly and is rarely linear. There are moments of frustration, when I realized that something could have been planned or framed differently from the start. Another challenge was to grasp the complexity of the field and make sense of its nuances and underlying assumptions. Thinking back, those challenges were valuable because they helped me build more confidence in navigating uncertainty.

What is your relationship with other doctoral students like?

I’ve had the opportunity to connect with fellow students at LIME through activities organized by the department, such as the doctoral student council and doctoral retreats. I’ve also socialized with students from the department of Global Public Health, where many are my colleagues at CES. Beyond Sweden, I am in touch with doctoral students who are former classmates or whom I met at conferences.

What do you like to do when you are not doing research, any hobbies, or activities?

I try to spend quality time with my partner and friends whenever possible. I’ve also taken up watercolor painting as a relaxation activity and I like to walk, so I go on longer hikes from time to time.

What do you envision yourself doing after graduation? 

After graduation, I want to continue working at the intersection between academia and practice. In the long term, I’d like to contribute to making healthcare systems more self-reliant in implementing evidence-based interventions. I also hope to mentor and support early-career researchers, just as I’ve been supported throughout my journey.

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about applying for doctoral studies? 

Try to get a clear sense of why you want to do a PhD, beyond just the topic. A strong internal reason can help you get through the inevitable ups and downs. The work is often independent, and there will be moments where you’ll be questioning whether you’re moving in the right direction. If you can find meaning in a process that requires you to figure out things slowly, revisit ideas, and work through doubt, then it’s probably a good fit.