Student voices

Contacts abroad

Use your personal connections or make personal connections in the country you want to go (e.g. family, friends, colleagues, universities for finding a suitable contact person)

Check the topic and find the organization/contact person beforehand. Secure this first.

Start planning early and communicate clearly with your host institution before travelling. Try to secure local contacts who can help with access, scheduling, and practical arrangements.

Contact several organisations. It is good to have more than one contact abroad. Some contacts are more helpful than others.

Preparations

Prepare a lot in advance ;)

I recommend future students to start preparing as early as possible, especially with the visa process, travel documents, insurance, vaccinations if needed, and other administrative paperwork, not even to say the main thesis itself. These steps can take more time than expected, so it is helpful to make a clear timeline before leaving Sweden.

It is important to read the guidance on the JU MFS student web carefully.

I recommend reaching out to previous MFS students, as they can give useful practical advice about things that may not be obvious before going.

Doing thesis in pairs

If you are doing a field study with a thesis partner, good communication is everything. Be clear about expectations and deadlines from the very beginning and try to keep things professional even when the process gets stressful. Writing a thesis together is intense, and there will be moments of frustration. Not letting your emotions get in the way of the collaboration makes a huge difference in the long run.

Project timeline

Set a clear timeline at the very beginning and work through the thesis step by step. It is a big project, but if you break it down into manageable stages and stick to your schedule, it is very doable. Do not leave things to the last minute and trust the process.

Project: Prepare your interviews

Start recruiting your participants as early as possible, especially if you are conducting interviews across two countries. We learned quickly that LinkedIn is not always the most effective tool. In Sweden particularly, almost nobody responded to LinkedIn messages. What worked much better was finding direct email addresses and phone numbers and reaching out that way. Do not wait and hope that social media will do the work for you.

I recommend testing your survey or interview questions before the main data collection. Even if the questions look clear on paper, respondents may understand them differently in the local context.

Cultural differences

If you choose to work across different cultures, go in with an open mind and be genuinely willing to adapt. You will encounter different communication styles, different ways of building trust, and different expectations around time and formality. If you are not flexible, it can feel like a cultural shock. Embracing those differences rather than fighting them will make the whole experience much richer.

Respect the host community and be patient. Fieldwork is not only about collecting data. It is also about learning from people, building trust, and understanding the environment where your research takes place.

Look into culture and what is appropriate either by contacting people that lives in the setting or by own research.

Flexibility

Prepare a strong backup plan. Fieldwork rarely goes exactly as planned, so flexibility is very important. You may need to change dates, adjust your sample, or reorganize your data collection depending on the situation on the ground.

During the field study, be flexible and open-minded. Even if the main plan is clear, small adjustments may be needed because of local schedules, access to participants, or other practical conditions. And culture shock can also happen, and that is completely normal!

Contact with supervisor

Stay in regular contact with your supervisor. Having brief meetings before and during the fieldwork can help make sure the project is moving in the right direction.