Janine Bittner is a PhD researcher at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (not yet officially enrolled)

As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I had two career ideas: the first one was to work as a behavioural scientist in Africa. I was interested in the origin of mankind and species, systematics in biology, genetics, animal behaviours, behavioural psychology. I was fascinated by Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees, Dian Fossey, also by some animal trainers like Linda-Tellington Jones and her way to communicate with horses. The second idea was to become a doctor or a veterinarian.

When did you first turn towards a social research career?
I started to deepen my knowledge in research methods by attending special courses at the GESIS Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences and different universities in Germany after my graduation in geography, biology and pedagogy. The courses during my university studies were rather quantitative oriented. The acquired knowledge was then used, in particular, in university teaching. So I have already trained several generations of geography students in research methods.

What was your first professional job?  And first project there?
My first interesting job during my studies was working as a student assistant at the Botanical Institute at the University of Karlsruhe. I supported the new biomedicine post doc teaching and supervising students, making plant preparations and drawings, carrying out experiments. After that I taught courses for students at the geographical institute. After I graduated, I worked as a full-time lecturer at the LMU in Munich and taught independently students at the Bachelor and Master level in urban geography, economic geography, project management and research methods.

Where did your career go next?  What motivated that/those moves?
Afterwards, I worked at various other universities as a lecturer, as a research associate, as a research associate in different projects, as a project leader in teacher education. Because of short-term contracts in the German university system, it is necessary to change the institution and the position several times.

What has been your best professional moment?
Even if I would have preferred a high level of involvement in research in my career, that was unfortunately not the case in the institutional context so far and I hope that will change. I had great pleasure in independent teaching of students, especially in research methods. In this regard, there are many good moments, it is difficult to just mention one. I have particularly very positive memories of my time teaching students in Munich, especially to the cohort, which I worked with from the first semester until graduation. I have a big box in which I store all the special thank-you gifts, cards etc. I also appreciated work environments where I had the possibility to work independently and at the moment I am full of joy having the opportunity to work on my own research projects.

...and worst?
In general I am not very satisfied with work situations in which it is not possible to contribute with my knowledge, my skills and my experience and where the working atmosphere is not good. These are things that are important to me.

Do you have a social research hero/heroine?
I am impressed by the large empirical studies of Prof. Uwe Flick, Prof. Philipp Mayring and Prof. Ronald Hitzler. I am also absolutely fascinated by the work of the Michigan Mixed Method and Qualitative Research group led by Dr. Michal Fetters, Dr. Timothy Guetterman and Dr. John Cresswell. I also really appreciate the work of Dr. Jan Kruse, a German sociologist and excellent qualitative researcher, who unfortunately died much too early.

Do you have a favourite quote?
"On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux" / "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye".
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

What would you say to encourage a young person today considering a social research career?
This is a difficult question because I have not left the university context. But maybe this could be helpful to make a career as a social researcher. "Be curious, invest time in lifelong learning, follow your dreams and research interests, do what you love".