In January 2027, Sahana Swaroop Chetan will travel to California for a six-month stay as a visiting PhD researcher at Stanford University. (Private photo)
“The size of a city says nothing about the size of the dreams it can hold.”
This is one of the lessons Sahana Swaroop Chetan takes with her after two years as a PhD candidate at Nord University in Steinkjer.
The size of a city says nothing about the size of the dreams it can hold.
Sahana Swaroop Chetan
In January 2027, she will travel to California for a six-month stay as a visiting PhD researcher at the Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research (SCANCOR) at Stanford University.
For her, however, the journey to one of the world's most renowned universities did not begin in California. It began in Steinkjer.
When Sahana first came to Norway with her husband, the plan was initially for him to study. Two years later, she herself was given the opportunity to start a PhD at Nord University.
She could choose between the campuses in Bodø and Steinkjer. Following her husband's advice, she chose Steinkjer:
“Be where your supervisor is. That is what you will need most on this journey.”
Today, she is grateful that things turned out that way.
“Looking back, I'm glad Steinkjer was chosen for me, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.”
For the researcher, the close proximity to supervisors and colleagues has been an important part of her doctoral journey. She believes this is one of the key advantages of being a researcher at a small or medium-sized university.
When she first decided to apply to SCANCOR, she felt she was not alone in the process.
Several people at Nord University helped her identify the right contacts, develop her application, and understand what the programme was looking for.
“The university didn't just wish me luck and step back. They helped guide me to the right doors,” she says.
When news of her acceptance arrived, the achievement was celebrated across the academic community.
“They celebrated as if the success were their own. That's the kind of place this is.”
For the researcher, this is also closely connected to a topic she studies herself: psychological safety.
“Psychological safety is something I research in my own project, but at Nord University I get to experience it in everyday life.”
She highlights the Diginn2Circle research group, her supervisors, and her colleagues as important parts of this supportive environment.
She says she has been given trust, freedom, and flexibility in her work.
In just two years, Chetan has had the opportunity to present her research at a number of national and international conferences. She has also worked on projects with strong international academic ambitions and served as a student representative for the Nordic Research School in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NORSI).
Psychological safety is something I research in my own project, but at Nord University I get to experience it in everyday life.
Sahana S. Chetan
“I would not have achieved this much in just two years without the support of the university, which provides early-career researchers with the right guidance and resources when they need them,” she says.
It is a perspective that challenges the notion that one must be based at a large university in a major city to gain access to exciting research environments and international opportunities.
For her, the opposite has been true.
When she travels to Stanford in January, the stay will mark a new chapter in her research journey.
SCANCOR was established to strengthen ties between Scandinavian researchers and Stanford’s internationally renowned research community in organisational studies. For Sahana, the visit will also provide an opportunity to bring experiences from Nord University into an international research environment and, in turn, bring new knowledge and insights back to Norway.
This is also the message she hopes other PhD candidates will take from her story:
“Don’t measure your opportunities by the size of the city you are in. Measure them by the people who surround you.”
Read Sahana's own description of how she found her way to Stanford.
