Annika Lübbert (website)
I am a PhD student at the Department of Neuro- and Pathophysiology, at the University Medical Centre Hamburg (UKE). My thesis involves two rather complex experimental setups in which I observe dyadic interaction from different perspectives (experience, movement/behavior, neurophysiology). My main interest is in how individuals come to coordinate and engage with one another, and how to offer them interesting environments to do so.
So many people with care and interest crowd in and around IMC! In particular I was surprised by the presence of two colleagues I knew from inspiring exchanges at conferences around Europe, and many more whose work I read about, or got to know through their presence at IMC. I think this month was particularly busy with visitors, but I am equally sure this density of wonderful people is something that frequently recurs here. I had the pleasure of joining the IMC summer party (& visit to the Trapholt museum), I was invited to join a weekend at the (other) seaside, I discovered bits of the inter-connected community of movement practices in Aarhus, and I really enjoyed riding my bike in&out of town on Route 4 every day.
Working at an institute centred on neurophysiology, I lacked/sought an academic community to think together on questions concerning the interactive phenomena central to my tasks. To be working on something I care about, together with others - in exchange, mutual critique & support. I was lucky enough, over the first years of my PhD, to learn a lot about what I find interesting and important - but this also meant I developed an ever more urgent prerequisite for continuing on this path (aka ‘if I can’t find a way to work on this, here, I have to go somewhere else’).
At IMC, a handful of wonderful, interested and highly qualified people provided sharp, specific, inspiring reflections on my work, and offered to continue to do so as I am finishing my PhD. I will stay in touch with IMC, both through specific dates/formats/events, and a general sense of appreciation and gratefulness for this place and the diverse social and academic web spun around it (such as its links to performers and artists). I have plans and intuitions on how I might like to work in the future, after my PhD. This is more than I could have wished for!
At one point the density of events and exchange turned overwhelming for me - besides the valuable input I got, I started to put myself under pressure to be my most authentic, clear and present self, so as to make best use of this rich environment (which obviously completely backfired). In time I found my calm and space/time to work on my own projects, and therein a place from which to relate to, which I think is absolutely necessary to survive the buzz at IMC. The forests and sea helped massively with this, so my advice is: walk/run through and jump in as often as you can! Collect some beautiful stones at the shore.
At this point, joy, thought-provoking and unexpectedly rich experiences just don’t cease to pour in from of the many sources gathered in and around IMC. People point out other people to talk to about your work - if two point at the same, that’s quite an indication it will be a game-changer to talk to them.
