PROFILE
Who are we?
The IFITT Next Generation initiative is an informal network of friends, colleagues and peers from the IFITT community, who are in their early stages of an academic career within the field of eTourism. The IFITT Next Generation members are defined as anyone who is pursuing a PhD or completed his/her PhD within the past 5 years.
VISION AND MISSION
What is our vision?
The IFITT Next Generation vision is to create a global network of early career eTourism researchers within the IFITT community.
What is our mission?
The IFITT Next Generation mission is to provide an informal platform within the IFITT community for young researchers to develop fresh and innovative ideas, exchange knowledge and foster resources and collaboration.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
What are our aims?
The IFITT Next Generation strongly believes in the values and strategies of IFITT and aims to play a role in:
- Build a global network with the future leaders of the eTourism field and IFITT community
- Provide a platform and global hub of early career researchers to share experiences and knowledge
- Increase knowledge on early research and career related issues
- Encourage and enable collaboration between young researchers
IFITT BENFITS AND SUPPORT
What benefits can IFITT Next Generation bring to IFITT?
- Attract and engage young researchers from the field to the IFITT community, by providing additional and relevant benefits
- Encourage young IFITT members to actively contribute to the IFITT community
- Enlarge young generation university and industry networks
- Strengthen the IFITT network and community among next generation members
What support can IFITT provide to its IFITT Next Generation?
- Provide financial support for planned activities (IFITT Innovation fund)
- Provide infrastructure for IFITT Next Generation to grow
- Provide financial and organizational support for annual IFITT Doctoral Summer School
ACTIVITIES:
1) IFITT DOCTORAL SUMMER SCHOOL
The IFITT Doctoral Summer School is a unique platform for knowledge and idea exchange in the field of eTourism. The summer school provides inspirational and practical insights on the actual and future technological trends. Early-career researchers, both at Master’s and Doctoral level, can familiarize themselves with various research methodologies and are introduced to the world of academic publishing. To know more about IFITT Doctoral Summer School click here.
Picture taken by: Daniel Crosta
2) PHD WORKSHOP PRECEDING THE YEARLY ENTER CONFERENCE
The PhD workshop is a 1-day event preceding the yearly ENTER conference. IFITT Next Generation members can join for free and with a student fee continue participating in the conference. Through a blinded review process the proposal are selected to present during the workshop. The proceedings of the proposals are available in the IFITT membership area. During the PhD workshop, various mentors are available to give constructive feedback to students. Furthermore, students have to prepare posters of their PhD projects, which will be publicly available through the conference in order to increase visibility and get more feedback from conference participants. In addition, to the mentoring sessions, various keynotes are given. Finally, an award ceremony will take place given the best proposal recognition. During the ENTER conference, activities be organized to give the students an outlet to discuss new activities for the upcoming year (s).
To know more details about ENTER2021 PhD workshop click here.
3) #IFITTNEXT
Find us in social media and engage with our community. IFITT Next Generation will provide regular updates on new events, grant applications, and other information necessary for young academics. Furthermore, you can engage on Instagram and Twitter using our #IFITTNEXT, to share your experiences through photos and/or videos.