I attended the first SIGN Winter school organised by the Social Identities and Group Network based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. I was also able to visit the University of Queensland (UQ) campus and spend several days there prior to the Winter School, which was taking place at the Moreton Bay Research Station on North Stradbroke Island, outside of Brisbane.

During my visit, I participated in several activities on the UQ campus and had meetings with several researchers where we discussed research together – including Professor Winnifred Louis and Dr Hema Preya Selvanathan. I was also able to present my PhD work in one of the lab meetings led by Professor Jolanda Jetten and attended by many PhD students from the UQ, as well as post-doctoral researchers. This was a great opportunity to get feedback from a wider audience and to have a discussion about my work.

I also collaborated with other researchers from the University of Queensland on a large-scale research project which aims to understand the role of leadership in the context of the US Capitol Riot in 2021 from the perspective of the leaders as well as the followers. Together with Alex Haslam, Nik Steffens and Hema Preya Selvanathan from the University of Queensland (and several other researchers from the US and the UK), we had a paper published in the Leadership Quarterly which outlines the theoretical understanding of identity leadership and engaged followership and lays out research agenda on further studies that we are planning to conduct. The publication can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2022.101622

In the SIGN Winter School, I was assigned to a teaching stream titled ‘Organizational Psychology’ which was led by Professor Michelle Ryan and Dr Nik Steffens, that focused on discussing topics such as gender equality, leadership, organizational change and the dark side of leadership. There were several other events in the winter school, such as the opening lecture by Professor Alexander Haslam on the current advances in the social identity approach, as well as a guest lecture by Professor Filip Boen, who specialises in exercise and sports psychology.

Unfortunately, the Winter School was accompanied by complications due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and had to end early. I was required to self-isolate by the Australian Government and my visit to Australia was interrupted by these unfortunate circumstances.

Nonetheless, this research visit and the participation in the Winter School activities allowed me to meet with the world-leading researchers and a world-leading department in social psychology, and to establish networks and potential for future collaboration. I was also able to meet some of the researchers whom I collaborated with online in person to discuss ideas and get feedback on my PhD research which is primarily centred on the role of leadership.

I am convinced that this research visit will have a positive impact on my development as a researcher, as well as on my future career in academia.