Annual Report Graduate School 2012-2013 1
Annual Report Graduate School 2012-2013 Delft University of Technology
Content Foreword... 6 1. PhD in the center... 8 2. Intake interview... 9 3. DMA... 10 4. Doctoral Education... 11 5. Student counselor... 14 6. Career counselor... 15 7. The GS in a nutshell...18 8. TU Delft Graduate School organisation... 20 5
Foreword F rom 2011, staff at TU Delft worked hard to establish a Graduate School that would play a key role in the training of PhD candidates, the quality assurance of the PhD programmes and supervision. In January 2012, all of the faculties and the University Graduate Office (within the department of Education & Student Affairs) were ready, and the TU Delft Graduate School started at all faculties. In this report on the first two years of the Graduate School, and the University Graduate School (UGS) in particular, we want to sketch a picture of what has been done to date. We are proud of what we have achieved. We have received positive feedback on the school not only from our PhD candidates but also for example from other Dutch universities. This report on 2012 and 2013 addresses the following subjects, among others: Doctoral Education, the counselling provided by the psychologist and the Career Centre, and a numerical impression of the active population of PhD candidates and the UGS as an organisation. While much has been developed and is in place, at the same time, it feels as if we re about halfway through our PhD programme: there is still much to improve, to complete or to extend. What does the future hold? At present, we re putting the finishing touches to the revision of the Doctorate Regulations and the accompanying implementing regulation. With this we hope to make the phase of completing the PhD thesis and the defence simpler and more transparent. The Beadle s Office has been abolished and its responsibilities and 6
staff have been merged with those of the University Graduate School, so that the administration surrounding registration and examining is now done from one place. Next year the digitalisation of the forms will be further extended so that this process will finally be completely digital. Furthermore, the focus this year will be on improving the monitoring and management information on the PhD programmes and PhD candidates at TU Delft. For this, we use the Doctoral Monitoring Application system. Time and again in recent years, the recording of meticulous, precise and unambiguous data on PhD programmes has given rise to new questions or points for improvement. In the closing phase of this year, we hope to complete and from 2015, to be able to deliver both a set of standard reports from the Doctoral Monitoring Application and a set of tailored reports based on questions from the Faculty Graduate Schools. In the area of quality assurance, in 2014 and 2015 we will focus on extending and deepening the range of Doctoral Education on offer, as well as developing a vision on the supervision of PhD candidates. In short: there is still much to do! In the meantime, though, we hope that you enjoy reading this report on the outcomes of the first two years. Stella van der Meulen, Coordinator/Policy Peter Wieringa, Director, University Advisor, University Graduate School Graduate School 7
1. PhD in the center T he PhD candidate naturally by the PhD candidate, we have chosen lies at the heart of his or her to open this annual report with the PhD PhD programme at TU Delft. candidate. The following seven pages He or she is responsible for present the various elements of the the scientific voyage of discovery that PhD programme within the University is doctoral research. The aim of the Graduate School in chronological order. Graduate School is to facilitate this At the back of this document, there is a voyage and to offer a range of training timeline showing the development of the programmes covering skills that do not Graduate School since its inception, an result directly from doing research. In infographic on part of the management addition to the staff at the University information on the PhD candidates, and Graduate School, there are also a an illustration showing the organisation number of people within TU Delft who of the Graduate School. provide support, as the illustration shows. Owing to the central role played 8
2. Intake interview S ince the Graduate School (GS) Development Cycle, the Doctorate was established, the UGS has Regulations and the DE requirements. held an intake interview with This ensures that a PhD candidate is every PhD candidate who aware of his or her role and what the forms part of the GS. The interview (short-term) priorities and actions are. is planned no later than 25 days after registration at the UGS, and ideally takes As shown by a customer satisfaction place in the first six weeks after the start survey held in March 2014, the PhD of the PhD programme. candidates find the intake interview to be extremely useful and informative. In view The intake interview serves three of the increase in the number of intake purposes: interviews, this is a real achievement. 1. R egistering the PhD candidate in a The research gave rise to some points for correct and timely way (including a improvement, relating to the language diploma and identity check) barrier, information overload, and 2. Activating his or her account conflicting expectations regarding the 3. Providing the PhD candidate with interview. The aim is to overcome these information. For the most part, this difficulties as far as possible in future. information concerns the GS process and the guidelines on the PhD 9
3. The DMA F rom March 2012, the Doctoral the quality of the programmes. At the Monitoring Application (DMA, same time the management information from the supplier People XS), forms a basis for both internal reports was introduced across TU Delft (for example, to the Executive Board) for registering PhD candidates, recording and external reports (both nationally and agreements between PhD candidates and internationally) about the PhD candidates. supervisors, and monitoring progress. The DMA provides valuable monitoring The system has the following users: and management information, allowing PhD candidates the following questions to be answered: Supervisors 1. Which PhD candidate is doing their o Daily supervisors PhD where, with whom, on which o Promotor topic, with which funding? o Copromotor 2. When did the PhD candidate pass which process-related milestones Mentors Deputy Heads of Department secretary in their PhD programme including Doctoral Education (DE) and with These users have access via portals what result? where only specific data is shown and 3. When did the PhD candidate can be entered. Staff from the FGS and discontinue their work on the PhD or the University Graduate Schools (UGS) submit their draft thesis, and when did work together from the back office. the PhD candidate defend his or her The central UGS takes care of the first thesis? registration by means of the intake. The FGS staff subsequently form the contact The individual PhD programmes are point for DMA users within their faculty. monitored by the Faculty Graduate The FGS can contact the UGS and Schools (FGS), to enable the system Information Management of Education to run as smoothly as possible and & Student Affairs (the functional so as to avoid potential glitches or to applications manager for the DMA) with identify these as swiftly as possible. The questions and reports. management information provides input that allows the university to work on improving the doctoral defence pass-rate, the supervision of PhD candidates and 10
4. Doctoral Education E ncouraging personal programme. The event is the official kick- development is one of the off to the DE programme, and falls under Graduate School s core tasks. transferable skills. The PhD candidates Over the four years, the PhD follow the PSU in fixed groups of 25 or candidates follow various DE courses so people and this provides a solid basis that are divided into three categories: for their activities in the following years. transferable, discipline-related and Each day has a different theme: research skills. They must obtain a total 1. The PhD programme at TU Delft, of 45 GS credits, where 1 GS credit with an emphasis on conditions and represents one day of a course plus expectations homework. With this programme, TU 2. Professional and personal Delft wants to ensure that in addition development, with an emphasis on to doing research, PhD candidates are self-awareness and self-assessment also trained in a broad range of areas, 3. Scientific integrity and the scientific meaning that they are well prepared community with an emphasis on the for the labour market after completing societal and moral dimensions. their PhDs. At the start of their PhD programme, PhD candidates draw up In addition, the PSU represents the start personal plans that are linked to their of a PhD candidate s university-wide individual learning needs. They compile network their personal training programmes by selecting from courses that are offered Quality of the DE programme by the GS, among others. They also All of the courses that are provided by learn a lot from doing research, such the GS are evaluated after completion. as by reviewing articles or attending These evaluations provide a lot of input conferences. These learning-on-the-job for the continued improvement of the activities count as research skills in their programme and when necessary or DE programme. appropriate, the development of new training courses. PhD Start-Up Fourteen times a year, a three-day PhD 2013 Start-Up (PSU) is organised. Every new IIn 2013, a number of actions were PhD candidate participates in the PSU taken based on all the experiences of in the first months of his or her PhD 2012. First, due to increased demand, 11
Courses offered by the TU Delft Graduate School1 12
a number of courses were held more modules in clusters for particular groups frequently and new courses were added. of PhD candidates. In collaboration with Furthermore, course descriptions were the FGS, the GS will provide a better adjusted, courses were discontinued overview of discipline-related courses because they were not meeting demand, and online education. and advanced courses were developed Furthermore, the information that is to provide additional depth on certain provided to PhD candidates will be topics. From now on, trainers also had improved, enabling them to gain greater to distinguish themselves by making a insight into how other PhD candidates round of pitches before being able to experienced the courses. Each quarter, organise new courses. an overview will be provided on Blackboard, which will offer qualitative 2014 information on the courses that have In 2014 DE will put an emphasis on been given. Within the programme, a various topics. There is always a focus number of advanced courses will be on quality, both within the transferable developed further. courses and the discipline-related courses. The GS will look at whether it might be possible to provide the various 13
5. Student counselor T he Graduate School s full- extended, and new courses for mentors time psychologist offers have been developed. support to PhD candidates, Within the Netherlands, TU Delft is a mentors and supervisors leader with its extensive counseling (PhD supervisors, co-supervisors and provision. The key priority for 2014 is to day-to-day supervisors). She talks investigate the possibility for cooperating with, treats and trains the target with other graduate schools, national groups in situations where personal and international. The first step will be circumstances, psychological problems to start exchanging information and best or communication problems are proving practices with them. an impediment to obtaining a doctorate on time. She also makes a substantive contribution to the DE programme. The psychologist develops and offers training programmes in the area of transferable skills. In this area she works closely together with the career counselor for PhD candidates. In 2012, the key priority was the development of the role of the GS psychologist. In doing so, the aim was to tailor the role as closely as possible to existing methods of working, the provision for students and existing forms of cooperation. The focus last year was on the continuation of the GS psychologist s role (individual and group sessions), refining the range of courses provided in the DE from three to four courses, and paying more attention to intercultural communication. On the basis of the FGS experiences regarding the supervision of PhD candidates, the provision for supervisors has also been 14
6. Career counselor T he career counselor for PhD 75 and 65 programmes, respectively. candidates has worked for the In addition to the one-day training GS since May 2011 (0.5 FTE). courses and advisory programmes, PhD She talks with and advises PhD candidates can make use of most of the candidates, trains them to reflect on their Career Centre s other activities, such careers after obtaining their doctorates as company presentations, networking and helps them to answer questions get-togethers, workshops, walk-in that arise during their PhD project. The consultations and the walk-in CV-check counseling is carried out within the service. context of the TU Delft Career Centre. In 2014, the career counselor will This means that very soon after the start optimise and extend the current range of the Graduate School, it was possible of training programmes in order to to put a broad range of programmes absorb the growth in the number of for PhD candidates in place that were PhD candidates in the Graduate School. linked to the DE programme, mostly in Furthermore, she is stepping up contact cooperation with the student counselor. with supervisors, mentors and HR At present the Career Centre offers advisors in order to boost referrals. four training programmes for PhD candidates in the final phase of their work on the PhD: Preparing for the next step in your career, Looking for work in the Netherlands, Prepare for a Company Assessment and Personal Branding. The last three are led by external trainers. Furthermore, many PhD candidates receive individual advice from the career counselor. On average, each client has had two career consultations and the ratio of national to international students is 1:7. In 2012 and 2013, there were 15
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7. The GS in a nutshell 18
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8. TU Delft Graduate School organisation TU DELFT GRADUATE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION Inspiring research, excellent supervision and personal development Inspiring research, excellent supervision and personal development MAIN TOPICS WITHIN TU DELFT GRADUATE SCHOOL Doctoral Education (DE) PhD Supervision Transparent and flexible process Quality Assessment UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL BOARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICE Provides an overall vision and mission Coordinates GS development and policy Rector/ chair man University GS Support Director GS E&SA director HRM director Vice rector GS policy advisor SPECIFIC TASKS GS policy officer GS officer Career councellor Psychologist SPECIFIC TASKS Determines general DE objectives and frames Develops, coordinates and organises transferable DE training for PhD candidates Describes desired doctoral culture at TU Delft Offers training and personal advice for supervisors and mentors Formulates quality parameters Submits proposals for Board for Doctorates Gives guidelines for progress monitoring of the doctoral process Decides on general support and service for PhD candidates and supervisors Evaluates the outcome of the TU Delft GS Organises registration into the TU Delft GS Manages and improves the monitoring of doctorates by running the Doctoral Monitoring Application (DMA) Offers personal and career advice and support to PhD candidates FACULTY GRADUATE SCHOOL BOARD FACULTY GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICE Writes the Faculty Policy Coordinates the Faculty GS issues Facultyy GS GS director Prof of department Head of E&SA HR manager Mentor Faculty GS officer SPECIFIC TASKS Determines DE objectives and framework for specific research and discipline related training Describes the desired level of scientific dialogue and interaction between Faculty GS members Advises supervisors Formulates guidelines for selection and evaluation (Go/No go) of PhD candidates Shapes a clear PhD path within the faculty GS Subscribes support and service on the faculty level Faculty GS officer Faculty GS officer SPECIFIC TASKS Coordinates discipline related training Supports supervisors Supports the PhD development cycle Evaluates the outcome of the Faculty GS Organises exit interviews with PhD candidates Organises the welcome to the faculty GS Monitors progress of PhD candidates with Doctoral Monitoring Application (DMA) Advises and supports PhD candidates (e.g. about DE and DMA) 20 February 2013
Colophon Production and final editing Jasper Meeuwissen (Graduate School, TU Delft) Text Dominique Meijer, Jasper Meeuwissen, Maddy Lansbergen, Monique Draijer, Nelie-Roos Hamelinck, Paula Meesters en Stella van der Meulen (Graduate School, TU Delft) Editorial team Agaath Diemel (Corporate Communication, TU Delft) Design and lay-out Liesbeth van Dam (Media Solutions, TU Delft) Traffic Dominique Meijer (Media Solutions, TU Delft) Photography Marc Blommaert (cover photograph and photograph on page 4) Sam Rentmeester (photograph in foreword) Infographics Chris Versteeg Printing Edauw en Johannissen TU Delft 2014 A digital version of this annual report is also available on the website: graduateschool.tudelft.nl and on: issuu.com 22
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