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Annual Report Graduate School

2012-2013

Annual Report Graduate School

2012-2013

Delft University of Technology

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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

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Foreword

From 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

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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

Advisor, University Graduate School

Peter Wieringa, Director, University

Graduate School

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The PhD candidate naturally

lies at the heart of his or her

PhD programme at TU Delft.

He or she is responsible for

the scientific voyage of discovery that

is doctoral research. The aim of the

Graduate School is to facilitate this

voyage and to offer a range of training

programmes covering skills that do not

result directly from doing research. In

addition to the staff at the University

Graduate School, there are also a

number of people within TU Delft who

provide support, as the illustration

shows. Owing to the central role played

by the PhD candidate, we have chosen

to open this annual report with the PhD

candidate. The following seven pages

present the various elements of the

PhD programme within the University

Graduate School in chronological order.

At the back of this document, there is a

timeline showing the development of the

Graduate School since its inception, an

infographic on part of the management

information on the PhD candidates, and

an illustration showing the organisation

of the Graduate School.

1. PhD in the center

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2. Intake interview

Since the Graduate School (GS)

was established, the UGS has

held an intake interview with

every PhD candidate who

forms part of the GS. The interview

is planned no later than 25 days after

registration at the UGS, and ideally takes

place in the first six weeks after the start

of the PhD programme.

The intake interview serves three

purposes:

1. Registering the PhD candidate in a

correct and timely way (including a

diploma and identity check)

2. Activating his or her account

3. Providing the PhD candidate with

information. For the most part, this

information concerns the GS process

and the guidelines on the PhD

Development Cycle, the Doctorate

Regulations and the DE requirements.

This ensures that a PhD candidate is

aware of his or her role and what the

(short-term) priorities and actions are.

As shown by a customer satisfaction

survey held in March 2014, the PhD

candidates find the intake interview to be

extremely useful and informative. In view

of the increase in the number of intake

interviews, this is a real achievement.

The research gave rise to some points for

improvement, relating to the language

barrier, information overload, and

conflicting expectations regarding the

interview. The aim is to overcome these

difficulties as far as possible in future.

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3. The DMA

From March 2012, the Doctoral

Monitoring Application (DMA,

from the supplier People XS),

was introduced across TU Delft

for registering PhD candidates, recording

agreements between PhD candidates and

supervisors, and monitoring progress.

The DMA provides valuable monitoring

and management information, allowing

the following questions to be answered:

1. Which PhD candidate is doing their

PhD where, with whom, on which

topic, with which funding?

2. When did the PhD candidate pass

which process-related milestones

in their PhD programme – including

Doctoral Education (DE) – and with

what result?

3. When did the PhD candidate

discontinue their work on the PhD or

submit their draft thesis, and when did

the PhD candidate defend his or her

thesis?

The individual PhD programmes are

monitored by the Faculty Graduate

Schools (FGS), to enable the system

to run as smoothly as possible and

so as to avoid potential glitches or to

identify these as swiftly as possible. The

management information provides input

that allows the university to work on

improving the doctoral defence pass-rate,

the supervision of PhD candidates and

the quality of the programmes. At the

same time the management information

forms a basis for both internal reports

(for example, to the Executive Board)

and external reports (both nationally and

internationally) about the PhD candidates.

The system has the following users:

• PhD candidates

• Supervisors

o Daily supervisors

o Promotor

o Copromotor

• Mentors

• Deputy Heads of Department secretary

These users have access via portals

where only specific data is shown and

can be entered. Staff from the FGS and

the University Graduate Schools (UGS)

work together from the back office.

The central UGS takes care of the first

registration by means of the intake. The

FGS staff subsequently form the contact

point for DMA users within their faculty.

The FGS can contact the UGS and

Information Management of Education

& Student Affairs (the functional

applications manager for the DMA) with

questions and reports.

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4. Doctoral Education

Encouraging personal

development is one of the

Graduate School’s core tasks.

Over the four years, the PhD

candidates follow various DE courses

that are divided into three categories:

transferable, discipline-related and

research skills. They must obtain a total

of 45 GS credits, where 1 GS credit

represents one day of a course plus

homework. With this programme, TU

Delft wants to ensure that in addition

to doing research, PhD candidates are

also trained in a broad range of areas,

meaning that they are well prepared

for the labour market after completing

their PhDs. At the start of their PhD

programme, PhD candidates draw up

personal plans that are linked to their

individual learning needs. They compile

their personal training programmes by

selecting from courses that are offered

by the GS, among others. They also

learn a lot from doing research, such

as by reviewing articles or attending

conferences. These learning-on-the-job

activities count as research skills in their

DE programme.

PhD Start-Up

Fourteen times a year, a three-day PhD

Start-Up (PSU) is organised. Every new

PhD candidate participates in the PSU

in the first months of his or her PhD

programme. The event is the official kick-

off to the DE programme, and falls under

transferable skills. The PhD candidates

follow the PSU in fixed groups of 25 or

so people and this provides a solid basis

for their activities in the following years.

Each day has a different theme:

1. The PhD programme at TU Delft,

with an emphasis on conditions and

expectations

2. Professional and personal

development, with an emphasis on

self-awareness and self-assessment

3. Scientific integrity and the scientific

community with an emphasis on the

societal and moral dimensions.

In addition, the PSU represents the start

of a PhD candidate’s university-wide

network

Quality of the DE programme

All of the courses that are provided by

the GS are evaluated after completion.

These evaluations provide a lot of input

for the continued improvement of the

programme and when necessary or

appropriate, the development of new

training courses.

2013

IIn 2013, a number of actions were

taken based on all the experiences of

2012. First, due to increased demand,

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Courses offered by the TU Delft Graduate School1

a number of courses were held more

frequently and new courses were added.

Furthermore, course descriptions were

adjusted, courses were discontinued

because they were not meeting demand,

and advanced courses were developed

to provide additional depth on certain

topics. From now on, trainers also had

to distinguish themselves by making a

round of ‘pitches’ before being able to

organise new courses.

2014

In 2014 DE will put an emphasis on

various topics. There is always a focus

on quality, both within the transferable

courses and the discipline-related

courses. The GS will look at whether it

might be possible to provide the various

modules in clusters for particular groups

of PhD candidates. In collaboration with

the FGS, the GS will provide a better

overview of discipline-related courses

and online education.

Furthermore, the information that is

provided to PhD candidates will be

improved, enabling them to gain greater

insight into how other PhD candidates

experienced the courses. Each quarter,

an overview will be provided on

Blackboard, which will offer qualitative

information on the courses that have

been given. Within the programme, a

number of advanced courses will be

developed further.

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5. Student counselor

The Graduate School’s full-

time psychologist offers

support to PhD candidates,

mentors and supervisors

(PhD supervisors, co-supervisors and

day-to-day supervisors). She talks

with, treats and trains the target

groups in situations where personal

circumstances, psychological problems

or communication problems are proving

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

extended, and new courses for mentors

have been developed.

Within the Netherlands, TU Delft is a

leader with its extensive counseling

provision. The key priority for 2014 is to

investigate the possibility for cooperating

with other graduate schools, national

and international. The first step will be

to start exchanging information and best

practices with them.

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6. Career counselor

The career counselor for PhD

candidates has worked for the

GS since May 2011 (0.5 FTE).

She talks with and advises PhD

candidates, trains them to reflect on their

careers after obtaining their doctorates

and helps them to answer questions

that arise during their PhD project. The

counseling is carried out within the

context of the TU Delft Career Centre.

This means that very soon after the start

of the Graduate School, it was possible

to put a broad range of programmes

for PhD candidates in place that were

linked to the DE programme, mostly in

cooperation with the student counselor.

At present the Career Centre offers

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

75 and 65 programmes, respectively.

In addition to the one-day training

courses and advisory programmes, PhD

candidates can make use of most of the

Career Centre’s other activities, such

as company presentations, networking

get-togethers, workshops, walk-in

consultations and the walk-in CV-check

service.

In 2014, the career counselor will

optimise and extend the current range

of training programmes in order to

absorb the growth in the number of

PhD candidates in the Graduate School.

Furthermore, she is stepping up contact

with supervisors, mentors and HR

advisors in order to boost referrals.

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7. The GS in a nutshell

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TU DELFT GRADUATE SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONInspiring research, excellent supervision and personal development

MAIN TOPICS WITHIN TU DELFT GRADUATE SCHOOL Doctoral Education (DE) PhD Supervision Support

Transparent and flexible process Quality Assessment

Rector/chairman

DirectorGS

E&SAdirector

HRMdirector

Vicerector

GS policy advisor

UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL BOARD“Provides an overall vision and mission”

SPECIFIC TASKSDetermines general DE objectives and frames

Describes desired doctoral culture at TU Delft

Formulates quality parametersSubmits 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

UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICE“Coordinates GS development and policy”

SPECIFIC TASKSDevelops, coordinates and organises transferable DE training for PhD candidates

Offers training and personal advice for supervisors and mentors

Evaluates the outcome of the TU Delft GS

Organises registration into the TU Delft GSManages and improves the monitoring of doctorates by running the Doctoral MonitoringApplication (DMA)

Offers personal and career advice and support to PhD candidates

GS policy officer

GS officer

Career councellor

Psycho-logist

Faculty GS

officer

Faculty GS

officer

FACULTY GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICE“Coordinates the Faculty GS issues”

SPECIFIC TASKS

Coordinates discipline related training

Supports supervisors

Supports the PhD development cycleEvaluates the outcome of the Faculty GSOrganises 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)

Uni

vers

ity G

SFa

culty

y G

S

February 2013

GSdirector

Prof of depart-ment

Head of E&SA

HR manager Mentor

Faculty GS

officer

FACULTY GRADUATE SCHOOL BOARD“Writes the Faculty Policy”

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 membersAdvises 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

8. TU Delft Graduate School organisation

Inspiring research, excellent supervision and personal development

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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

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