Starting out as a new PhD student

As soon as you receive permission to enroll as a PhD student, you will be added to the department’s e-mail list, even if you are not due to begin your studies for another month or two. If it doesn’t happen automatically please contact the PhD secretary. This is for practical reasons and to ensure that you receive the appropriate information. PhD students are allowed to attend courses and seminars before their studies formally start. The secretary will arrange a meeting with the Head of the PhD programme, the Head of Studies and the PhD secretary on the first day of your employment or at the earliest possible opportunity thereafter. On this occasion, you will have the opportunity to ask the Head of the PhD programme questions about:

  • Conditions and rights concerning supervision
  • General rules and advice concerning the PhD thesis and defence
  • Obligations, conditions and rights concerning internal evaluations, ECTS points and PhD courses
  • Conditions and rights concerning participation in conferences
  • Conditions and rights concerning a long-term research stay abroad
  • Phd-specific and general meetings, seminars and research group affiliations at the department
  • Other things concerning your PhD education/employment (please prepare questions)

You will at this occasion also have the opportunity to talk with the Head of Studies about your teaching obligations. Such obligations usually concern only PhD students funded by the department, but externally funded students should meet with the Head of Studies if they wish to teach.

You will also at this occasion meet the PhD secretary, who will help you with practical questions concerning your employment and also designate one of the other PhD students as your point of contact (mentor).

You are expected to write a brief description of your PhD project and send it by mail to the members of the academic staff of the department, and also to make a short presentation of your project at the monthly PhD morning seminar (see below). Contact the PhD secretary to find a date.

After three months the student (with support from her/his supervisor) should have composed a preliminary PhD plan for the whole three-year PhD programme. At this point the student should arrange a meeting about the plan with the Head of the PhD programme (the Head of Studies if relevant) and the supervisor (and co-supervisor).

As a minimum the individual PhD plan must describe the following elements of the student’s work:

  • Time schedule
  • Agreement on the type and scope of the supervision
  • Plan for completing the project
  • Plan for participation in PhD courses (including plan for ECTS points)
  • Plan for participating in active research communities
  • Plan for teaching activities and knowledge dissemination
  • Plan for research stay abroad

External students may have an e-mail address at the institute or use another. Please coordinate with the PhD secretary. To the extent possible the PhD student should have an office in the department for 6-12 months. This is coordinated individually. Please remember to notify both your place of employment and the department when you are ill or on vacation.