PhD education

• Can I use a data set to write multiple papers?
• My supervisor asks me to work extra hours and provide data for his paper, what do I do?
• Scientists are frequently faced with such dilemmas. The pressure to publish is high, project timelines are dependent on funding and your free time is sparse. In 2018 the Netherlands Code of Conduct was published, that aims to be a guideline for appropriate research practices. Yet, what use are codes in practice and who should take responsibility when dilemmas arise?

Outline

0.25 ECTS

In this training we will address several well-known cases that occur on a regular basis in research practices and discuss how to recognize problematic situations and how to devise strategies for dealing with them.

Participants read the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (www.vsnu.nl) in advance and describe how integrity is addressed in their own PhD-research proposal. The training will start with a short interactive lecture on the principles and standards of good research practice, based on the Code of Conduct. Next, we will have group discussions on issues that the teachers or participants bring in. The training ends with a short group assignment and plenary reflection on the issues discussed and how they relate to the virtues and standards for good research practice described in the Code of Conduct.

Dates 2023/2024 

Groups are limited to 20 participants 
 

Please keep the GSNS cancellation & no-show policy in mind. 

*Please note: this session has a hybrid option, that can be only used with valid reason. Contact science.phd@uu.nl to learn more. 

Trainers

Hieke Huistra and Abigail Nieves-Delgado

Course fee

This training is mandatory and for free.

Course Certificate

Participants will receive a certificate of completion.

• Should I agree with a colleague becoming co-author of a paper to which they have not made significant contribution?
• My supervisor is asked to review a paper for a journal, and asks me to take a look at it as well, should I do this?
• My co-authors and I disagree about the authorship order on a paper, what should we do?

During your PhD process, all kinds of questions arise surrounding authorship and peer review. In this training we will address several well-known cases that occur on a regular basis in publishing and reviewing practices and discuss how to recognize problematic situations and how to devise strategies for dealing with them.

As research integrity concerns everyone in the academic community, and since most of us have no intention of engaging in scientific misconduct, our course will not be focused on serious misbehaviour. Rather, we will zoom in on the so-called ‘grey zone’, where issues that occur in everyone’s daily life in the lab or workplace may raise questions about the best way to react, in accordance with the rules and norms of responsible conduct of research.

Outline

0.5 ECTS 

The training consists of a three-week online course combined with two face-to-face meetings. The online course takes place in small groups; participants will interact with each other frequently. Each week, new course materials will become available, and you are expected to log in yourself and start with the learning activities. Some of these activities involve interaction with other participants, while others can be done individually. Throughout the course, you will be invited to, if you want to, share your own experiences, and to think carefully about what you need to become better equipped to face and deal with integrity issues. In this way, we aim to make the course as relevant and practical as possible.

Training dates 2023/2024 

Two in-person session in the first and second week + online assignments (approximately 5h/week)

Please note that each group is limited to 25 participants. In case of high demand we will be working with a waiting lists on a first come first serve basis. To be put on the waiting list for a specific training, send an email to science.phd@uu.nl. 

Please keep the GSNS cancellation & no-show policy in mind. 

*Please note: The sessions of this groep will have a hybrid option, for participants with a valid reason to join online. Contact science.phd@uu.nl to see whether this applies to you. 

Course fee

This training is mandatory and free.

Course certificate

Participants will receive a certificate of completion.

• My supervisor disagrees with my research ideas, how do we resolve this conflict?
• How do I collaborate with other scientists in a competitive environment?
• How do I deal with conflicting interests when working with societal stakeholders?

During your PhD process, all kinds of questions arise surrounding supervision, mentoring, and collaborating (both inside and outside your research group). In this training we will address several well-known cases that occur on a regular basis in working with your supervisor and collaborating with others. We will discuss how to recognize problematic situations and how to devise strategies for dealing with them.

As research integrity concerns everyone in the academic community, and since most of us have no intention of engaging in scientific misconduct, our course will not be focused on serious misbehaviour. Rather, we will zoom in on the so-called ‘grey zone’, where issues that occur in everyone’s daily life in the lab or workplace may raise questions about the best way to react, in accordance with the rules and norms of responsible conduct of research.

Outline

1 ECTS

The training consists of a five-week online course combined with weekly face-to-face meetings. The online course takes place in small groups; participants will interact with each other frequently. Each week, new course materials will become available, and you are expected to log in yourself and start with the learning activities. Some of these activities involve interaction with other participants, while others can be done individually. Throughout the course, you will be invited to, if you want to, share your own experiences, and to think carefully about what you need to become better equipped to face and deal with integrity issues. In this way, we aim to make the course as relevant and practical as possible.

Training dates 2023/2024

5 weeks of online course (online assignments; approximately 5h/week) including 5 in-person sessions.

Please note that each group is limited to 25 participants. In case of high demand we will be working with a waiting lists on a first come first serve basis. To be put on the waiting list for a specific group, send an email to science.phd@uu.nl. 

Please keep the GSNS cancellation & no-show policy in mind. 

*Please note: The sessions of this groep will have a hybrid option, for participants with a valid reason to join online. Contact science.phd@uu.nl to see whether this applies to you. 

Course fee

This training is mandatory and free.

Course certificate

Participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Supervising Research of MSc Students is for GSNS PhD candidates that have at least a couple of months experience with supervising a student. It is a requirement that you are supervising a MSc student during the time period of the course.

Course description

Supervising MSc student research is a complicated process. What is the best way to supervise depends on many factors: the abilities of the student, the type of research, the research phase (the startup, data collection/ analysis, the final writing part) and of course the abilities of the supervisor. In this course, supervisors work on expanding their own repertoire and gaining insights in their own style and possibilities regarding the supervision of MSc student research. We offer tools and guidelines for implementing personal supervising strategies like giving effective feedback, for differentiating supervision to meet students’ needs, for assessing progress, and for dealing with frequently occurring problems such as motivating students, dealing with delay and so on.

This course is aimed at supervisors of MSc students of the GS-NS. Some experience with supervising MSc students is required, in order to be able to reflect on your own supervising behavior during the course. Moreover, the course consists of several assignments in which you put theory into your supervision practice, so we strongly recommend that you have a student during the course.

Learning objectives

After this course:

• You have reflected on your own supervision practice
• You have gained insights in your own strength and development points, but also in those of your MSc student
• You will be able to apply didactical insights (theories) to your own supervision practice
• You have broadened your supervision skills (e.g. coaching & conversation skills, feedback skills, assessment skills)
• You have practiced how to use more effective ways to handle intercultural work situations
• You will be able to deal with difficult situations in your supervision practice from a broader perspective
• You have formulated, implemented, and evaluated plans how to optimize your supervision practice to meet MSc students’ needs
• You have developed a personal supervision plan

Instructional method

This five-session course will focus on placing supervisors' experience from their own day-to-day practice in the context of theory, and exploring its implications. The day-to-day practice of supervisors will be used as a basis of the course to ensure that supervisors will get most out of it. The following assignments provide an idea of how this works:

• Discussing supervision styles and possibilities with peers 
• Conducting a strengths/weaknesses analysis of both supervisor and MSc students
• Talking about mutual expectations with your MSc students
• Assessing progress of your MSc students on both product and process level
• Analyzing challenging situations of supervisors
• Exploring ways how to deal with difficult situations that regularly occur (including role-play)
• Formulating, implementing, and evaluating plans how to optimize your supervision practice
• Developing a supervision plan (how to work towards specific learning objectives in a targeted way)

You will prepare assignments in advance of each session and receive written or oral feedback during the course. At the first session, you will receive the book ‘Supervising PhD Students: A Practical Guide and Toolkit’ by Kearns & Finn.

Course trainers

Dr. Sibel Telli, Educational Consultancy & Professional Development (O&T), Utrecht University. 
Course meeting ‘intercultural communication’: Dr. Ivana Brasileiro Reis Pereira

Group size

8 to 12 participants

Number of credits

1.25 EC

Course schedule

Study load

In addition to the scheduled sessions, you should take into account an extra study load of approximately 15 hours in total. This study load generally consists of homework assignments in preparation for the next session.

Course certificate

You will receive a certificate after actively participating in at least four out of five course sessions (80% attendance). It is mandatory to attend the first session. If you are absent in the first session you cannot follow the remaining of the course.

This course does not count as didactic training for your University Teaching Qualification (UTQ, Basis Kwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO). 

Cancellation and No-show policy

Most courses offered by GSNS are free of charge, which does not mean free of responsibility: Once you have signed up for a course or training, you are expected to attend. We are handling the following cancellation and no-show policy:

• Cancellation of the course registration is possible up to the registration deadline (usually 2 weeks before the course; 3 weeks for COSKA & ARTESC courses). After this date you can only cancel if you have a GSNS PhD candidate to replace you in the course. Send the name and contact information of your replacement to science.phd@uu.nl, at least 2 working days before the start of the course.
• We expect you to actively attend the full course.
• Not meeting the requirements above means that you will be charged a no-show fee: €50 for every course <1 day; €200 for courses >1 day. An invoice will be sent to you after the course has ended.
• Exceptions to this policy will only be made for valid reasons (i.e., illness or death in the family 1^st/2^nd degree or partner), communicated by e-mail to science.phd@uu.nl

For all UU employees (including PhD Candidates) that start to teach and have little or no prior teaching experience. 

Start to Teach is 3 day training programme offered by the Centre of Academic Teaching and Learning (CAT). It is open to all staff members inlcuding doctoral candidates that teach for the first time. This programme is offered four times each year at the start of every teaching period. It is important that participants have teaching tasks during the period in which they participate in the Start to Teach programme.

For more information & registration please visit the Development Guide page of the programme. 

Please note: This training does not provide exemption for the UTQ training programme. 

This Teacher Training is developed for starting PhD candidates from the Faculty of Science with little or no teaching experience.  

Content
During the course three main themes are addressed in a cyclic manner through self and peer assessment:

• Design a lesson or a course (writing intended learning outcomes; choosing activities and didactic approaches; assessment and testing)
• Teaching practices: giving lectures, tutorials and supervising students
• Reflection on your own teaching experiences

The course consists of four group sessions (session 5 is a backup option) and homework. It is taught in groups of max. 20 participants and requires approximately 40 hours of study, including meetings.

Please note: This training does not provide exemption for the UTQ training programme (BKO leergang). 

Amount of participants
10-20

Trainers
Dr. Henri Matimba and Christian Köppe, Msc, Freudenthal Institute

Dates and registration 

Meetings are on Wednesdays from 09:00-13:00h. 

Registration & deadlines 
Registration for GROUP 1 is closed. If you still would like to participate please email to science.phd@uu.nl 

Registration for GROUP 2 is closed.

For questions regarding the registration please contact the GSNS PhD team: science.phd@uu.nl

Please keep the GSNS cancellation & no-show policy in mind. 

Language
The course will be taught in English.

Workload
~40 h, 1.5 ECTS

Intake requirements
PhD candidate of the Faculty of Science

Costs
Participation is free

More information?
If you have any questions, please send an email to science.phd@uu.nl or Henri Matimba.

Training programme offered by the Faculty of Science for the University Teaching Qualification - ONLY for PhD Candidates with extended teaching tasks. 

To teach at a Dutch university you are required to either hold or train to obtain a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ; basiskwalificatie onderwijs = BKO; assistant professor level; universitair docent (UD)) or Senior Teaching Qualification (STQ; senior kwalificatie onderwijs = SKO; (associate) professor level; universitair hoofddocent (UHD) of professor). 

Under specific circumstances it is possible for PhD candidates with a high teaching load to obtain their UTQ (BKO) during their PhD. High teaching load here either means a 5 year contract and extended teaching tasks or - in rare cases - PhD Candidates with prior (university) teaching experience. PhD candidates can - in consultation with their supervisors and the UTQ/STQ faculty contact - register for the UTQ track and join the UTQ training programme of the Faculty of Science (Beta BKO leergang). 

For more information on the requirements for the UTQ & the registration as well as practical considerations please visit the UTQ/STQ intranet page of the faculty of Science or contact the UTQ/STQ faculty contact.

When you present, you expect your audience to be attentive throughout your talk - after all, they love science. Sadly, this is rarely the case. We blame this on a short attention span, but why can the same audience watch movies for hours on end? Apparently, actors and playwrights have found a way to engage their audience better. So, why not use their tools to learn how to present better? In this three-day course you will learn to engage your audience with theatrical skills and shape your content with storytelling and style tools. Master your performance skills and let your content take centre stage!

Learning objectives

During this course you will learn the fifteen signals necessary for effective communication. You will learn how to get attention at the start of your presentations and how to keep the audience attentive by using style and transitions. You will learn to design a presentation using story tools and supportive slides that allow you to be the main act on the stage and you will learn how to respond to questions effectively.

Instructional method

You will discover the necessary tools and apply them to your presenting. Various methods will be applied, such as theatre exercises, individual presenting exercises, group discussion, peer review, story design exercises and interactive lecturing. The course will be taught on-site

Trainer

You will be trained by a trainer of Artesc.

Number of credits

1.0 EC

Course certificate

You will receive a course certificate if you attend and complete at least 2.5 course days. You cannot miss the first morning session.

Course fee

€750

Quotes

• "This course offered me a broad set of tools that will make my future presentations more exciting and interesting for both me and my audience"
• "I learned how to bring myself into a presentation, to speak in a way that makes people listen. I also learned to really make contact with my audience and not just deliver information"
• "Even though I thought I could already present pretty well, this course taught me many useful tips and tricks that can get your audience to really listen to what you are saying. This will greatly increase the impression you make."

Course Schedule 2023

Please not that the groups are limited to 7 participants

Contact science.phd@uu.nl with any questions regarding the course and (late) registration. Please keep the GSNS cancellation & no-show policy in mind. 

The data support teams of the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Geosciences are co-hosting a series of workshops on research data management topics in October and November 2023. More information as well as a detailed description of the workshop content can be found website of RDM support.

Registration for the workshops is required. During registration you can choose the workshop(s) and date(s) you want to register to. Register here 

Please note: Upon registration you will be notified on the location of the workshop (s) you have registered to. 

For questions please contact rdm-beta@uu.nl

When you witness inappropriate behaviour, you can take action yourself. But how? In the ‘Active Bystander’ training, you learn about signs of inappropriate behaviour and you receive tools to make inappropriate behaviour discussable.
This is a training offered to all UU employees free of charge. 

More information 

For training dates and registration please refer to the development guide page of the training 

If you have any questions about the training ‘Active Bystander’ in particular or about inclusion & social safety in general, please contact edi.office@uu.nl or read all information on the website.