PhD council

In September 2010, the Faculty of Spatial Sciences established a PhD council. The main task of this PhD council is to represent the interests of all PhD candidates associated with the Graduate School of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen. The following paragraphs explain the PhD council in more detail.

 

The Spatial Sciences PhD Council (SSPC) discusses a wide variety of PhD related issues, including research work, supervision, monitoring, performance, work circumstances, teaching, courses, facilities, and Graduate School developments. Meetings occur six times a year.

 

The SSPC will inform and advise both the board of the Faculty of Spatial Sciences as well as the Dean of the Groningen Graduate Schools. The PhD council is the contact platform regarding PhD-related issues for the Faculty Board, URSI/Graduate School, and all PhD researchers within the faculty. The SSPC is also represented in the PhD council for the university as a whole. A delegation of members will participate in RuG Graduate Schools PhD meetings.

 

Current members of the Spatial Sciences PhD Council (2011-2012) include: Tim Busscher (PhD candidate), Elen-Maarja Trell(PhD candidate), Jianjun Tang (PhD candidate), Anu Kõu  (PhD candidate) and Inge Hutter (Director Graduate School). Openings for new members will be at the start of every academic year. In principle, all departments (economic geography, cultural geography, planning, demography) will be represented (by one member per department).

 

For this academic year, the PhD council will pay special attention to the following points:

• Establishment of the PhD council as an active and acknowledged body among the PhD candidates of our faculty and within the Graduate School of Spatial Sciences, the Faculty of Spatial Sciences, and the PhD council for the university as a whole.
• Improvement of PhD information sources, e.g. update of Graduate School Study Guide, PhD manual, and Graduate School website. We aim to update these sources regularly, thereby making the Graduate School website the portal to all relevant PhD information.
• Improvement of PhD trajectory assistance, e.g. start of Mentor system, and improvement/linking of “Template for Progress Interview PhD student”, “Career Development Interview Academic Staff” and “Training and Supervision Plan (TSP)”

Of course, we, the PhD council, will need your input for improving things at our faculty. So do not hesitate to contact us if you have suggestions, questions, complaints, (and someday possibly compliments  ;-)) from your side, for instance, suggestions regarding PhD courses or the PhD manual, or information you think should become available on the Graduate School website.

 

You can contact the members individually, but perhaps the easiest way is to e-mail us on our e-mail address: phdcouncil.frw@rug.nl