PhD students increasingly satisfied with the University
PhD students in Groningen are increasingly satisfied with the conditions during their research period. This can be concluded from the outcomes of the PhD survey 2011, a university wide survey that was filled out by 42% of the PhD students.
In 2011 the second PhD survey was administered. This is two years after the start of the Groningen Graduate School system. PhD students were questioned about their satisfaction with several aspects concerning their activities like education, supervision, working conditions and career prospects. Compared to the results of 2009 when the first survey took place students were more satisfied about all aspects but one. Apparently the significant increase in number of PhD students at the University of Groningen as well as their employment status (bursary or employee) had no negative effect on PhD student satisfaction.
|
Evaluation aspect |
Survey 2009 |
Survey 2011 |
|
Supervision - organisation |
3.23 |
3.35 |
|
Supervision - quality |
3.18 |
3.28 |
|
Expertise and support |
3.03 |
3.13 |
|
Training and Supervision Plan |
2.77 |
2.66 |
|
Education |
2.84 |
3.03 |
|
Working conditions |
3.01 |
3.10 |
|
General satisfaction |
3.20 |
3.29 |
Satisfaction was scored on a scale of 1 to 4
Points of Improvement
Points ofimprovement concern the information provision to PhD students, especially regarding career planning, more educational facilities and the reduction of time allotted to writing the thesis.
The University of Groningen expects the Graduate Schools to play a more significant role in realizing these improvements.
More information
The outcomes of the PHD surveycan be found at www.rug.nl/graduateschools.
| Last modified: | 15 September 2017 3.28 p.m. |
More news
-
11 July 2019
Major companies’ annual reports too vague about climate impact
Many major Dutch companies publish extensive information about climate impact in their annual reports. However, very few companies provide concrete, detailed information about their own CO2 emissions, the impact of climate change on their business...
-
08 July 2019
UG permanently closes Yantai project
The University of Groningen (UG) has permanently closed the project aimed at creating a branch campus in Yantai. Discussions were held with China Agricultural University, the city of Yantai and the Province of Shandong.
-
03 July 2019
Cheap train tickets boost public transport use but reduce customer satisfaction
Offers of cheap single train tickets through retailers such as Kruidvat or Etos have a positive impact on the number of kilometres travelled by rail. This impact is much bigger than that of more general TV, newspaper or magazine advertising. However,...