Description
* BKB: “Basis Kwalificatie Begeleiding van PhD-kandidaten”/Basic Qualification Supervision of PhD-candidates
This 4-day course facilitates you to develop your competences as a PhD supervisor and makes your role as a supervisor easier and more effective. Keeping PhD candidates motivated, helping them grow and finish on time with great results, is quite a difficult task for a supervisor. Supervisors tend to find it difficult to balance the effective monitoring of the progress and success of the projects with the coaching of the candidates. In this course you will learn how to be more effective, save time, and balance your efforts well. We offer information and skills training in a group of peers.
Course dates 2024
The training Basic Qualification Supervision of PhD-candidates will take place twice in 2024: once in the first half of the year and once in the second half of the year. Both courses are now open for registration.
2024
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Course 1
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Course 2
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Time
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Day 1
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8 February
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10 September
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10.00-17.00
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Day 2
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29 February
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8 October
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10.00-17.00
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Day 3
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21 March
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5 November
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10.00-17.00
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Day 4
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11 April
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3 December
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10.00-17.00
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Target group and requirements for participation
The course is developed especially for FHML staff. The themes were determined with the training company, ElroyCOM Training, by a project group of the UM Staff Career Centre, the HR Department and Research Office of FHML, in consultation with the Board, directors of the Research Institutes and the Faculty-wide PhD committee (PhD coordinators and PhD representatives of all FHML Research Institutes), which means that the course is widely supported in the organisation. See also 'How the course works'.
The target group consists of FHML staff members:
- Who were offered a permanent position as Assistant or Associate Professor relatively recently, or;
- With whom a Tenure Track has been agreed upon, or;
- Who were proposed by their Research Institute, and
- Remaining places are open to those who express interest on their own initiative, or were recommended to do the course by the Staff Career Centre, their HR advisor, or their colleagues.
For participation in the course, you need to be involved as (co-)supervisor, formally or informally, in at least one PhD trajectory and preferably to have supervised a maximum of five PhD trajectories that have already defended their thesis[1]. Supervisors in this range of experience are considered ‘Beginner to Advanced’ level. The course materials and assignments are designed for this level of expertise.
The FHML Board and training company ElroyCOM have expressed explicitly that participants are required to attend fully, which means 100% attendance during all 4 course days. Only in emergencies we can accept a maximum absence of one day (not being the first or last course day). This is a requirement for registration as well as for receiving the course certificate, that will be added to your Personnel file at HR, after completing the course. Therefore, a thorough check of the course dates with your agenda and blocking these days is essential. Not adhering to the attendance rules will lead to exclusion of the course and not receiving the certificate. In case of any unforeseen absence during the course, please inform the secretariat of ElroyCOM Training directly.
Themes and Methods
The course addresses the following themes:
- Starting up supervision and PhD project monitoring;
- Performance management: Feedback, conflict and negotiation;
- Supporting cooperation, motivation and well-being;
- Leadership and communication styles.
Based on various leadership and communication models, questions are addressed such as: How can you keep your PhD candidates motivated? What do you do when they lack skills? How can you delegate more to them? How can you make feedback supportive and effective? How can you monitor and maintain a healthy workload? How can you deal with cultural differences? When do you switch from teaching to coaching them? A professional and academic training actor will help by practicing situations from the context of the individual participants. To this end, we would like to ask you to fill out an intake form before the course starts. In this form you can formulate your personal learning needs and goals. We would advise you to discuss this with your manager (the person you have your annual appraisal with). Optional is finding a personal mentor-coach, preferably someone from a different Department to receive input from a different perspective and (coaching) culture. See also ‘Program' and 'Flyer’.
Duration and set-up
The course consists of 4 whole training days with intervals of several weeks, plus home assignments and reflection. You will be asked to reserve 1 hour before each training day for these home assignments (both practicing and preparation).
In the training days, various expert-trainers and training actors help you to practice skills related to the subjects in the course. At the end of each training day, as well as during home assignments, you will have time to reflect in your Portfolio document and draw conclusions. The end result of the course is your individual Personal Action Plan (PAP): A selection of goals that you would like to keep working on, how, and when. We advise you to discuss this PAP with your manager.
Training bureau
The course is performed by academically trained instructors and actors of training bureau ElroyCOM. Their drive and enthusiasm, as well as the reflection, exercises and course materials they provide, in addition to being away from your daily setting to exchange thoughts with peers, were evaluated very positively by the participants:
“This course is a must for those who take supervision of their PhD students seriously and genuinely want to get better at it.”
“The course created more awareness about how you function as a supervisor, your influence as supervisor and your leadership style, reflection on how you do things. And awareness that some things cannot be solved.”
“You were forced to think and reflect on your own performance, which is very good. You have a large responsibility as a supervisor, because it concerns people management.”
“The insights will especially affect planning and management of the PhD trajectory, setting it up, clarifying roles and expectations better at the beginning, helping them to manage their network; awareness for their perspective on things, and realizing that PhD supervision can be done in many different ways. I am sure it will also help in managing future conflicts.”
The UM Central PhD Candidates Platform (CPCP) proclaimed the ‘BKB-course’ as ‘best practice’.
Registration and information
Please contact the Staff Career Centre: staffcareercentre@maastrichtuniversity.nl or the FHML Policy advisor for PhD Affairs: i.leijs@maastrichtuniversity.nl (Ingrid Leijs) for more information, or for a place on the waiting list. After the intake and receipt of the course materials, the secretariat ElroyCOM Training will be your contact point.
Fees
The costs of participation (about €1200 per course per participant) are fully covered by the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. Please enter budget number 50190101N when registering.
No cancelation option
There is no cancellation option; subscription to the course entails full participation and responsibility to keep the course days blocked in your agenda. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, please contact the Staff Career Centre: staffcareercentre@maastrichtuniversity.nl as soon as possible.
* Note: By registering you agree that your first name, last name and (business/private) email address will be shared with the trainer.
[1] The requirement to be involved in at least one PhD trajectory is a strict requirement, because without this experience, the course is less effective. The requirement however to have supervised a maximum of 5 PhD trajectories is less strict. When you have supervised more than 5 PhD candidates, but feel that you would benefit from the course you are welcome to participate.
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