Instruktioner till uppföljningsgruppen
Guidelines for the follow-up group (uppföljningsgrupp) for PhD students
The follow-up group meeting is expected to be held once a year, preferably during the months of January–February. The PhD student is responsible for organising the meeting.
It is important to remember that the follow-up group is not an evaluation group. It is a group where you can discuss and be advised on how things are going and should proceed during your PhD programme (e.g. there should be a discussion about what is going well and what has not gone well over the course of the year/in the coming years – past/present/future).
Some of the topics that should be discussed include:
(1) Why are you a PhD student? What are your plans after your thesis defence?
(2) Whether or not you have been sticking to your research and course plan (if not why)?
(3) How many course credits you have taken during the year and whether there have been any problems with this?
(4) Are your supervision and support satisfactory?
(5) Is there enough money for your projects?
(6) Discuss planning, field/laboratory work, analysis and writing/publishing for the next year(s).
(7) Which courses and which conferences are you planning to attend and why?
(8) Whether you foresee any problems to fulfil your study/research plan for the coming year(s)
(9) Are you pleased with your life as a PhD student?
The chairman of the group should take notes and after the meeting these notes should be kept by the chairman. To make it possible to bring up any topic the PhD student finds relevant, he/she has the right to decide what the minutes from the meeting should include. The chairman should report (via e-mail) to the supervisor and Birgitta Nordin that the meeting has been held. If the PhD student agrees, the chairman should report to the supervisor if there are specific concerns that need attention. If the PhD student has complaints about the supervisor and identifies problems that he/she wants to solve, the chairman should report these to the Director of PhD Studies and the Department Head. However, the minutes from the meeting should not be sent out, but should be kept by the chairman.
PhD students should send the following material to their follow-up groups prior to the meeting:
• A list of the course points taken during the PhD studies (i.e. points in LADOK)
• The study/research plan for the year in question
• Any relevant research accomplishments or concerns
• Anything else that might be useful for the group to look at prior to the meeting.
