Important updates concerning our Doctoral program in Biology !

As of the 1st of October 2022, the following changes will be implemented:

• A new name for the program: Doctoral School in Life Sciences (DSLS)​

• A new thesis development structure (only applicable to new PhD students), including: 

  • Appointment of a Thesis Advisory committee (TAC) at the onset of the thesis. The TAC consists of at least 3 members incl. the PhD supervisor, 1 internal and 1 external member (all members should hold a PhD and have expertise in the topic of the thesis project). The TAC’s role is to advise the PhD candidate, provide critical feedback on the research project and data interpretation, monitor the thesis progress throughout the doctoral studies, and provide support if needed.

    The TAC will meet once a year. The first time within the first 6 months of the PhD (ideally before the first field work or data collection)  to evaluate the project proposal feasibility and methodology. The TAC will then meet after 18, 30, and 42 (only if needed) months after the onset of the PhD thesis.

    With the exception of the 30 months' meeting, we encourage these meetings to be held online. These meetings are meant to produce a progress report on the thesis. The progress reports will be in the form of a brief questionnaire to evaluate the PhD progress (questionnaire for the TAC), as well as the quality of the supervision (questionnaire for the PhD student). Before each meeting, the PhD students will send a short progress report to the members of their committee in preparation for the meeting. During the meeting, the PhD students will briefly present their work and discuss their progress and future plans for the thesis. These meetings can be held online. The form for committee members registration can be found here

  • The number of credits required remains at 12, with a minimum of 6 credits within the Doctoral School program, and a minimum of 2 in each activity category (Transferable skills, Research tools, Scientific activities).

  • Publications as 1st author in a peer-reviewed journal now count for 1 credit (in the category Scientific activities).

  • The service learning activity "Microbes at School" organised by the Microbiology lab can now be integrated by PhD students (with a limited number of places) and will count as 3 credits (in the category Transferable skills)

  • and many more updates in the yearly program to discover online !

 Important note: the Doctoral School will award its PhD student members with a certificate of completion after they successfully defended their PhD if they have complied with all the DSLS requirements. The DSLS does not award the PhD degree itself 

As a reminder, please note that no travel nor mobility grants can be awarded anymore by the Doctoral School.

• 13 September 2023

​Ethics in Experimental Research

• 3, 10, 17 November 2023

Teaching and Learning Science (in coll. with CUSO)

• 14 & 21 November 2023

​Scientific writing workshop

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