Course How to manage your PhD project: Identifying opportunities and challenges – setting the compass

The course N/T 625/01 How to manage your PhD project: Identifying opportunities and challenges – setting the compass is being offered by the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Aarhus University, Spring and Fall 2025.

ECTS credits:
2 ECTS points [for 2.5 full workshop days, incl. preparation and assignment(s)]

Course parameters:

• Language: English
  
• Level of course: PhD candidates in the first year of their doctorate
• No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like: contact hours = 7 + 7 + 3.5 | hours for preparation & assignment(s) = 32,5 | total = 50
• Participants will have to do assignments before and between the workshop days
• Capacity limit: 20 participants

Objectives of the course:
In the workshop, the participants will clarify the central requirements of their doctoral situation and recognise in which areas there is still catching up to do.

Learning outcomes and competences:
New, time limited and complex – such are the tasks generally undertaken as projects. A work environment without project work is almost unimaginable nowadays. And this is not only true for the non-academic sector: Even the doctorate is a project!

Proven project management tools pave the way for the professional development and planning of PhD projects, for competent guiding of their implementation and for their successful completion. With the help of these tools even difficult steps throughout the doctorate can be safely navigated.

During the workshop the participants familiarise themselves with the most important project management methods and instruments necessary for the PhD project.

At the end of this workshop participants should be able to:

1. Take ownership of their projects, especially their PhD project, and make use of tools for a professional preparation and implementation of projects
2. Deal with time management issues and the unavoidably unforeseen in science
3. Improve and expand their interaction with supervisors and colleagues in order to integrate themselves into their respective scientific communities
4. Combine their personal development with their scientific activities

Compulsory programme:
To pass the course and receive a course certificate, participants must attend at least 85 % of each of the two and a half course days, with no possibility of compensation, and they are required to complete the assignment[s] before and between the workshop days.

Course contents:
>> Basics of project management: From design to completion of a project

>> Taking ownership of your PhD and your projects: Clarification of goals and roles

>> How to handle the unforeseen: Strategies for dealing with risks and chances

>> Stakeholder analysis: Where do I find support for my project?

>> Communication is key even in science: Power of persuasion and assertiveness

>> Lone ranger? Interaction with colleagues and scientific community

>> The idiosyncrasies of science: Managing the balancing act between collaboration and competition

>> Self-management: Tips and tricks which really work

>> The writing-up phase of a thesis: How to organise it efficiently?

>> Work-life balance: Supportive activities

>> Personal development and career advancement: What do I have to focus on?

>> Managing my PhD project: My next steps

Prerequisites:
None

Name of lecturer:
Dr. Gunnar Seemann, GOLIN SCIENCE MANAGEMENT, Berlin

Type of course/teaching methods:
The acquisition of relevant skills is at the core of the workshop. The content is made useable for the participants in their everyday work situations. Alongside knowledge input the workshop therefore includes engaging and interactive elements [dialogue, individual and group work etc]. Through practice relevant exercises and constructive feedback the participants can improve their self-assessment and develop individual methods to reach their goals.

Course assessment:
Attendance threshold = 85%

Provider:
GOLIN SCIENCE MANAGEMENT, Berlin

Time:
2.5 days

Place:
Aarhus University.

No show fee:
Course participants on our transferable skills courses, who do not show up at the course or cancel their course participation after the course cancellation deadline (without providing a doctor’s note), may have to pay a no-show fee, unless someone from the waiting list is able to take part in the course instead.

The no-show fee is DKK 1,200 (the price of one ECTS). The no-show fee has been introduced due to many late cancellations, thus preventing people from the waiting lists to have a seat at the courses.

Registration:
Participation in the course is without cost for PhD students from Aarhus University

Due to an Agreement between Danish Universities that came into force as of 1 January 2011, participants from other universities than Aarhus University will have to pay DKK 1,200 per ECTS. In principle this also applies to external parties, but exemption can be granted under specific circumstances.

Please be aware that your registration for the course not necessarily equals your admission for the course. You will receive an e-mail after the registration deadline regarding whether you are admitted for the course or if you are registered on the waiting list. Please note that seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Course dates:

• 14 May 2025 09:00 - 17:00
• 15 May 2025 09:00 - 17:00
• 16 May 2025 09:00 - 12:30