Doctoral plan and supervision

As a doctoral candidate at ETH Zurich, you are required to submit a doctoral plan within your first year. This crucial document forms the foundation of your aptitude colloquium and is essential for your definitive admission to the doctoral program.

This workshop will address topics as:

• Formal requirements: criteria and standards your doctoral plan must meet
• Structure and sections: guidance on effectively organizing your plan, ensuring all critical sections are addressed
• Common challenges: you will work on the typical hurdles faced during the drafting process, receiving insights and strategies to overcome them. These include:
  • Identifying and refining pertinent research questions
    
  • Formulating a cohesive and robust research project 
  • Navigating the writing process with efficiency and clarity 
  • Time-management during the writing process.
    

This workshop is designed to offer you not just theoretical knowledge, but also practical skills. You will have the opportunity to work in groups, focusing on individual challenges, and receiving tailored feedback. Whether you are struggling with the conceptualization of your research or the mechanics of writing, our goal is to equip you with the tools and confidence necessary to craft a successful doctoral plan.

We recommend this workshop for students who have already acquired some research experience in their doctorate.

Research has shown consistently that the relationship between doctoral students and their supervisors influences the research productivity and the success of the doctorate. Moreover, a good supervisory relationship helps maintain the candidate satisfaction and mental health.

Join us for this workshop and learn about the importance and the complexity of the supervisory relationship. You will be introduced to strategies for establishing and maintaining a positive and productive relationship with your supervisor and you will learn where to turn for support if you have questions, concerns, or problems.

The workshop addresses aspects of doctoral supervision at ETH as:
• the successful doctorate, the good supervisor
• supervision styles
• rules on the doctorate at ETH
• management of mutual expectations
• effective meetings
• ask/receive useful feedback
• where to find advice & information at ETH.

Note that this will be an interactive workshop with theoretical inputs and group discussions during which active participation is requested.