Graduate School EEMCS guide

An impression of the Graduate School of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

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Graduate School Timeline

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Welcome in our PhD program A guide for doing your PhD at the Faculty of EEMCS

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Contents

‘Research is fun! The TU Delft offers a great place to do exciting research. You will work with top researchers and infrastructure. This will take you on the roller coaster of science where new discoveries take place on a daily basis. The graduate school supports you in this journey. Enjoy!’ Marcel Reinders | Director Graduate School 4

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Contents

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Foreword

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A structured PhD programme

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Docotoral education programme

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The best possible supervision

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Events, lunch meetings and workshops

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Reliable management information

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PhD Council

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Organisation, addresses and contact persons

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Foreword

‘For me it is a great challenge to work with the people behind the system, with supervisors, mentors, PhD Council and many others to optimise the working conditions for PhD-candidates within the Faculty of EEMCS’ Paula van den Bergh | Coördinator FGS

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The TU Delft offers an inspiring research environment. You will have the opportunity to immerse in high-impact research projects across a variety of disciplines. You will closely interact with worldclass researchers and you will benefit from an excellent team of supervisors that will guide you. The EEMCS graduate school supports you in this journey and stimulates you to continuously develop yourself to boost you to maximal performance.

A PhD takes four years. You probably have never worked on a project of this magnitude in your career so far. It is a real challenge, like being a professional athlete with the Olympic Games in sight.

Similarly, your PhD will have high peaks when you are successful in your research, such as a scientific paper being accepted. But at times it will also be difficult, such as when experimentation fails. But you are not alone! Many have already trodden the path you are about to tread and have reached their destination successfully. You can learn from their experience. And there are around 500 colleagues in the faculty having the same goal. Collaborate, learn, get inspired, and share experiences!

This guide explains what the Graduate School offers you.

Welcome and enjoy!

Prof.dr.ir. Marcel J.T. Reinders

Drs. Paula T.M. van den Bergh

Director

Coรถrdinator

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A structured PhD programme

‘For me the Graduate School is about professional guidance by promotors and daily supervisors, giving attention to people and their scientific and personal development and finding solutions for all kinds of problems between PhD-candidates and the organisation…and that is also the core of Human Resources!’

Elly Pauw | Manager Human Resources 8

Structure is an essential precondition in enabling you to develop complete autonomy as an individual.

This also applies to a PhD programme.

Recruitment, selection and appointment A PhD is not something you do as a hobby. Effective recruitment, selection and appointment are all essential factors before the parties take the plunge and work together: your promotor assessing you as a PhD candidate, and you making commitments for the next four years.

The more effective the recruitment process, the better informed you are about what you are choosing to do and the more quickly you and your supervisors can set to work on new research.

If you are successful in being selected, the formal appointment will follow. You will be registered with Human Resources (HR) and you can soon expect to be called up for an intake interview at the central office of the University Graduate School (UGS).

The intake During the intake you are registered into the Doctoral Monitoring Application (DMA), the TU Delft-wide management and monitoring tool. This includes details like the source and type of funding, type of contract and whether you will be participating in an (inter-)national research school. To smooth this process you will be asked to bring the appropriate documents. During the intake, a timeline (see page 4) will be used to clarify the various steps that need to be taken during the PhD programme.

PhD StartUp Once you have been properly registered and have attended the intake interview, you can log on to Blackboard, the TU Delft-wide platform where educational information can be found and where you can register for courses.

Within the first months you are expected to follow the PhD StartUp program, which is an introduction of three half-day sessions that looks at all the ins and outs of completing a PhD at TU Delft.

During these days, PhD candidates from all faculties meet to share

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‘The intake interview is not limited to registration and admission. By the end of the intake, candidates know what to do and what to expect, where to find both practical information and formal regulations and how to use available tools and services’ Nelie-Roos Hamelinck | University Graduate School | Intake Officer

experiences and information and learn about making the transition towards a PhD candidate at the TU Delft. You will be advised on drawing up a PhD research agreement which: 1. Defines how often you see your supervisor; 2. Describes the research you will conduct, and 3. Gives a specification of your scheduled educational program.

EEMCS Faculty Introductory Meeting In addition to the intake and the PhD start-up, you will also be invited for an introduction meeting at the faculty. These meetings are held every two months and attended by around 15-20 fellow PhD candidates, all of whom have just joined one of the faculty’s five departments.

Here, the FGS Director welcomes all newcomers, tells more about the faculty, provides information on its unique laboratory facilities and tries to encourage you, as a PhD candidate, to look above and beyond the boundaries of your own specialist area, ask advice from other departments and involve MSc students in completing your research. Other areas addressed include the EEMCS-specific learning-on-the-job list, the compulsory six-month review and the details of the Doctoral Education Programme. At every introductory meeting, we visit a unique location within the faculty.

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A group of enthusiastic volunteers still run the museum in their free time. They demonstrate their enthusiasm by explaining some of the wonderful achievements that the efforts of previous PhD candidates have brought about in the scientific world.

Progress review after six months Six months after the start of your PhD programme, the secretary of your department will invite you to a six-month review, a compulsory opportunity for evaluation with you, your promotor, your daily supervisor and your mentor (for mentor role see page 21) to check that the start of your programme has gone well, whether you have already decided on your direction and know how to prepare for the evaluation after one year.

The six-month review also gives the mentor the opportunity to become a little bit involved in the progress of your research. It is extremely important that you, as a PhD candidate, receive feedback on your performance and that you are told whether you are heading in the right direction.

Comments and agreements between you and your supervisors will be recorded in writing in order to ensure that, after this review, there are no doubts with regard to the progress you are making and what is expected of you.

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At another introduction meeting we visit the Radar group, which is conducting research with complicated Radar systems at the top of the building.

Go/No-Go review After a year, it will be evaluated whether you indeed have the capabilities to fulfil the PhD successfully. Your promotor will make a formal decision on this and is advised by an external committee. You must prepare properly by compiling a portfolio consisting of: 1. proof of competence, i.e. a technical report or (draft) manuscript; 2. an action plan (including DE programme) for the remaining three years; and 3. a self-evaluation.

At the Go/No-Go review, you will give a short presentation about your work and plans, and the committee will assess whether you are on track and are able to provide assurance that you will successfully complete your PhD during the next three years.

If doubts remain after your presentation and explanation of the research, the decision on a ‘go’ or a ‘no go’ can be postponed by several months. If a ‘no go’ eventually follows, the contract will be dissolved at the latest 18 months after the start of your PhD programme.

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The aim of reaching a clear decision is to prevent you from working for the next four years and ending up with no dissertation to show for it.

Yearly Progress Meetings Starting in the second year, there will be yearly progress meetings between you and your supervisors, in which your progress in the previous year will be discussed and you will make new agreements for the period ahead.

Progress in the Doctoral Education Programme is a regular item for discussion at these meeting. This is because a date for the defence of your dissertation cannot be issued until the Doctoral Education Programme has been completed. The faculty aims to ensure that the Doctoral Education Programme is completed by the end of the third year, to enable all attention in the final year to be devoted to completing the dissertation.

The defence When the dissertation is ready and has passed the plagiarism test, the Doctoral Education Programme has been completed, and you have finalised your propositions, your promotor can approve your thesis and the manuscript will be put forward to an external committee to be evaluated. When the committee advises positively you can defend your thesis publicly in front of your promotor,

‘I see my role as promotor to stimulate PhD candidates to transform themselves from a university graduate to an independent highly-skilled researcher. It is special to see how PhD candidates discover themselves and I am proud of what they are able to achieve at the end of their PhD’ Alexander Yarovoy | promotor

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supervisors and the external committee. Setting the date is not always easy since there are numerous PhD candidates who all need to defend their dissertation in the Aula building. Also the agendas of the committee members have to be matched. Once the date has been set you can prepare yourself for the defence as well as printing your thesis. Special information afternoons are organised to explain these stages in detail.

Exit interviews At the end of your doctoral programme, just before or after you defend your dissertation the Graduate School will invite you to attend an exit interview.

By then, you will have spent around four years in the faculty and gained experience of all kinds of different situations in the process.

Perhaps you have written a new research proposal with the project office or submitted an application for a personal grant with the Valorisation Centre. Or you may have been supervising Master’s programme students and have some suggestions for improvement.

In an interview lasting about an hour, you will have plenty of time and opportunity to share your personal experiences with us, after which we will include you in an alumni database, so that, at a later stage, we can possibly approach you to find out about your experiences in your new working environment or ask you to give a lecture at a PhD event or information evening for new PhD candidates.

‘For PhD candidates it is important to share experiences with colleagues and other staff members, also outside their own section’ Geurt Jongbloed | promotor

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Doctoral education programme

‘The PhD study is the best time in a researcher’s life! I know this might sound difficult to believe, but I keep repeating this to my students, especially when things get tough or good results seem to be far away.

Later on in their career, they tend to agree with me! I am convinced that the Graduate School will help make these four years even more enjoyable!’

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Lina Sarro | Chair Department of Microelectronics, promotor & mentor

Research and science are key to the University’s survival. PhD candidates are an indispensable ingredient of this. They therefore deserve the very best training and supervision.

Doctoral Education Programme During your PhD, the Doctoral Education Programme helps you to learn more about your specialist field, as well as ensuring you are properly prepared for your career either in academia or in industry.

You should discuss with your supervisor which relevant courses you can take that relate to your specific discipline. You may wish to attend an international summer school or take a Master’s course at a university abroad. Now is the time to seize these opportunities.

The programme consists of the following components: • Discipline-related skills: MSc programmes, MOOCs, summer schools, courses at research schools or universities abroad; • Research-related skills (how to conduct research/learning-on-thejob): developing skills in actually conducting research; • Transferable skills: a range of courses on personal development.

Staff and PhD candidates at work at the Else Kooi Laboratory (EKL).

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‘The DE programme enables PhD candidates to perform excellent research and prepares them for a future career either in industry or in academia. We put great emphasis on the responsibility the supervisor has in guiding his or her pupil through the doctoral training and research’ Maddy Lansbergen | Programme manager Doctoral Education

In consultation with your supervisors, you will compile an educational programme that covers, as effectively as possible, any areas for development identified.

Contributions to the faculty’s teaching In addition to attending classes, you will also have an opportunity to give a lecture yourself, supervise laboratory courses, mark interim examinations or assist at final examinations. This is an important component in the PhD programme and is regarded as very valuable.

In return, MSc students can also use their final project to make a contribution to your PhD and you can, for example, use them to conduct experiments or carry out part of your research.

Teaching, supervising students and collaborative research between Master’s students and PhD candidates are all considered important and are actively encouraged.

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The best possible supervision

‘The Graduate School made many PhD candidates and supervisors aware of the fact that the most important end result of doing a PhD is neither the scientific nor the project result, but rather the well-trained young doctor that can be successful in the sequel of his professional career’ Wouter Serdijn | promotor & mentor 20

Helping PhD candidates to realise their dreams!

Promotor and daily supervisor The good news is that you are not left to your own devices for the full four years. There are plenty of people around you who will be happy to help and offer advice in order to ensure that your PhD programme runs as smoothly as possible. You will have regular meetings with your promotor or daily supervisor to ensure you are on the right track and to provide assistance and advice if necessary.

The department’s secretaries will also assist you with any practical questions you may have. And do not forget your fellow PhD candidates and research staff. Or approach PhD candidates in other departments.

Not only supervisors carry out important work, the mentors are also an important part of the PhD process.

The mentor system When you start your PhD, you will automatically be invited to an introductory meeting between you and your mentor. It is important that you get on well with each other. A mentor also supervises other PhD candidates so they will be aware of what is going on and what problems you may encounter.

Since your mentor is not from the same department, your discussions will not involve the content of your research, but will relate more to all the other situations and circumstances during your PhD. If something happens in your personal situation that you feel you cannot discuss with anyone, including your mentor, you can approach the confidential PhD mentors. You can arrange this yourself or ask your mentor to make an appointment for you. Whatever happens, you should not dwell on issues or problems but seek help at an early stage. There are plenty of people willing and able to help.

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PhD psychologist If your mentor cannot provide the assistance you need, because the issue goes beyond his or her expertise, you can be referred to the PhD psychologist. These psychologists specialise in short-term treatments and their approach is designed to quickly get you back on track. The psychologists are available during the daily consultation hour, no appointment is needed.

As part of the transferable skills offering, courses are also provided to help with such issues as dealing with problems at work, discussing this as part of a team and practising based on case studies.

Career Centre At the end of the PhD programme or earlier if desired, the career counsellor can offer support in the next stage in your wider career.

For example, the TU Delft Career Centre offers a variety of career modules within the Doctoral Education Programme. There is also an option for one-to-one support, as well as daily consultations offering advice on writing your CV. Assistance can also be provided with writing letters of motivation in preparation for job applications.

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‘Career Centre: It is wonderful to see that we as TU Delft Career Centre can contribute to the development of the career education offer for doctoral candidates, so they are prepared to choose the environment in which their rich and diverse talents can flourish’ Caroline Scheepmaker | Head Career & Counselling Services 23

Events, lunch meetings and workshops

‘A successful PhD requires effective coordination of three processes: first the development of the PhD candidate to an independent researcher, second the production of high-quality scientific contributions, and third the working method of the (co) promotors’ Mathijs de Weerdt | copromotor & mentor 24

PhD event In order to increase the visibility of the faculty’s research, share information and strengthen the PhD community, an annual facultywide PhD event is held at which all PhD candidates promote their research among Master’s students, staff and fellow PhD candidates.

In addition to poster sessions, there are also various workshops and a range of speakers are invited.

Of course, it is also very much a social event that includes time for a shared lunch and drinks afterwards. Supervisors act as a judging panel and ultimately choose the winner of the Best Poster Award.

Lunch meetings We are also eager to find out on a regular basis what is happening on the work floor and hear your views, as PhD candidates, of the Graduate School meetings, such as the start-up, the introductory meeting and the way in which the mentor system is set up within the

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faculty. We invite PhD candidates to share this information with us at special lunch meetings.

Alternatively, we may opt for a special theme, such as ‘how to prepare for your defence’ in order to enable you to prepare as effectively as possible for the final phase of your PhD programme (how do I submit my thesis, composition of the defence committee, introduction to the committee chairperson, etc.).

Workshops Throughout the year, we not only organise lunch meetings, but also a series of workshops, such as the workshop on personal grants offered by the Valorisation Centre.

A key challenge in pursuing an academic career is the process of securing grants and finding the funding that enables research to happen. The Valorisation Centre will teach you early in your academic career how to find out all about grants and opportunities for subsidies and you will also learn how to prepare well-corroborated grant applications. This is all about learning the ‘secrets of the trade’ and it is a good idea to take time in the second year of your PhD programme to focus on this. Making an early start is particularly important when it comes to building up an effective CV.

‘I finished my Masters

to do your PhD as it provides an excellent

from India

promotion ecosystem for PhD candidates

and joined

consisting of a multi-tier accountable

the PhD

supervision team, excellent PhD level

programme in October 26

2011. I believe TU Delft is a perfect place

courses, sponsorship to attend summer schools\conferences, and opportunities for

‘Many PhD candidates visit me at the Graduate School office if they have questions about the DMA System, to hand in forms or to ask for information. This is something that I like a lot, the many international contacts. Each year we welcome about 80 new PhD candidates. During their PhD I stay in touch with every PhD candidate, to take care that they keep well on track’ Jerney van Ooijen | Office Staff Member

collaborations as most PhD projects have

management methodologies that are

multiple partner universities and research

highly important for a successful post-PhD

organizations involved. Apart from ensuring

academic/non-academic career.’

rigorous acade-mic training, the graduate school continuously monitors the progress

Kishor Chandra | PhD candidate

of PhD candidates and helps them acquire valuable transferable skills and research 27

Reliable management information

‘The large amount of information that the Graduate School gathers about its PhDs makes matters that used to be opaque more transparent.

For instance, data regarding discontinuation and prior education can be used to develop a more effective recruitment and selection policy’ Tijl Spanjers | Teamleader University Graduate School Office

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DMA application Since the launch of the FGS, all relevant information about PhD candidates has been entered and stored in the Doctoral Monitoring Application (DMA) from appointment through to the final exit. This web-based tool can be consulted from any workplace, both within and outside TU Delft.

The DMA application actually has a dual purpose. On one hand it serves as a database in which all TU Delft PhD candidates are registered and on the other hand is used by PhD candidates to up-load forms, the PhD agreement and courses of the doctoral education program.

The DMA system includes such information as: • Which PhD candidates are registered, with which promotor, with which start date, subject, funding, etc.

• When you had your six-month and Go/No-Go reviews and subsequent yearly progress meetings; • How far advanced you are in your Doctoral Education Programme.

What you have already completed and the number of credits you still need to obtain; • When (and for what reason) you stopped your PhD programme or had your defence ceremony (and whether or not it was ‘cum laude’).

The database is maintained by the FGS and management and monitoring information is regularly brought to the attention of supervisors, mentors and other staff, including deans and departmental directors.

This means it is important that you keep your details in DMA fully upto-date and regularly update your Doctoral Education Programme.

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PhD Council

‘The PhD StartUp is all about giving new PhD candidates knowledge and tools to take charge of their role as doctoral researchers at TU Delft. PhD candidates are given information about what to expect of the doctoral process at TU Delft and are offered tools to define their professional development goals, analyse their personal qualities and (re-)shape their academic network.’ 30

Young Mi Poppema | Coordinator PhD StartUp and Doctoral Education

PhD Council Since September 2014, the faculty has a PhD Council to represent the interests of all PhD candidates and ensure the best possible conditions are in place to facilitate the completion of a PhD. The committee is made up of two members from each department (a total of ten PhD candidates), who regularly meet and advice the FGS and UGS deans.

The aim of the Council is to serve as a sounding board, a platform for the PhD community and listen to any problems or experiences that PhD candidates have.

The committee has its own website, where its members present themselves, explain their role within the Council, and which also features details of activities, including consultation hours and the dates of meetings, and provides a platform where PhD candidates are invited to express their views.

If you are interested in spending a year as a member of the PhD Council, you can apply via the website or approach one of the contact persons within your department.

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Organisation, addresses and contact persons

‘To bring the PhD process into focus, we make extensive use of short videos,timelines, the website and the newsletter. This material clarifies the structure that the Graduate School offers PhD candidates and supervisors in support of their PhD’

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Dominique Meijer | Advisor Marketing & Communication

Faculty Graduate School The Faculty Graduate School (FGS) is the faculty representation of the University Graduate School (UGS) and responsible for proper implementation of TU Delft-wide regulations.

The Faculty Graduate School Office is the secretarial department that both PhD candidates and staff can contact with any questions or where they can submit various forms, see the website: www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl.

Tel.: +31 (0)15 27 89773 Email: Graduateschool-EEMCS@tudelft.nl Addresses and contactpersons A till Z index: https://intranet.tudelft.nl/directe-links/a-z-index/.

PhD list of things you should know https://intranet.tudelft.nl/en/eemcs/research/phd-at-eemcs/ phd-shortlist/ Career & Counselling Services Jaffalaan 9a, 2628 BX Delft (entrance Mekelweg).

T +31152788004 W www.careercentre.tudelft.nl E: careercentre@tudelft.nl Commissie voor Geschillen Promoties jz@tudelft.nl Confidential Advisor EEMCS Marion de Vlieger. Room HB 18.110 T 015 2786180 W www.tudelft.nl/Confidentialadvisor E vertrouwenspersoon-EWI@tudelft.nl

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Confidential PhD Mentor Professors Catholijn Jonker and Arnold Heemink T +31152785813 Room HB 05.100 E A.W.Heemink@tudelft.nl T +31152781315 Room HB 12.300 E C.M.Jonker@tudelft.nl Council (PhD council EEMCS) E PhDcouncil-EWI@tudelft.nl W www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl/phdcouncil Faculty EEMCS building 36 Mekelweg 4 2628 CD Delft www.ewi.tudelft.nl Faculty Graduate School EEMCS building 36 room 16.280 T +31152781674 / +31648261829 W www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl E Graduateschool.eemcs@tudelft.nl Health Services Doctor Beukenlaan 4g 2612 VD Delft T +31152121507 W www.sgz.nl E spd@sgz.nl

‘Our PhD candidates deserve correct support during their PhD, therefore it is good that secretaries together with the Graduate School contribute to this’ Ellen Schwencke-Karlas - secretary

HR Advice EEMCS building 36 – room 16.100 T +31152781251 E m.p.j.vandermaarel@tudelft.nl Mentor EEMCS (overview of mentors of the Graduate School EEMCS).

W www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl/phdmentor PhD-Psychologists Gebouw 30 room B30-a1.010 T +31152788004 W www.tudelft.nl/psychologen E psychologen@tudelft.nl Sport & Culture Mekelweg 8-10 2628 CD Delft.

T Phone +31152782442 W Cultuur-sc@tudelft.nl E Sport-sc@tudelft.nl University Graduate School Jaffalaan 9a Building 30a (Education & Student Affairs) .

T +31152787334 W www.graduateschool.tudelft.nl E Graduateschool@tudelft.nl

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Colofon

‘If an egg is broken by outside force, life ends, if broken by inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from inside’

Text Paula van den Bergh (coordinator Faculty Graduate School EEMCS) Editorial team Marcel Reinders and Paula van den Bergh (Graduate School EEMCS, TU Delft) Design and lay-out Liesbeth van Dam (Media Solutions, TU Delft) Traffic Dominique Meijer (Media Solutions, TU Delft) Printing Edauw en Johanissen Š TU Delft 2015 A digital version of this report is also available on the website: www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl This guide has been based on written contributions from the following TU Delft members: Alexander Yarovoy

Lina Sarro

Caroline Scheepmaker

Maddy Lansbergen

Dominique Meijer

Mathijs de Weerdt

Ellen Schwencke-Karlas

Nelie-Roos Hamelinck

Elly Pauw

Young Mi Poppema

Geurt Jongbloed

Tijl Spanjers

Jerney van Ooijen

Wouter Serdijn

Kishor Chandra

Faculty Graduate School EEMCS Building 36, room 16.280 T +31152781674 / +31648261829 W www.graduateschool.eemcs.tudelft.nl E Graduateschool-eemcs@tudelft.nl