Self-evaluation - Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

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Self-evaluation research programme ESoE 9. Viability A large part of the PhD projects that ESoE is involved in, is with contract PhD students. ESoE has built a good reputation as an institute for both fundamental as well as practice-based scientific research. ESoE has shown that many of its PhD students coming from Universities of Applied Science (‘hogescholen’) or other non-university institutes, are not only capable of conducting high-quality research, but also in writing articles in highly ranked journals and writing high-quality dissertations, and to do so based on research problems derived from their own context as well as next to their immediate tasks, such as teaching. While the trend to appoint PhD students at Universities of Applied Science or other non-university institutes initially was followed with some scepticism by other universities in the Netherlands, it appears to be common practice at most universities right now. As a result of its wide experience with external PhD trajectories, ESoE is still often sought as research partner by expertise centres of Universities of Applied Science or by teachers aiming for a PhD. ESoE engages in long-term collaborations with schools, school networks or (large) school boards, such as OMO. In doing so, larger and longer-term projects can be set up, opening up opportunities for PhD studies. As a result, it is expected that a sizable and stable enrolment of external PhD students will be visible in future years. However, the number of PhD students will be lower than during the past years, as a result of the discontinuation of the PhD influx from Fontys. ESoE staff apply regularly for research grants, especially with NWO. However, competition is fierce (acceptance rates are smaller than 10 percent), and only once every few years a grant is obtained. Competition is so fierce, that some ESoE project applications were not granted, while receiving judgements in the highest scoring categories. At the same time, given the small number of staff involved and the limited time available to staff next to regular supervision duties and other tasks, the number of grants that can be applied for is relatively limited. Success rate in grant application for ESoE staff is currently estimated around 20 percent. The ESoE research programme is somewhat unique and (therefore) isolated when it comes to the TU/e context. Not only is its focus and research theme outside the major focal research areas of the university (energy, health, smart mobility), ESoE is one of the few groups that conducts research within the domain of the social sciences (some other research is found in the department of innovation sciences). As such, its research methods and orientation are vastly different from that in other departments in the TU/e. As a consequence, major efforts taken by the university to cooperate with companies, technological institutes or other partners in order to enhance its research volume, do often not apply to ESoE and/or grant opportunities within the university are (usually) not open to ESoE (research themes). 25
Self-evaluation research programme ESoE 10. Next generation ESoE strives to offer a high quality research environment for its staff and PhD students. Important elements in this respect are the creation of a research culture and the infrastructure that is needed to foster high quality research. This concerns the organization of the supervision of research, quality control and planning. In addition, ESoE has formulated a policy in which it describes procedures, regulations, but also duties and rights that PhD students have as member of ESoE. This PhD guide can be found in Appendix 8. PhD training and supervision The core training and professional development process in research on a day-to-day basis is the close supervision of the PhD students by staff members, sometimes added with external supervisors, such as ‘lectoren’ from Fontys 39 . In house activities encompass regular meetings of all PhD students (‘promovendi bijeenkomsten’), and colloquia. A basic policy of ESoE is to ensure that PhD students with more than 0,4 fte for research become a member of the research school ICO 40 . Participation in the research school provides access to (domain specific) ICO PhD courses, summer schools and other activities. Participating in the research school ICO thus helps in establishing high research and training standards. All PhD students write a supervision and education plan next to their research plan. While contract PhD students often do not meet the ICO criteria, they are nevertheless allowed to participate in ICO courses, both methodological courses as well as thematic ‘master classes’. In addition, the Graduate School of TU/e has a (general skills) program for all of its PhD students, called PROOF 41 . All PhD students, also contract PhD’s, are allowed to follow relevant courses for their PhD outside ICO or PROOF, if agreed upon by their supervisors and the ESoE research director. Occasionally, in-house sessions are organized, such as on topics like multilevel analysis, applied statistics or structural equation modelling. A flanking effort is the participation in the ‘Joint Researcher Training’ (see Section 3) which is carried out in collaboration with German, Finnish and Swedish colleagues. In this context, each year, a summer school and a winter school organized. This event is meant for graduate students and supervisors. The joint research training initiative aims at intensifying and enhancing education of graduate students with respect to international standards in the field of science education. During the meeting, students are invited to present a paper or poster on their research, discuss their project, and get the opportunity to learn more about particular topics in specific workshops. Apart from this Joint Researcher training, PhD students are stimulated to present their results and to broaden their horizon form by participating in (international) conferences. Quality assurance The quality of supervision of PhD students by ESoE staff is evaluated in several ways. During yearly performance evaluations (‘Resultaat en ontwikkelingsgesprekken’), PhD students (and staff) are being asked to report on the (quality of) supervision of PhD students and to provide suggestions for further improvement. These suggestions and the results of these conversations are regular topics of discussion in meetings of the management and research staff. Second, the 39 Internal and external PhD students of ESoE are entitled to 4 hours of supervision per week, to be divided over the whole supervision team and including time for reading. This typically amounts to one session with the daily supervisor every two to three weeks and one session with the whole team every 4 to 6 weeks. 40 This does not include PhD students who work under different conditions, such as the external/contract PhD students, who often have only one or two days per week to work on their PhD, and who therefore do not meet the ICO criteria. 41 see http://w3.ele.tue.nl/en/cobra/education_program/phd_skills_development/?id=60900&L=1 26
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