A Wednesday and Thursday in April we had the annual ITM PhD student conference at Skogshem and Wijk on Lindingö. The theme this year was Research skills from different perspectives. Linda Söderlindh gave a very inspiring combined lecture/workshop on Presentation skills (see picture). Greta Quesada Richardson & Margareta Fathli informed us about Open Access publishing. In the evening before a very nice dinner, there was a poster session with the goal to bridge the gap between different research fields i.e. find a PhD student colleague in another area where there is some overlap in interest. This year Linda gave feedback on the posters to as many students as she could.

The second day started with an open-air quiz led by Andrea de Giorgio from the THS PhD Chapter. On the picture below the participants try to form a square of a string that they all hold on to. Not so easy since they have to keep their eyes shut and only orally communicate how the problem should be solved.

After the outdoor activity Mats Magnusson (PA for the Machine Design Doctoral Program) gave a short presentation about the recent survey, the result was quite similar to last year´s. We will now look into the result in more detail. The last lecture was given by Sven Ove Hansson, Ethics in research, a subject that is always highly relevant and interesting.

Thank you all lecturers, PAs and participants!

/ Malin Selleby, FA

The invitation and agenda for the annual ITM PhD student conference has just been sent out to all PhD students. The topic of this year’s conference is Research skills from different perspectives and includes a lecture/workshop on Presentation skills by Linda Söderlindh. We will also hear about Open Access publishing, get information from THS, and a lecture on Ethics in research – a subject that is always highly relevant. In the evening there is a poster session with the goal to bridge the gap between different research fields i.e. find a PhD student colleague in another area where there is some overlap in interest. The conference takes place April 18-19 at Skogshem and Wijk in Lindingö.

If you are a PhD student and didn’t receive the invitation – please contact Gülten Baysal.

/ Malin Selleby, FA

Many supervisors find it hard to know how to admit PhD student and especially if the student comes from a country outside Europe. It can be difficult to find ones way through the governing documents of KTH and the school. It may also be difficult to know how to best advise the student regarding residence permits, housing, etc.

I have just employed a PhD student and have during the process noted what is important to think about in each step, what documents need to be in place and in what order etc. I intend to write a short description of this and post on the ITM website. Hopefully soon 🙂

It is almost time for the annual ITM doctoral conference, it takes place April 18-19, and will again be held at Skogshem and Wijk in Lindingö. This year’s theme is not yet fixed so ideas and suggestions are welcome.

/ Malin Selleby, FA

The doctoral student survey that was published during the spring has been analyzed and the results were presented at the PhD student conference. It was very satisfactory to note that overall results were positive. Now we analyze the results at the level of detail for our five doctoral programs. The result will also be available for presentation at our departments.

About half of the e-ISPs that have been started are now established. I know there have been some problems due to bugs in the software and that it is unflexible, but overall, I think the system is a big improvement compared to the paper version. Hopefully, we will soon see some updates of the software.

/Malin Selleby, FA

The survey to all PhD students at ITM will be sent out very soon, hopefully on Monday. Please fill in the survey as soon as it arrives. Please also let us know if somebody should have received the survey but didn’t. We are currently checking the email-lists to all PhD students but there will probably be some errors.

The result of the survey will be presented and discussed at the PhD students’ conference. The theme of the conference will be Sustainability from different perspectives. Sustainability will be integrated in all the doctoral programs at KTH and the work has started with the development of an action plan for each program on how to achieve this. The invitation to the conference will also be sent out next week.

/ Malin Selleby, FA