BUP PhD Students Training 2023
This tenth installment of the training was arranged by the BUP National Centre in Poland and BUP's Associated Secretariat at Lodz University of Technology. The PhD Students Training is an opportunity for PhD students to become better acquainted with other academic perspectives. The 2023 PhD Students Training took place 22-26 November 2023 at Lodz University of Technology, Lodz in Poland.
The objective of this training is to give PhD students from BUP participating universities the possibility to meet and discuss scientific problems with a focus on sustainable development in an interdisciplinary, international, multicultural, and regional context. In this way, students will also get the opportunity to become acquainted with other universities and their scientific traditions.
PhD students are offered training in interdisciplinary research cooperation with the guidance of an international group of interdisciplinary research experts, composed of senior scientists.
The program of the training included: lectures, workshops, students’ presentations of PhD work, individual consultancies of PhD work with international experts.
Participating PhD students and experts during the BUP PhD Students Training at Łodz University of Technology, Poland. Photo: Krzysztof Ciesielski
Video from PhD Students Training
Evaluation PhD Students Training
The training admitted 23 PhD students from 20 BUP participating universities in Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and Ukraine. During the event 20 experts participated. The evaluation is based on answers from 19 of the participating PhD students and 16 of the experts.
The participating students said that they gained new knowledge such as how to give a research presentation as well as new contacts and collaborations. They thought that it was worthwhile attending and would recommend the event to other students.
The most appreciated parts of the program for the students were the consultation with an expert, the design thinking session, the first impressions matter session, and the thesis and poster workshop. They all thought that the discussions and supervision were helpful for improving their thesis.
The experts held the consultations with the students in high regard and they liked engaging with the students to improve their work. All the experts would like to be invited to take part in future BUP activities and they would recommend a colleague to attend this event if they wish to improve their knowledge of and experience with supervision.
Participant evaluations
- The PhD students expectations before the event were estimated to be 7.8
- The participating experts expectations before the event were estimated to be 6.4
- The PhD students gave the event a 9.2 overall rating
- The experts gave the event a 9.6 overall rating
All overall ratings were made on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is considered negative and 10 considered positive.
Voices of participants
Adam Grzywaczyk - Participant from Poznan University of Technology
Before attending, I thought the conference would be strictly technological. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the topics varied and very well-explained (even if outside of my field of study).
There were many points to the programme, that I found very fun and interesting. If I had to pinpoint one event, however, I would say the lecture about dragonflies.
At the conference I met new people from all around the world and gained knowledge from different areas of expertise.
Marina Troshkova - Participant from Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Before the training, I wanted to acquire new and relevant information about PhD thesis writing, make connections with people from different countries who are experiencing similar issues, and share good practice examples with them.
The best part of the training was meeting and talking to other PhD students. Another valuable point was getting the experts' comments and suggestions on the research topic.
From the PhD Students Training, I will take with me new contacts, encouragement, and inspiration for future work.
Images from BUP PhD Students Training
Photo: Krzysztof Ciesielski
The students worked together in teams during the Design Thinking lab session.
Photo: Krzysztof Ciesielski
The participating PhD students were given feedback on their PhD work from experts from BUP participating universities.
Photo: Krzysztof Ciesielski
At the end of day one the students got to visit the Planetárium Ostrava.