Manual for doctoral students

ISP workflow

1. Use the dropdown menu to fill in the content of the ISP, from "Basic Information" and onwards. The "Timeline" tab provides a summary of information filled in in other tabs.
2. "Completed work tasks" show what has been done and who has approved previous steps in the ISP.
3. "Current work task" is where the ISP is currently at and where signing and approval take place.
4. "Upcoming work tasks" lists the next steps in the ISP.
5. "Established versions" contains previous versions of the digital ISP that have been established in Ladok.

Notifications

On the start page in Ladok for students, a notification indicates where the ISP currently is in the approval process. A new notification is created each time the ISP is moved forward (or backward) in the process in Ladok, for example, when approved or established. A notification email is also sent to the email address registered in Ladok for students.

A reminder that an ISP version needs to be established is sent out two months before the next expected establish date. The reminder appears on the start page in Ladok for students and is also sent as an email notification to the doctoral student and the main supervisor.

Fill in the ISP

The content of the ISP is entered in the tabs from "Basic Information" and onwards.

Basic information

Admitted to (1)

The information in this panel is retrieved from the student´s admission data in Ladok. Thus, the “Subject instance, start date” is the date when the doctoral student was admitted to the doctoral education in Ladok. The “Subject instance, end date”, is a template date calculated 4 years from the start date in Ladok.

"Higher education institution resources": Enter which resources the institution provides in the education and to what extent these can be expected to be available to the doctoral student during the education. For example, access to experimental measurement equipment, cohorts of collected biological material, or databases.

General syllabus (2)

The administrator enters information about the general syllabus.

Milestones in third cycle studies (3)

Select a milestone from the predefined list to plan the doctoral student's education, or choose "Optional text" to enter it manually.

Study activity and funding (SCB) (4)

Planned activities and funding are entered by the supervisor and doctoral student on a half-year basis.

Reported activities and funding are retrieved from Ladok.

There is no connection between planned and reported study activity and funding.

Departmental duties (5)

A doctoral student´s departmental duties can be documented here.

Other documentation (6)

Previously established ISPs or other documents relevant to the doctoral education can be uploaded here.

Supervisor and decision-maker

In "New supervisor input," the principal supervisor specifies agreed supervisor input per calendar half year, such as the organization, percentage, or hours of supervision.

Use "Change information" to add a note if there is relevant information that does not fit within the supervisor input.

Supervisor conversation

Select "Type of conversation," fill in the date and participants.

Thesis work

How the "Thesis work" tab is used depends on the respective department. Below are suggestions on what can be documented under each heading.

Summary (1)

Here, the preliminary title of the thesis and basic information about the thesis is entered and a research plan is uploaded (pdf).

Planning and follow-up (2)

In this section, planning and follow-up of activities related to the thesis work as a whole are entered, for example the work with the introductory chapter of a compilation thesis.

Part of thesis work (3)

Here, parts of the thesis work can be planned and followed up, such as an article in a compilation thesis or a chapter (select "Other") in a monograph. Each sub project will have its own page and a subheading named "Planning and follow-up," where more detailed follow-up can be done on a half-year basis.

Document for the various parts of "Thesis work" what have been completed in the previous year and plan head for the coming year.

Ethical considerations (4)

Any ethical considerations for the thesis work can be uploaded here.

Courses and conferences

Courses, conferences, and other credit-bearing activities at the doctoral level are reported in Ladok and when certified they are automatically transferred to the doctoral student's ISP under the heading "Unsorted certified results". The activities then needs to be sorted down to the appropriate headings.

If completed courses or other credit-bearing activities are missing in the ISP, contact the doctoral administration at you department.

Reported results at the doctoral level before 2018, which are found under "Other results" in the doctoral student's overview in Ladok, are not automatically transferred to the doctoral student's ISP.

Unsorted certified results (1)

Certified results at the doctoral level in Ladok appear here in the ISP. The results need to be sorted under the appropriate headings (2, 3, 5, 6).

Mandatory courses (2)

Planned and completed mandatory courses are documented here.

Elective courses (3)

Planned and completed elective courses are documented here.

Credit transfer / Credited education (4)

Courses completed at other higher education institutions can be credited, and these credits are displayed here.

Conferences (5) and Seminars and other activities (6)

Planned and completed conferences, seminars, and other credit-bearing activities are documented here.

Non credit-bearing activities (7)

Planned and completed conferences, seminars, and other activities that do not earn credits in the doctoral education are documented here.

Learning outcomes

In the "Note" field for each learning outcome, activities that contribute to achieving the goal can be entered. A learning outcome is marked as completed when it is achieved.

Timeplan

The timeplan automatically summarizes the information entered in the other tabs of the ISP. The purpose is to provide reviewers and decision-makers with an overview of the doctoral student's planning for the future. No new information is entered in this tab.­

Overview and reflections

This page provides an overview of key parts of the doctoral student's individual study plan per calendar half-year.

Planned activities are indicated in parentheses. If both planned and completed activities exist for the same half-year, the completed activity is shown first, followed by the planned one in parentheses.

100% study activity corresponds to one calendar half year of full-time studies, which means that four years of full-time studies gives a total of 800% study activity.

In reflections, the supervisor and the doctoral student can reflect on the student's progression at different stages of the doctoral education. This may include discussions on achieved milestones, identification of potential obstacles, and planning of future steps.

Approving the ISP

Return to the “Work flow” tab when all information is entered in the ISP. By clicking the "Approve version", the ISP is forwarded to the supervisor in the next step. If it is a revision of the ISP, a brief description of what has been revised should be written in the message field. Once the ISP is approved by the doctoral student in Ladok, it enters the decision phase and is locked for editing. An automatic notification in Ladok and an email notification will be sent to the supervisor who will review and approve the ISP in the next step of the ISP process in Ladok.