In order to evaluate the progress of the thesis and the knowledge of the doctoral candidate, the thesis director (and co-director if applicable) and the doctoral candidate meet once a year to write a report.
A confidential meeting between the mentor and mentee is a mandatory element of the annual report.
The information is entered into an online tool, that will generate a final PDF document as a report.
Access online tool: Link sent to doctoral candidates by the doctoral program 2 months prior to deadline
Connection: with your GASPAR account
Annual report’s process
Each year, starting one year after the Candidacy exam, you have to submit an annual report to your thesis director on the state of progress of your work. (art. 10 of the Ordinance on the doctorate ).
To prepare your report, you will receive the link to the online tool 1 – 2 months before your annual report is due. (for example: candidacy exam date 1.5.2023, annual report is due at the latest on 1.5.2024)
In the online tool, you are requested to fill in 3 sections with the information below:
- your basic information;
- your research progress;
- and a self-assessment of your progress: this section is completed separately by you and your thesis directors, then discussed during a meeting (collaborative review)
Please note that the content you fill in is not confidential and will be revealed to all parties after the independent self-assessment and once the process is completed.
You will also meet with your mentor in a confidential face-to-face meeting. You are responsible to organise this meeting.
The report will be sent to the director of your doctoral program for verification if:
- it is rated as: Need some improvement or Unsatisfactory;
- you disagree with the content of the report.
Annual report’s process
Each year, starting one year after the Candidacy exam, your doctoral candidate has to submit an annual report on the state of progress of their work. (art. 10 of the Ordinance on the doctorate ).
A notification to write the report will be sent by the program administrative assistant to the doctoral candidate 2 months prior to due date so that the process can be completed on schedule.
Once your doctoral candidate has completed the annual report, you will be requested by email to connect to the online tool to review the information provided and complete your progress evaluation. Please note that the content you fill in is not confidential and will be revealed to all parties after the independent self-assessment and once the process is completed.
You will then be asked by email to arrange a face-to-face meeting with your doctoral candidate (and the co-director if applicable) to review the information, discuss goals achieved and planned, and evaluate overall progress.
A confidential meeting between mentor and mentee is a mandatory element of the annual report.
The report will be sent to the director of the candidate’s doctoral program for verification if:
- it is rated as: Need some improvement or Unsatisfactory;
- the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content of the report.
If the report is rated as Unsatisfactory or the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content, a meeting between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor(s) should be arranged to seek appropriate measures to resolve possible problems and conflicts and suggest measures to improve the performance. If needed the program director can be invited to this meeting.
At the end of the process, everyone involved will receive a PDF version of the report by email. Please note that, nor the report nor the information, is stored in the online tool once the report is completed.
Should you have any questions:
- on how the tool works, please consult the help pages
- on the annual report process, please contact the candidate’s doctoral program: [email protected]
Annual report’s process
Each year, starting one year after the Candidacy exam, your doctoral candidate has to submit an annual report on the state of progress of their work. (art. 10 of the Ordinance on the doctorate ).
A notification to write the report will be sent by the program administrative assistant to the doctoral candidate 2 months prior to due date so that the process can be completed on schedule.
A confidential meeting between the mentor and mentee is a mandatory element of the annual report. The doctoral candidate is responsible to organize this meeting early enough so that the process can be completed on schedule.
The following themes could be discussed:
- Advancing as a researcher (what has gone well, less well, how to improve, goal setting, which resources are needed, …)
- Facets of career-building (contributions to the community, conferences, awards, networking opportunities, participating in possible soft skill courses on writing, communicating, managing, spin-off training, …)
- Work-life balance
- Communication (within the laboratory, with the thesis director and other lab members, matching expectations in terms of progress and future goals, …)
- Life after the PhD (what kind of career options are there and how to explore them, …)
Please connect to the online tool, check your “Tasks to do” and “Proceed” to the form to confirm that the meeting has taken place.
At the end of the process, everyone involved will receive a PDF version of the report by email. Please note that, nor the report nor the information, is stored in the online tool once the report is completed.
Should you have any questions:
- on how the tool works, please consult the help page
- on the annual report process, please contact the Doctoral School: [email protected]
You will be notified by email each time:
- an annual report of a doctoral candidate in your program is rated as: Need some improvement or Unsatisfactory;
- the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content of the report.
If the report is rated as Unsatisfactory or the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content, a meeting between the doctoral candidate and the supervisor(s) should be arranged to seek appropriate measures to resolve possible problems and conflicts and suggest measures to improve the performance. If needed the program director can be invited to this meeting.
In the online tool, you will have to confirm that you have checked the annual report and you may indicate any comments you have.
You will receive a PDF copy of every report of the doctoral candidates in your program by email, and so will the people involved in the annual report and your program administrative assistant.
Please note that, nor the report nor the information, is stored in the online tool once the report is completed.
Should you have any questions:
- on how the tool works, please consult the help page
- on the annual report process, please contact the Doctoral School: [email protected]