EDCH Annual report

In order to evaluate the progress of the thesis or the knowledge of the doctoral candidate.

The thesis director (and co-director if applicable) and the doctoral candidate meet once a year in relation to this report. A confidential meeting between the mentor and mentee is a mandatory element of the annual report process.

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 your doctoral program 1month 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).

You will be requested to fill in 3 sections with:

  • your basic information;
  • your research progress;
  • and a self-assessment of your progress: this section is completed separatly by you and your thesis director(s), then discussed during the 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 discuss this report with your mentor in a confidential face-to-face meeting. You are responsible to organize 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 withe the content of the report.

If the report is rated as Unsatisfactory or you disagree with the content, a meeting will be arranged with the program Director.

At the end of the process, everyone involved in the report, including the mentor in blind copy, will receive a PDF version by email.

Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.

Annual report’s deadlines

May 1st (Group 2)
Doctoral candidates who held their candidacy exam between January and June.

November 1st (Group 1)
Doctoral candidates who held their candidacy exam between July and December.

Questions

  • on how the tool works, please consult help page
  • on the annual report process, please contact your doctoral program: [email protected]

Annual report’s process

Each year, your doctoral have to submit a report on the state of progress of their work (Ordinance on the doctorate ).

A notification to write the report will be sent by the program admin. assistant to the doctoral candidate 1 month prior to due date so that the process can be completed on schedule.

Once your doctoral candidate completed the annual report, Please note that the content you fill in is not confidential and will be available to all parties at the time of the annual report meeting and once the process is completed, 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. During this collaborative review, you, as thesis director, will be able to access the content to be edited and completed.

A confidential meeting between mentor and mentee is a mandatory element of the annual report.

The report will be sent to the director of your doctoral program for verification if:

  • it is rated as: Need some improvement or Unsatisfactory;
  • the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content of the report.

And if the report is rated as Unsatisfactory or the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content, a meeting will be held in order to seek appropriate measures to resolve possible problems and conflicts.

At the end of the process, everyone involved will receive a PDF version of the report by email.

Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.

Should you have any questions:

Deadlines

Approval deadline for PhD advisors + 2 weeks

May 15th (Group 2)
November 15th (Group 1).

Groups:

*Group 1= Doctoral candidates submitting their Annual report on November 1st every year (candidacy exam was between July and December).

*Group 2 = Doctoral candidates submitting their Annual report on May 1st every year (candidacy exam was between July and December).

Questions

Annual report’s process

Each year, doctoral candidates have to submit an annual report to their thesis director(s) on the state of progress of their work ( art. 10 of the Ordinance on the doctorate). The candidates are divided in 2 groups for the Annual report.

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 the information is not stored in the online tool.

Should you have any questions:

Annual report’s process

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.

And if the report is rated as Unsatisfactory or the doctoral candidate disagrees with the content, a meeting will be held in order to seek appropriate measures to resolve possible problems and conflicts.

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, as well as all and so will the people involved in the annual report and your program administrative assistant.

Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.

Should you have any questions:

on the annual report process, please contact the Doctoral School: [email protected]

The online Annual report questionnary content:

Overall goals of the thesis
Research progress during the past year
Have the objectives changed in the past year? If so, why and how?
Research objectives for the next year
Timeline of the planned work for the next year
Scientific output
Educational activities

EDCH program is not requiring a specific lenght per question adressed.

Contact your EDCH program administration for any further inquiries.