You will find below the relevant instructions regarding the annual progress report.
Access online tool: Link sent to PhD students by the doctoral program 2 months prior to deadline.
Connection: with your GASPAR account (or Guest account for co-advisors outside EPFL).
The annual report user manual may help if needed.
Within two years after your enrolment, you have to submit an annual report to your thesis advisor(s) on the state of progress of your work.
You are requested to complete 3 sections with:
- your basic information
- your research progress: you will complete this section and then discuss it with your thesis advisor (and co-advisor if applicable) during the collaborative meeting
- and a self-assessment of your progress: this section is completed separately by you and your thesis advisor (and co-advisor if applicable), then discussed and approved by all of you during the collaborative meeting.
Please note that the content you fill in is not confidential and will be available to all parties at the time of the collaborative meeting and once the process is completed.
You will then also discuss this report with your mentor in a confidential face-to-face meeting, who will get in touch with you in due time.
Finally, the report will be sent to your Program Director for verification, and everyone involved will receive a PDF version of the report by email.
Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.
Annual report’s deadline
In October of each year (after the success of your candidacy exam), you will receive an email from EDPY to start the annual report process.
You will have by 31st October of the current year to complete it.
The annual report user manual may help if needed.
Note: The thesis co‐advisor can be external to EPFL. To access the tool you need to have a Gaspar account. If you don’t have any accreditation, please create a Guest account (Sciper starting with Gxxxx).
You are requested to:
- read the basic information and research progress comments from the PhD student
- complete the progress assessment part
Note: at this stage you cannot read the progress assessment comments from the PhD student nor from the thesis co‐advisor (if applicable).
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 then be asked by email to arrange a face-to-face meeting with your PhD student (and the co-advisor if applicable) to review the information, discuss goals achieved and planned, and evaluate overall progress.
During this collaborative review, you, as a thesis advisor, will be able to access the content to be edited and completed.
Finally, the report will be sent to the Program Director for verification, and everyone involved will receive a PDF version of the report by email.
Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.
Annual report’s deadline
The annual report starts in October of each year (after the success of the candidacy exam of your PhD student).
The process must be completed by 15th November of the current year.
The annual report user manual may help if needed.
You are requested to:
- read all the details of the annual report (including the appraisal and the signatures)
- discuss with the PhD student
- confirm having met with the student by ticking the box “Yes we have met”. The date is the date you have met.
Note: No possibility to add comments in the tool as the discussion remains confidential.
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 advisor·s 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, …)
At the end of the process, you, as a mentor, will receive a PDF version of the report by email.
Please note that the information is not stored in the online tool.
Annual report’s deadlines
The annual report starts in October of each year (after the success of the candidacy exam of your mentees).
The process must be completed by 15th March of the following year.
The annual report user manual may help if needed.