Graduate School ISiS

Doing a PhD at ISiS means that you have the opportunity to receive training, develop your personal and professional skills, and prepare for your future career. All PhD candidates who do research at ISiS are automatically enrolled in the ISiS Graduate School. The aim of the Graduate School is to offer all ISiS PhD candidates a complete programme and support for academic development in this phase of their career.

Training programme

All PhD candidates draw up a training and supervision plan (TSP) during the first three months of their trajectory, in which you describe which courses and activities you will undertake. If you include the activities listed on this page in your TSP, you are all set to complete the ISiS Graduate School programme. The activities should also be registered via the portfolio in Hora Finita. 

Standard training

You can follow all components of the standard training programme at Radboud University, but it is also possible to complete (some) courses on the same topics at another graduate or research school. Please signal this in your TSP.

Course/activity Number of hours (approximately)
Introduction for employees of the Faculty of Science* (Sign up here) 4 hours
Scientific ethics course* 12 hours
Basic Didactic Skills, Education in a nutshell, or a comparable education course** (View courses and sign up here) 12-28 hours
Project management course (e.g., Essential Skills to Manage your PhD project or Project Management for PhDs) (Sign up via gRow) 24-52 hours
Presenting course (e.g., The Art of Presenting Science) (Sign up via gRow) 36 hours
Writing course (e.g., Writing Scientific Articles) (Sign up via gRow) 96 hours
Career orientation (e.g. Een PhD en dan? Career Guidance for International PhDs) (Sign up via Grow) 20 hours
  Total: ca. 220 hours (~8 ECTS)

 

* These courses are mandatory for all PhD candidates (including external PhDs)
** These courses are mandatory for internal PhD candidates only

Elective activities

Elective courses and activities are also a vital part of the PhD candidate’s training programme, but are more tailor-made depending on the PhD’s preferences, interests, and pursued career after the PhD. You can choose from the list below and are expected to complete at least 200 hours in this part of the programme.

Course / activity Number of hours (approximately)
ISiS colloquia 100 hours
ISiS theme meetings 32 hours

Courses: 

  • Master’s / bachelor’s courses or research school*** courses
Depends

Academic development and networking: 

  • Networking activities (e.g. conferences, Faculty/Radboud meetings, etc)
  • Becoming a board / committee member of PON (PhD Organisation Nijmegen) or of PNN (PhD Network Netherlands)
  • Becoming active in PROBE
  • Additional skills trainings offered by Radboud University (e.g. Diversity & Inclusion, or Get Children excited about Science) (Sign up via gRow)
  • Science communication (e.g. public lectures, writing blogs, etc)
Depends

*** PhD candidates from ISiS can also join a national research or graduate school, besides being enrolled in the ISiS Graduate School. All of our PhD candidates are encouraged to be active members of the scientific community and/or follow appropriate courses to contribute to their research project. You can attend courses at these research schools:

National research schools in ISiS research domains:

Hora Finita

All PhD candidates of Radboud University are registered in Hora Finita. Hora Finita is used to track your progress, to remind you and your supervisors of deadlines, and to fill your portfolio. When you submit a complete portfolio at the end of your trajectory, you will receive an ISiS Graduate School certificate.

Read more about Hora Finita in Dutch or in English.

Contact

The ISiS office is open for any questions you may have regarding your PhD project or any other issues. You can stop by our office or send an email:

  • Martin Drenthen (Graduate School coordinator)  - HG02.519 (Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri)
  • Vera Jansen (management assistant ISiS) - HG02.542 (Mon/Tue/Thu)

General information

Doing a PhD at Radboud University?