A survey directed to ITC-PhD candidates took place in March 2017. This survey aimed to get an insight into the needs regarding education and training of phd candidates enrolled in ITC Faculty. Participants answered this online questionnaire. Here, we present a summary of the results.
Survey Objectives
- To estimate the current demand on generic skills courses offered by TGS among ITC-PhDs.
- To identify the need to organized courses currently not offered by TGS/CELT.
- To determine how well TGS/CELT covers the current demand on education and training among ITC-PhDs.
- To determine the level of participation of ITC-PhDs in P-NUT activities.
Results
Some Conclusions
- ‘Academic writing’ and ‘poster design and presentation’ are generic skills courses that have a high demand among ITC-PhDs. The urgency to attend such courses is more evident among PhDs in their first year.
- There is interest on attending ‘Networking’ and ‘CV building’ courses. However, the urgency to attend those courses does not seem related with the progress in the PhD program (year).
- Domain-specific courses are among the top 3 on the list of ‘not well supported’ courses. However, writing skills is on the top of the list. General feedback suggests that the current set up of this course may play a role.
- The majority of ITC-PhDs had been on a waiting list at a certain point. Usually they had have to wait for English writing courses and Dutch lessons. The waiting times ranges from less than 3 to 6 months.
- Currently, 26.8% of respondents are waiting to take generic skills courses (March 2017). Most of respondents are waiting for academic/technical writing and poster design and presentation.
- A third of respondents are members of P-NUT. However, participation on P-NUT activities is very low among all respondents