PhD Academy has prepared a number of changes, selected courses will now also be offered to supervisors

"A major new feature is that we are also opening up to current and aspiring PhD student supervisors. The aim is to involve academics in the activities of the PhD Academy, to make them aware of our activities, and to motivate them to collaborate as much as possible. In connection with this, we have also modified our website, which is divided into a section for students and a section for supervisors," explained Lucie Hofrichterová, administrator of the PhD Academy.

News for supervisors and students

The pilot run of the Development Programme for Aspiring Supervisors—Module I will start in October and continue next year. "We are also preparing trial workshops with practitioners for current supervisors and will offer a three-day intensive development programme in 2025. In November, we will offer two unique workshops in English for supervisors only," Lucie Hofrichterová added.

The PhD Academy will open well-tested and new courses and workshops to PhD students, both in the morning and afternoon. In total, there are 13 courses in English only and 14 in Czech. Four of the courses have both Czech and English versions, and for some of them online participation is possible in addition to the face-to-face form. "We are constantly working on improving and stabilizing our offer. In addition to brand new courses, some courses have been improved and renamed. This applies, for example, to the former Writing for Publication courses, which we now offer as Planning a Research Paper and Writing a Research Paper. Now all students will have the opportunity to consult with lecturers beyond the direct teaching," said Alena Kašpárková, who runs the Writing Support Centre at VŠB-TUO.

One of the novelties is also a two-day course Evidence-based Management by Lukáš Hana. It will be held in the winter semester in Czech and in the spring in English. A new workshop will be presented by the proven lecturer Sam Illingworth, this time on Making blogs from your research. A unique workshop Working Better: how to navigate challenges and enjoy better mental clarity in academia will also be facilitated by international expert Desiree Dickerson. The detailed offer is available on the PhD Academy Calendar.

The credits have undergone a major change

As of the academic year 2024/2025, credits were newly calculated according to the course difficulty, specifically the number of hours of direct and indirect instruction and the time required to complete the interim assignments/final project. Graduation requirements have been set for courses. "Credits are now only awarded for two-day or longer courses that end with a final project or test. Workshops are non-credit bearing. Credit will now also be awarded for active participation in the Scientific Writing Camp. The concept has proven successful in both the Czech and English versions. The first article has already been published based on the setup of multidisciplinary collaboration between PhD students who participated in the first year of the Scientific Writing Camp. The next one is under review," said Jana Kukutschová, the PhD Academy's guarantor.

The PhD Academy at VŠB-TUO provides a comprehensive range of courses aimed at acquiring or improving key skills in the areas of presenting the results of scientific work in English, producing a quality publication output, preparing a quality project proposal, project management and many other competences, the mastery of which will help PhD students develop their scientific career and successfully complete their doctoral studies.