The Doctoral School of Behavioral Sciences & Humanities (DS BS&H) is a joint initiative of
The Doctoral School Board consists of a ZAP member of each of these faculties. One of them is appointed as director. Together with the faculty liaison of the doctoral schools, the board is responsible for the daily functioning of the DS BS&H (organise courses, quality control, evaluate the individual portfolio of PhD students, decide about possible exceptions, etc). For decisions about the curriculum and evaluation of individual portfolios, the board is advised by a separate management team for each faculty.
Prof. Dr Sandra Streukens is the current director of the doctoral school.
The doctoral school faculty liaison, Dr Kirsten Braem, is responsible for all communication with PhD students and postdocs, as well as for the coordination of all discipline-specific activities.
The table below depicts the different management levels and the people representing these levels.
Members of the Doctoral School Board
Members Management Teams
The program of the Doctoral School of Behavioral Sciences & Humanities focuses on eight action points (see figure below), which are translated into specific minimal requirements that need to be fulfilled throughout the doctoral trajectory. This is obligatory for all PhD candidates who started their PhD from September 2013 on.
The focus points were formulated based on discussions with researchers in all faculties involved, as well as on the characteristics of the current academic environment and the characteristics of 'excellent research professionals' as defined by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR). The doctoral school believes a balanced and enriching doctoral trajectory should contain activities pertaining to each of these points.
The translation into specific minimal requirements was done within each faculty and has the goal of monitoring and ensuring the quality of the doctoral trajectory. In order to be allowed to defend the PhD, each requirement needs to be fulfilled. Exemption from (certain) doctoral school requirements can only be requested within three months after starting the PhD (or within six months if you have a 3 x 2 year contract), by completing this template and sending it to the DS faculty liaison (kirsten.braem@uhasselt.be). Due to the large inter-faculty variability in types of research as well as education, there are separate requirements (see below) for the Faculty of Architecture & Arts, the Faculty of Business Economics, the Faculty of Law, the School of Educational Studies, and the Faculty School of Social Sciences.
Flexibility is an important keyword. PhD candidates are responsible for their own individual curriculum and may choose those specific activities that fit their own needs and wishes. It is recommended that the individual program and progress are periodically evaluated in consultation with the PhD supervisor. In case of doubt of eligibility, it is possible to present the chosen activities or courses to the faculty's member of the Doctoral School Board. A digital procedure is used for the acknowledgement of activities within the framework of the minimal requirements, generating an overview of the progress made in an individual doctoral school portfolio on Google Drive. This document can be consulted at any time by the PhD candidate, their supervisor and the doctoral school’s management team.
The requirements are discussed and revised regularly within each faculty/school, in order to make sure that they stay up to date and feasible. Feedback of PhD students is always carefully considered.
The figure below depicts the eight focus points.
Research output
Teaching skills
Research management & communication skills
Advanced discipline-specific knowledge
Ethics & integrity
Internationalisation
IP, valorisation & science communication
Career management & personal development
In some categories, specific requirements for separate research groups have been defined. The groups are indicated as follows:
Below is an overview of the requirements:
Research output
ACF:
BINF:
DIV:
EEC:
GOV:
IM:
LOG:
MAR:
PEC:
Teaching skills
Research management & communication skills
Advanced discipline-specific knowledge
Ethics & integrity
Internationalisation
IP, valorisation & science communication
Career management & personal development
*If applicable, you will be contacted by Cindy Vankerkom. In case the structural teaching assignment only starts in year 2, 3, … and you already participated in some of the thematic modules before, this will be taken into account for the full trajectory. Whether or not teaching assignments need to be fulfilled is determined within the faculty.
** It is possible to apply for an exception to this rule by submitting a motivated request explaining how you would fulfill this requirement by means of a combination of shorter active courses and why. This request may be submitted to DSrequirements@uhasselt.be.
Throughout the doctoral trajectory, each PhD candidate needs to collect 30 points, with the following distribution:
The activities should be spread as much as possible, and should be selected in consultation with the PhD supervisor and according to the needs of the research and the wishes/interests of the PhD candidate.
Below is an overview of the requirements:
Research output
Teaching skills
Research management & communication skills
Advanced discipline-specific knowledge
Ethics & integrity
Internationalisation
IP, valorisation & science communication
Career management & personal development
* Whether or not one needs to attend the trajectory of professionalization of teaching is determined within the faculty. Prof. Matthias Vanhullebusch is the contact person.
Research output
Teaching skills
Research management & communication skills
Advanced discipline-specific knowledge
Ethics & integrity
Internationalisation
IP, valorisation & science communication
Career management & personal development
Research output
If the dissertation is in article form:
If the dissertation is a monograph:
Teaching skills
Research management & communication skills
Advanced discipline-specific knowledge
Ethics & integrity
Internationalisation
IP, valorisation & science communication
Career management & personal development
* If applicable, you will be contacted by Ilse Peters. In case the structural teaching assignment only starts in year 2, 3, … and you already participated in some of the thematic modules before, this will be taken into account for the full trajectory. Whether or not teaching assignments need to be fulfilled is determined within the faculty.