This newsletter provides an overview of all upcoming activities for PhD students organized by the doctoral schools and links to other potentially interesting events or information.

More details on, and registration links for, upcoming activities are available on the website of the doctoral schools. When you enrol for a doctoral school activity, make sure to take our cancellation & no-show policy into account. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at all times on doctoralschools@uhasselt.be.

1. Interested to learn from a mentor outside academia?

The mentoring programme at UHasselt is aimed at supporting (junior) researchers in their further career development. It implies a one-on-one interaction between a mentor and a mentee on a regular base. PhD students in the second half of their PhD trajectory (and appointed for at least one more year) may apply for 'civic mentoring' which refers to mentoring towards successfully entering the external labour market, by someone from a non-academic organization (company, government, hospital, social sector, ...). Your mentor can act as a sounding board, but can also answer specific questions or give advice.

The duration of the mentoring trajectory is typically one year. You need to be available on January 23, 2024 (13:00-18:00), for an obligatory introductory workshop during which you determine the profile of your preferred mentor. Application deadline: November 28, 2023. More details on the programme, the selection procedure and the timeline may be found here (as well as here).

2. PhD Welcome

UHasselt welcomes you! At Hasselt University, we aspire to create a stimulating environment for PhD researchers and provide comprehensive guidance throughout your entire PhD journey. With this in mind, we warmly welcome all starting PhD students to join us at our 'PhD Welcome' event. This half-day session will take place on December 08, 2023, and will shed light on doing a PhD at Hasselt University, the doctoral schools, well-being, and so on. In doing so, we hope to provide answers to possible questions that could pop up at the beginning of your PhD trajectory. We will also give the floor to several experienced PhD researchers who will share the pitfalls and successes of their research careers. Moreover, the PhD Welcome - as well as the social event PhDrinks which is programmed on the same day in the afternoon - will give you the opportunity to connect with other PhD researchers. Don't miss out on this chance to get in touch and socialize with other starting PhD students!

Registration is possible until November 28, 2023. Please complete the expectation question when registering for the event to ensure you receive the information you need for a successful start at the PhD Welcome session.

3. Company visit Jaga

To build bridges between the world of research and enterprises, Hasselt University and Voka – KvK Limburg join forces by organising company visits, during which junior researchers are given the opportunity to discover the ins and outs of a company. Our second visit will take place at Jaga, where you'll explore the company's organisational structure and various job roles, and experience an informative guided tour of their production and services. The visit concludes with a networking lunch. The visit takes place on December 15, 2023 (10:00-13:00). For additional information and registration (deadline 01/12/23), click here.

Details & registration

1. Academic English (DS ST)

Takes place on 19 & 26/01 and 02 & 09/02/24 - 13:00-16:00
Registration possible until 17/12/23

2. Pronunciation and intonation in English (all DS)

Takes place on 19 & 26/01 and 02, 16 & 23/02/24 - 10:00-12:00
Registration possible until 19/12/23

3. Overcoming procrastination – getting things done (all DS)

Takes place (digitally) on 23/01/24 - 13:30-16:30
Registration possible until 07/01/24

4. Academic English (DS BSH)

Takes place on 15, 22 & 29/02 and 07/03/24 - 09:00-12:00
Registration possible until 21/01/24

5. Academic English (DS HLS)

Takes place on 15, 22 & 29/02 and 07/03/24 - 13:00-16:00
Registration possible until 21/01/24

6. Coaching for growth (all DS)

Takes place on 26 & 27/02/24 - 09:00-17:00
Registration possible until 21/01/24

7. Personal time management (all DS)

Takes place on 11/03 (09:00-17:00) & 29/03/24 (13:00-17:00)
Registration possible until 04/02/24

Details & registration

1. Meet the jury seminars 'Combining biochar and carbon nanomaterials for development of high capacity adsorbents: Application in the removal of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds from water' (DS HLS & ST)

Takes place on 21/11/23 - 13:30-14:30
Registration is required

2. Medical writing (DS HLS & ST)

Takes place on 30/11/23 - 09:00-17:30
Registration is required

3. PhD seminar series: Writing intensive (DS BSH)

Takes place on 07/12/23 - 09:30-17:30
Registration possible until 01/12/23

4. Method as critique: Two-day winter school on critical social science methodologies for studying power (DS BSH)

Takes place on 14 & 15/12/23 - 09:00-16:00
Registration is required

5. Agents of concern - doctoral symposium (DS BSH)

Takes place on 15/12/23 - 09:00-17:00
Registration possible until 10/12/23

6. Writing the FWO doctoral fellowship (all DS)

Takes place on 15/12/23 - 09:00-12:00
Registration possible until 03/12/23

7. Modelling complex social systems from the bottom-up: an introduction to Agent Based Modelling (DS BSH)

Takes place on 15/02/24 - 09:00-16:00
Registration possible until 18/01/24

8. Mind the GAP (Good Academic Practices) (all DS)

Takes place online (permanently accessible)

Details & registration

1. Company visit: Jaga (all DS)

Takes place on 15/12/23 - 10:00-13:00
Registration possible until 01/12/23

2. Demonstrating your competences in your CV, LinkedIn profile & cover letter to convince your future employer (all DS)

Takes place on 19/12/23 (workshop: 09:30-16:30) & 16/01/24 (coaching online: 30 min per person)
Registration possible until 26/11/23

3. Ready for take-off: Establishing a good basis for PhD supervision (all DS)

Takes place on 19/12/23 - 10:00-16:00
Registration (by supervisors only!) possible until 20/11/23

4. Individual career coaching (all DS)

Continuous offer
Application is required

The doctoral schools partner with several other departments and organisations. Below is an overview of their upcoming activities. For more information regarding their course offer and acknowledgement in your doctoral school portfolio, please consult this webpage.

1. Education department

Trivial pursuit: feedback edition - 23/11/23 - 13:00-15:00
How to bring group work to a successful conclusion? Tools for researchers & students - 05/12/23 - 09:30-12:00
GDPR in Bachelor's and Master's theses - 12/12/23 - 14:00-15:30
Collecting student feedback about your teaching practice: worthwhile or worthless? (hybrid) - 09/01/24 - 09:00-10:30
Discover Ans: Master UHasselt's Assessment Platform (hybrid) - 25/01/24 - 09:00-12:00
Start to teach - February-March 2024 - 10:00-12:00
Discover the possibilities of digital learning modules in your own teaching practice (hybrid) - 06/02/24 - 10:00-12:00
Diversity and inclusion: raising your (self)awareness - 20/02/24 - 09:00-12:00

2. Research data management (RDM)

Castor: Electronic data capture for clinical data - 28/11/23 - 13:00-15:00
Open Science for qualitative research - 30/11/23 - 10:00-12:00
Data storage solutions & protection - 05/12/23 - 10:00-12:00
Into the DMP - Sciences & Technology - 14/12/23 - 10:00-12:00
Into the DMP - Behavioral sciences & Humanities - 14/12/23 - 10:00-12:00
Into the DMP - Health & Life sciences - 14/12/23 - 10:00-12:00
Data management plan - DMP writing session - 14/12/23 - 14:00-16:00

3. HR Department

Hasselt University encourages personal growth and development among its staff by offering all kinds of trainings and courses throughout the academic year. Hungry for additional brainfood? Discover GoodHabitz, an online learning platform where you can choose from over 100 courses at your own pace and on your own schedule, available in 7 languages.

4. School of Expert Education (SEE)

Training for professionals, built on academic expertise with the aim of creating a unique learning environment to refine and broaden your expertise.

5. Flanders’ training network for methodology and statistics (FLAMES)

Courses on statistics and methodology, which take place throughout the academic year at all Flemish universities. The FLAMES summer school and courses organized at Hasselt University are listed in this newsletter; the others can be found on the FLAMES website.

Thematic analysis (basic) - 17/11/23
Qualitative data analysis with NVivo (digitally) - 20/11/23

6. Interuniversity course offer for young researchers

The doctoral schools of Hasselt University partner with the other four Flemish universities which results in an interuniversity course offer open for young researchers of the five partner universities.

7. EURECA-PRO

The EURECA-PRO Alliance consists of 9 partners who joined forces to enable students, researchers and staff to study, teach and research in the field of responsible consumption and production with the long-term goal of a joined virtual and integrated European campus until 2040. They also organize regular activities for (young) researchers.

8. Pitch Please

Pitch Please wil jongeren inspireren, informeren, uitdagen en ondersteunen om hun ondernemende kwaliteiten aan te scherpen. Een overzicht van de Pitch Please activiteiten kan je online terugvinden.

Match making monday - 20/11/23
Pitch Please Hackathon - 01/12/23
Webinar 'Starten als student-ondernemer' (digitally) - 05/12/23
Pitch please speeddate ism JCI Limburg - 12/12/23
Workshop 'Sociale media' - 21/02/24
Workshop 'Leren pitchen' - 28/02/24

9. Flanders AI Academy (VAIA)

Courses and trainings on artificial intelligence for professionals and researchers in Flanders which take place throughout the academic year. In this newsletter only activities and trainings specifically organised or interesting for PhD students/posdocs are listed; the others can be found on the VAIA website.