Today at Nikhef in Amsterdam, the first event specifically for PhD students and postdocs is taking place, designed to bring the youngest generations of Nikhef researchers closer to one another and to the institute.
The day-long event offers plenty of opportunities to get to know the institute and its leadership, and is organized jointly by the PhD Council and the Postdoc Council. “It should be a day where PhD students and postdocs can mingle among themselves without other staff present,” says Lisa Marie Lehmann, chair of the PhD Council.
Spread across its six affiliated universities, Nikhef has a total of approximately 180 PhD students and postdocs throughout the country. For PhD students outside Amsterdam, Nikhef can therefore easily remain a somewhat abstract concept.
The program includes an open discussion with Nikhef Director Jorgen D’Hondt, based in part on questions and topics suggested by the participants.
There will also be an opportunity to visit the mechanical and electronic workshops and get hands-on experience there. At Nikhef, science and technology go hand in hand even more so than at most universities.
In the afternoon, there will be special supervision workshops. In addition to their teaching duties, PhD students and postdocs often serve as advisors to master’s students and doctoral candidates—without much training, according to Lisa Lehmann, herself a PhD student at ATLAS.
“There are often courses on teaching skills, but student supervision is something you largely have to figure out on your own. We think there’s room for improvement.” The basic training is explicitly intended as a bonus to make the PhD Day more appealing, including for PhD candidates and postdocs who have to travel from far away.
The goal is to make the PhD and Postdoc Day an annual event at Nikhef.
