Fwd: Biology PhD school starting in October!

[doc. RNDr. Michal Vinkler, Ph.D.]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
Od: Clément Lafon Placette <lafo...@natur.cuni.cz>
Date: čt 20. 7. 2023 11:51
Subject: Biology PhD school starting in October!
To: Katedra botaniky <bot...@natur.cuni.cz>, Matyáš Fendrych <matyas....@natur.cuni.cz>, Jan Černý <jan....@natur.cuni.cz>, Marian Novotný <marian....@natur.cuni.cz>, Michail Rovatsos <michail....@natur.cuni.cz>, Michal Vinkler <michal....@natur.cuni.cz>, Petr Horák <petr....@natur.cuni.cz>

Dear colleagues and students,

Doing a PhD is a hard and stressful job, requiring not only expert knowledge, but also training in science-unrelated skills (project management, public speaking...), and a sense of belonging and peers to talk to. This is the reason why many countries created a structure, PhD schools, to support students and provide them with education taylored for PhD students and peer-networking providing students with a "cohort" feeling. Unfortunately, there is no such a structure in Charles University yet.

As a first step towards this structure, we are opening a biology PhD School pilot, in the form of a course in SIS that any PhD student can enroll in. The course code is MB120C126, you can see it here: https://is.cuni.cz/studium/eng/predmety/index.php?do=predmet&kod=MB120C126&dlpar=YToxOntzOjg6InByZWRtZXR5IjthOjE6e3M6Mzoic2tyIjtzOjQ6IjIwMjMiO319 .

The program includes meetings once a month for the whole school year. Each meeting will have:

- presentation by and for students and discussion mediated by students (no PI).

- soft skill education dedicated to PhD students issues (time management, presentation, conflict solving... for the full program see SIS)

- finishing with informal mingling with drinks and snacks

On top of these monthly meetings, the PhD school will propose:

- ad hoc methodological workshops

- a yearly weekend retreat involving further soft skill training and social bonding activities

We (Matyas Fendrych, Filip Kolar and I) will provide the logistic and administrative support, and create a space for PhD students to peer-learn and network. We imagine this will provide some support for PhD students to get inspired, get the tools to maintain mental health balance, and to navigate the academia world more easily.

@PhD students: the enrollment in SIS opens on the 16th of August!

@everyone: We appreciate any help spreading the word outside our departments of Botany/KEBR!

All the best,

Mates, Filip & Clément

--

Dr. Clément Lafon Placette

Associate Professor,Plant Reproduction Evolution lab

Department of Botany
Charles University

Benátská 2

CZ-128 01 Praha 2
+420 774 300 495

Research: https://lab-allience.natur.cuni.cz/plantreproevo/research

Pedagogy: https://lab-allience.natur.cuni.cz/plantreproevo/teaching