{"id":34559,"date":"2022-10-19T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=34559"},"modified":"2022-10-18T14:21:54","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T12:21:54","slug":"individual-consultations-to-help-phd-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2022\/10\/individual-consultations-to-help-phd-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Individual consultations to help PhD students"},"content":{"rendered":"
Semmelweis University\u2019s Research Management Team offers its services not only to PhD students who are stuck with their work or experience difficulties in completing their thesis, but also to those who are just considering to start their doctoral studies, Dr. Szabolcs V\u00e1rb\u00edr\u00f3, Professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and head of the team, and Dr. Judit R\u00e9ka Hetth\u00e9ssy, Assistant Professor and one of the scientific methodological experts of the team told our website.<\/div>\n

\"\"Experience has shown that fewer PhD theses are completed compared to the number of PhD studies started, and the drop-out rate is disproportionately high, explained Dr. Judit R\u00e9ka Hetth\u00e9ssy, Associate Professor on the background to the launch of the Research Management Team. Dr. Szabolcs V\u00e1rb\u00edr\u00f3, Professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology added that Semmelweis University is still among the best Hungarian universities, but while about 90 percent of students successfully complete their studies at the undergraduate faculties, the number of PhD theses that are desired but not completed is unjustifiably high at the Doctoral Schools.<\/p>\n

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The university has an incredible amount of intellectual capital, a lot of motivated people – we are full of \u2019gold nuggets\u2019, so to say, but we are just not mining them in the right proportion<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

– they added.<\/p>\n

\"\"This is why they have analyzed and quantified the reasons for drop-outs and also where doctoral students typically get stuck with their assignments. \u201eWe decided to start individual consultations because we noticed that everyone was falling behind or encountering difficulties at a different point during the PhD process. Some had problems with research, others struggled more with publication. It also occurred that someone has met the impact factor requirement – in fact, had the publication activity of a major doctorate – but got stuck in the maze of actually obtaining a PhD,\u201d explained Dr. Judit R\u00e9ka Hetth\u00e9ssy. Dr. Szabolcs V\u00e1rb\u00edr\u00f3 added that although every student’s situation is different, there are certain rules and techniques that can be learned and implemented by every PhD student. Writing a doctoral thesis might seem like a huge task, but if there is help to break the process down into simple steps, the tasks are much easier and more manageable. The Research Management Team assists with this in particular: working with students to define the workflow, set a schedule and provide a framework for the studies. \u201eFor a clinical exam, there is a specific number of operations, and a list of procedures to be performed \u2013 there is no such thing during the PhD process, so many people do not know exactly at what pace and how to proceed,\u201d pointed out Dr. Judit R\u00e9ka Hetth\u00e9ssy. This is why the workflow is determined by individual skills, the students’ life situation and their free time: some tasks take 4-8 hours for some, and 10-12 for others \u2013 but most students work in patient care or in theoretical institutes, so the amount of time they can devote to the PhD varies considerably. \u201eIf you have a fitting schedule, you know exactly how far you can get with your PhD in a few months – we also show them techniques and give advice on how to do such,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"They offer help in many other ways: liaising with laboratories, the Department of Languages for Specific Purposes, statisticians, they have the background to support students in a wide range of research areas. There is also coaching available for people with problems related to life path management – this can be done in parallel with professional, work organization counselling. \u201eWe have tried to build a complex system that not only reflects the knowledge available at the university, but can also deal with any problems that may arise,\u201d underlined Dr. Szabolcs V\u00e1rb\u00edr\u00f3.<\/p>\n

The Research Management Team is running since a year, and it has helped many students write their PhD theses during this time. \u201eOne of the main groups of people who come to us are the ‘rescues’: students who have been working on their PhD thesis for many years, sometimes decades – and typically, just need to be pulled in to the finish line, so to speak. The other group are those who have decided to embark on a PhD but don’t know how to get started,\u201d they pointed out. They added that for some, the face-to-face consultation itself, i.e. the opportunity to talk to an expert about their uncertainties, why and what they were stuck on, was a great help. Besides these, the third main pillar of their activities, the training of supervisors, has already started.<\/p>\n

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\u201eLooking at the statistics of the university library, we found that for many people, life stops after their PhD: it can take 10-15 years before they start publishing again. Our aim is to bridge this gap, so that academic life continues after the PhD. We want more and more PhD graduates to be able to build a scientific team around themselves and continue publishing,\u201d said Dr. Judit R\u00e9ka Hetth\u00e9ssy. This is why the Research Management Team has launched the training of supervisors, which is also a way of planning ahead: while individual consultations can only be held with one student at a time, the training of supervisors will contribute to the preparation of many future PhD theses. The two work streams are closely linked: during the consultations, a small number of members of the team meet face-to-face to discuss problems and difficulties, and pass on this knowledge to future supervisors, who can then work with their PhD students based on this knowledge. \u201eWe will select those involved in research, who are in the process of writing their PhD thesis, and who have the motivation and skills to become the best possible supervisors with the relevant training,” said Dr. Szabolcs V\u00e1rb\u00edr\u00f3. So far, more than 30 people completed the multi-day course successfully.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n