supervising bsc and msc thesis students

Eight tips to effectively supervise students during their Master's thesis

Jul 30, 2021 PhD

I am a fan of knowledge transfer between peers, teaching what I know to others and learning back from them. At University I frequently helped my fellow course mates with the material, so I was very interested in formally mentoring students when I started my PhD. Luckily my supervisor, who is really talented at this, agreed to let me help him with supervising some Master’s theses. In this article, also published as a Nature Career Column , I present eight lessons that I learned by watching him at work and trying on my own.

I supervised three Master’s students in the past year. One of them was quite good and independent, did not need a lot of guidance and could take care of most things on his own, while the other two required a fair amount of help from us, one of them even coming close to not graduating successfully. Dealing with the difficult situations is when I learned the most important lessons, but regardless of the ability of the students a common thread soon appeared.

But first, here’s a brief digression on how that happened. While I was writing a draft for this blog, I noticed an interesting article on Nature’s newsletter. While I was reading it, I felt its style was quite similar to what I usually aim for in this blog: use headlines to highlight the important points, and elaborate on those with a few paragraphs. I then noticed the author of that column was a PhD student, and I thought: “how comes she has an article there? Why can she do that? Can I do that?”. I quickly found how to do it , finished the draft and sent it to them, and, after eight rounds of review in the course of two months, the article was finally up! The editor was very responsive and we could iterate quickly on the manuscript, and the quality of the writing is so much better than what I had originally sent in. On the other hand, I sometimes felt the message was being warped a bit too much. After the editing process was finished I had to agree to an Embargo Period of six months during which Nature had the exclusive right of publishing the final version on their website. As those six months are now over, I am finally allowed to publish the final version here, too. Enjoy!

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Nature Career Column . The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02028-1 .

The lessons I learnt supervising master’s students for the first time

PhD student Emilio Dorigatti supported three junior colleagues during their degrees.

I started my PhD wanting to improve not only my scientific abilities, but also ‘soft skills’ such as communication, mentoring and project management. To this end, I joined as many social academic activities as I could find, including journal clubs, seminars, teaching assistance, hackathons, presentations and collaborations.

I am a bioinformatics PhD student at the Munich School for Data Science in Germany, jointly supervised by Bernd Bischl at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich and Benjamin Schubert at the Helmholtz Centre Munich, the German Research Center for Environmental Health. When I went to them asking to gain some experience in communication and mentoring soft skills, they suggested that I co-supervise three of Benjamin’s master’s students.

At first, I felt out of my depth, so I simply sat in on their meetings and listened. After a few months, I began offering technical advice on programming. I then started proposing new analyses and contributions. Eventually I became comfortable enough to propose a new master’s project based on part of my PhD research; Benjamin and I are now interviewing candidates.

I gained a great deal from this experience and I am grateful to both of my supervisors for supporting me, as well as to the students for staying motivated, determined and friendly throughout. Here are some of the things I learnt about how to ensure smooth collaboration and a happy outcome for all of us.

Draft a project plan

With Benjamin and Bernd, I put together a project plan for each of the master’s students. Drafting a two-page plan that ended up resembling an extended abstract for a conference forced us to consider each project in detail and helped to ensure that it was feasible for a student to carry out in their last semester of study.

If you’re a PhD student supervising others, sit down with your own supervisor and agree on your respective responsibilities as part of the project plan. At first, you might want your supervisor to follow you closely to help keep the project on the right path, but as you gain more experience and trust, you might request more autonomy and independence.

Use the project plan to advertise the position and find a suitable student: share it online on the group’s website or on Twitter, as well as on the job board at your department. Advertise it to your students if you are teaching a related topic, and sit back and wait for applicants.

We structured the plans to include a general introduction to the research subject as well as a few key publications. We described the gap in the literature that the project aimed to close, with the proposed methodology and a breakdown of four or five tasks to be achieved during the project. My supervisors and I also agreed on and included specific qualifications that candidates should have, and formalities such as contact information, starting dates and whether a publication was expected at the end.

Benjamin and I decided to propose publishable projects, sometimes as part of a larger paper. We always list the student as one of the authors.

Meet your student regularly

I found that I met with most students for less than an hour per week, but some might require more attention. Most of the time, Benjamin joined the meeting, too. We started with the students summarizing what they had done the previous week and any issues they had encountered. We then had a discussion and brainstorming session, and agreed on possible next steps. I learnt that I do not need to solve all the student’s problems (it is their thesis, after all). Instead, Benjamin and I tried to focus on suggesting a couple of things they could try out. At the end of the meeting, we made sure it was clear what was expected for the next week.

We used the first few weeks to get the students up to speed with the topic, encouraging them to read publications listed in the plan, and a few others, to familiarize themselves with the specific methods that they would be working with. We also addressed administrative matters such as making sure that the students had accounts to access computational resources: networks, e-mail, Wi-Fi, private GitHub repositories and so on.

Encourage regular writing

Good writing takes time, especially for students who are not used to it, or who are writing in a foreign language. It is important to encourage them to write regularly, and to keep detailed notes of what should be included in the manuscript, to avoid missing key details later on. We tried to remind our students frequently how the manuscript should be structured, what chapters should be included, how long each should be, what writing style was expected, what template to use, and other specifics. We used our meetings to provide continuous feedback on the manuscript.

The first two to four weeks of the project are a good time to start writing the first chapters, including an introduction to the topic and the background knowledge. We suggested allocating the last three or four weeks to writing the remaining chapters — results and conclusions — ensuring that the manuscript forms a coherent whole, and preparing and rehearsing the presentation for the oral examination.

Probe for correct understanding

In our weekly meetings, or at other times when I was teaching, I quickly realized that asking ‘did you understand?’ or ‘is that OK?’ every five minutes is not enough. It can even be counterproductive, scaring away less-assertive students.

I learnt to relax a little and take a different approach: when I explained something, I encouraged the students to explain it back in their own words, providing detailed breakdowns of a certain task, anticipating possible problems, and so on.

Ultimately, this came down to probing for understanding of the science, rather than delivering a lecture or grilling an interviewee. Sometimes this approach helps when a student thinks they fully understand something but actually don’t. For example, one of our students was less experienced in programming than others, so for more difficult tasks, we broke the problem down and wrote a sketch of the computer code that they would fill in on their own during the week.

Adapt supervision to the student

Each student requires a different type of supervision, and we tried to adapt our styles to accommodate that. That could mean using Trello project-management boards or a shared Google Doc to record tasks; defining tasks in detail and walking through them carefully; or taking extra time to explain and to fill knowledge gaps. I tried to be supportive by reminding students that they could always send an e-mail if they were stuck on a problem for too long. One of the students found it very helpful to text brief updates outside of scheduled meetings, as a way to hold themselves accountable.

Sometimes, if we felt a student needed to be challenged, we proposed new tasks that were not in the original plan or encouraged them to follow their interest, be it diving into the literature or coming up with further experiments and research questions.

One student conducted a literature review and summarized the pros and cons of the state-of-the-art technology for a follow-up idea we had. That saved some time when we picked up the project after the student left; they learnt lots of interesting things; and the discussion section of the manuscript was much more interesting as a result.

When things go badly, make another plan

Not all projects can be successful, despite your (and your student’s) best efforts. So, as part of each project, my supervisors and I prepared a plan B (and C), working out which tasks were essential and which were just a nice addition. This included a simpler research question that required less work than the original. The initial plan for one of our projects was to compare a newly proposed method with the usual way of doing things, but the new method turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated, so we decided not to do the comparison, and just showed how the new method performed.

Halfway through the project is a good time to evaluate how likely it is that the thesis will be handed in on time and as originally planned. The top priority is to help the student graduate. That might entail either forgoing some of the tasks planned at the beginning, or obtaining an extension of a few months if possible.

Have a final feedback round

After the oral examinations, Benjamin and I met to decide the students’ final grades on the basis of the university’s rubric. We then met the students one last time to tell them our decision, going through each item in the rubric and explaining the motivation for the score we had given. We tried to recall relevant events from the past months to make each student feel the grading was fair.

We also remembered to ask the student for feedback on our supervision and to suggest things they thought we could do better.

Lastly, I encouraged those students to apply for open positions in our lab, and offered to write recommendation letters for them.

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01. Orientation to teaching and supervision

• Start to Lecture: Presentation/Instruction Practice For those who want to make their lectures more effective by combining engaging presentations/instructions with active learning. The focus of this training is on practicing presentation/instruction skills. We therefore work in small groups (4 to 6 participants). The training will be held in English.
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• Start to supervise BSc & MSc thesis students In this 2,5 hour workshop you will be provided with some general information about supervising thesis students at Wageningen University and discuss good practices, expectations, basic skills. Furthermore there will be room for questions.
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• Group supervision in real-life learning The workshop Group supervision in real-life learning is designed to empower teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively supervise and support student groups engaged in real-life learning projects. By the end of this workshop, participants will possess a comprehensive toolkit of practical tools and guidance. This will help them effectively handle student groups during real-life learning tasks. With a strong emphasis on understanding group dynamics, fostering effective communication, enhancing motivation, and knowing when and how to intervene. Educators will be better equipped to facilitate successful outcomes for all stakeholders involved in real-life learning projects.
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• Nature inclusive teaching 2: Teaching with nature Exploring and implementing (outdoor) relational teaching methods. In this module you will explore the potential of teaching with nature to support cognitive, emotional, physical, existential and action-oriented domains of learning. You will get to experience and evaluate the potential effect and relevance of embodiment exercises (outdoors) and explore how to connect (outdoor) relational teaching methods to a specific course you teach and practise this with colleagues.
• Nature inclusive teaching 3: Care in the classroom Supporting students in social-environmental responsibility and anxiety. This module takes into consideration the socio-environmental context in which students find themselves. You will learn how to address the student’s sense of responsibility and care for the world by exploring their intrinsic motivation and values. You will also learn how to acknowledge feelings of anxiety and despair, supporting students in their relation to urgent global (environmental) concerns.
• Nature inclusive teaching 4: Course design and implementation In this module we aim to help teachers and programme committees to implement nature inclusive teaching. Consisting of several moments of exchange, practice and reflection.
• Brain Based Teaching Brain based teaching is the state of the art when it comes to approaching classroom teaching. New insights on how the brain works are translated into classroom strategies. During this training you will experience and practice lots of these strategies, so you can apply them to boost both your teaching and your student’s learning.
• Gamified Design What can we learn and use from games to make learning more effective? We will explore the underlying mechanisms that make games so engaging and use this as a starting point for rethinking your own education.
• Supervising BSc & MSc thesis students This two day course is meant for teachers/PhD‘s who have already supervised at least one or two BSc and/or MSc thesis students and want to learn more about supervising thesis students. In this course you exchange experiences, learn theories/models about effective supervising and practice several skills, like giving feedback, switching communication levels and asking open questions. All these elements come together when you will practice everything you have learned in a real life case simulation with an actor who plays the student.
• Supervising Group Work In this 2-day course you will learn how to improve group performance and reduce free-riding, by getting all your students active and committed. You will practice with different stages of group development and corresponding roles of a supervisor. Topics are: assigning team roles, team communication, (shared) leadership, creating an inclusive learning environment are also addressed. This course is meant for coaches or teachers who teach a course where group collaboration is an explicit part of the course.
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• Designing assessments in Ans From September 2020 all digital assessment will take place in our new software Ans. In this training, you will learn you can design your assessment with open and/or closed questions in Ans and how to build and manage your question bank.
• Formative use of assessment Do you want more insight in student learning during your course? In this online session we will discuss how you can use assessment as a learning activity. And how you can make it activating and informative for both students and yourself.
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• Rubrics: How to use and develop them for feedback and assessment In this session we will explore how you can design rubrics and use them to facilitate student learning. We will start with a short general introduction on rubrics and have some small exercises to experience different aspects of using and developing rubrics. This workshop is planned on demand. Please contact [email protected]
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• Q&A Sessions: Educational Video In these online Q&A sessions, you can ask all questions related to Educational Media. Different topics can be discussed, like 'How to manage a YuJa channel?', 'How do I find a video in YuJa?', or 'How to prepare for Weblectures and livestreams'.
• Brightspace Introduction Training To give all teachers and educational supporters a smooth start in Brightspace, all can follow the Brightspace Introduction Training. Main topics in this training are: navigation, organizing and adding content, setting up online activities, such as assignments and discussion fora, setting up groups and following student’s progress.
• Brightspace Introduction Training (Self-study) If you want to get familiar with Brightspace, but do not want to sign-up for a live session, you can sign-up for this self-study version. You will get access to the Brightspace and go through the materials at your own pace while doing the exercises in your practice course. Main topics in this training are: navigation, organizing and adding content, setting up online activities, such as assignments and discussion fora, setting up groups and following student’s progress.
• Using Interactive Tools in Brightspace for course design How can you make your courses in Brightspace more attractive, creative and varied? Learn about some simple tools (H5P, Creator+ & FBF) that give you immediate results.
• Workshop: Boost your Brightspace course Do you want to discuss possible improvements of your Brightspace course and be updated on what’s new in Brightspace and related tools? Looking for some inspiration from colleagues to improve your Brightspace course?
• Producing your own knowledge clips (Self-study) Knowledge clips are short video clips (5 to 7 minutes) in which the teacher explains a theory or concept or shows a skill or procedure. The course is a self study course, in which you do get feedback from a trainer.
• Getting started with YuJa YuJa is the video platform of the WUR. It is accessible via Brightspace, for both teaching staff and students. In this training you will get to know the most important basic functionalities in YuJa. 
• Digital Accessibility: What, why & how? Every student has the right to learn, and so our education needs to be accessible to them. This workshop introduces you to the intricacies of Digital Accessibility (DA), and will leave you with clear tips on how to make your educational materials more digitally accessible.

07. Events & Other activities

In the events organised by TLC, you will discuss about good practices in teaching, get introduced to new learning technologies, and have the opportunity to learn from and exchange experiences with other educators.

• SUTQ | Information Meeting The Teaching & Learning Centre currently offers the UTQ (BKO). In this trajectory in-service teachers are equipped with specific teaching competences that are formally assessed. By offering a SUTQ, the educational trajectory can continue for those who successfully completed their UTQ (or equivalent) and wish to further their educational development. The SUTQ is intended for employees who aspire in becoming a “senior teacher” (promoted from UFO 3 to a level 2). The SUTQ is also open for and available to in-service teachers, associate professors, assistant professors, and professors in possession of a UFO job profile 1 and 2. As alluded to before, for a candidate to be considered for the SUTQ, they should be in possession of a UTQ certificate. The information day serves as a Q&A moment where you can inquire more information about the three overall competences and how these are planned, assessed, implemented and monitored using both a personal plan as well as an education project plan.
• Inspiration Lunch workshops (2023-2024) The Inspiration Lunch Workshops are events organized for educational staff to get inspired in topics related to Technology Enhanced Learning, Blended Learning Design Approaches, Didactic Concepts, Diversity and Inclusion. The workshops take place on campus from 12:00 – 13:30 on weekdays.
• Teachers Day The annual event is organised by and for WUR teachers. Check intranet for the full programme of this day: https://intranet.wur.nl/Project/EducationSupport/Pages/T5-QhExMjE-7nDFYWk-xqA

08. Study advisers

• Start-to-SA-trajectory for new study advisers -part 4 In this fourth short meeting, you will do peer consultation / intervisie Programme: • Check-in round + short reflection on last meeting • Case-selection (if you have a case, write STQ*) • Peer round • Individual reflection • Reflect on last year & wishes for next year sessions *STQ: Write down, just for yourself, a still urgent case during a study advise / work related situation o Describe the situation in 1 or 2 sentences. Be as specific and to the point as possible o Describe what exactly triggers you in this situation in 1 or 2 sentences (What triggers me is...) o Formulate a question considering this trigger (How can I ....,What can I do to ....., etc) Location: WUR Campus. Target group: New study advisers, cohort '23/'24 Trainers: Sanne Collette & Marieke van Schaik
• Training Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (by Autisme Academie) Themes that will be part of the training: - stress, overstimulation and the expressions in behavior - effect of stress on physical and mental well-being and the causes of this - relationship autism and cognition - learning to read and use 6 communication channels in communication - sensory hypersensitivity and hypersensitivity including the internal senses - communication applied at a higher level of understanding
• Knowledge bite Coping with eco- anxiety and other eco-emotions What signals show a student is struggling with eco-emotions? How can we support students having these emotions? In this practice based knowledge bite you’ll learn tools how to help students to deal with their eco-emotion struggles. Trainer: Marieke Siepert, Klimaatpsychologie.com Target group: Study advisers

09. On demand

These courses or activities are organised on demand. Depending on whether it is an individual support activity or course, we will try to plan an occurence when there is interest. Please send an e-mail to [email protected] . 

• (re)designing a course: self-study modules for exemption trajectories This course teaches you the basics of designing education. It is open for self-study; all knowledge clips and readings are accessible, the discussion fora and course analysis are not open. If you are interested in joining the full course, check our schedule: https://esd.crs.wur.nl/courses/details/257/
• (Re)design Lab intake The Design Lab welcomes teachers, programme committees and other people at WUR who wish to rethink the design of their education or develop new education. It facilitates design on different levels: course, learning trajectory and programmes as a whole. The Design Lab consist of an intake, a design workshop and possible follow-up sessions focused on detailed design and implementation. You can e-mail [email protected] for an intake to discuss the possibilities.
• Introduction Knowledge clips For teachers that are interested in the possibilities of knowledge clips in their courses and the development process of such a knowledge clip. Central questions are: - What is a knowledge clip? - What type of knowledge clip am I going to make? - How do I prepare a knowledge clip? - What kind of support can I get? - How do I organize it?
• Camera training Knowledge clips are becoming more important as teaching activity within the WU. They are used as short video clips (5 to 7 minutes) in which the teacher explains a theory, concept or show a skill or procedure. In two half days you improve your skills in developing and recording a knowledge clip in front of the camera in the Greenroom Studio.
• Organising IT in your course design This is an advanced course for teachers. Registration to this course is only possible when you have participated in the workshops “Online teaching methods to activate your students” and “Orientation on digital tools”.

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Supervising BSc and MSc students

In many research groups projects by Bachelor’s and Master’s students are supervised on a daily or weekly basis by PhD students. Often side projects of the own PhD topic form essential parts of the BSc/MSc work and it is expected by the group leaders to supervise in an adequate manner.

This seminar wants to:

• Provide the legal background for supervision by PhD students
• Show methods and communication tools to productively address the above problems
• Give advice how to solve problems in these tasks
• Make clear what kind and extent of supervision can/should be expected by the BSc or MSc student
• And show how and in which way a PhD student can benefit from supervision

Methods The exchange of experience and problem-solving approaches will constitute the seminar, as well as role plays on how to react in difficult situations. Furthermore, input will be given on the legal situation and both national and international common practice of this task in the natural sciences. 

Prof. Decker would like to invite the participants to send him - prior to the seminar - information on their respective questions, so that the content of the seminar can be adapted accordingly.

Note:  Registration of GSLS/GSST doctoral researchers has priority to non-GSLS/non-GSST participants. Non-GSLS/non-GSST participants pay a  service and workshop fee  of  EUR 50  by bank transfer. 

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What is the role of a thesis supervisor at the MSc level

I am a first year masters student just entering the first phase of my thesis research. I am the first student that my supervisor will be taking on so it is quite a new experience for both of us. Given the context of the relationship, I am curious to what extent a thesis supervisor ought to play in the development of the student and in contrast what are some tangible things I could be doing to contribute to this relationship as well to aid in my own development? My objective is to not have my hand held (too much) because I really want to strive for research autonomy eventually and produce quality research. I am however worried that maybe i'll spend too much time on learning something relevant, but not as crucial, to the research and not fully recognize that

• research-process

A huge role . Masters is a time to contribute to an established research project while putting in your own experiences to a certain degree. Usually it is not the Master's students job to come up with a project, understand its research utility/significance etc. Rather, that project usually exists already and the supervisor asks the student to move it forward, perhaps even support a PhD student in their work.

In this sense, your supervisor should be working closely with you, at least at the beginning, to make sure you understand what needs to be done and how to contribute. This isn't to say that you're doing exactly what the supervisor says. Rather, it is understood that a masters student lacks the depth and breadth of understanding of the field required to make a truly impactful, original contribution (usually! Some are exceptional. Point is that this isn't the expectation).

By the end of the project you will be the expert in your own contribution. Your supervisor will guide your thesis and make sure that things like the claims and background section are adequate and truthful.

You should use your masters studies to explore the field and gain some of the breadth/depth required to understand if it's really the field you'd want to pursue if you were to do PhD. If that is your goal, you should also use it as an experience to learn the basics of what research is and is not, what a contribution is and is not, and how the life cycle of a research project evolves. If that is not your goal, then you should also focus on gaining skills and knowledge that you feel will help you in your future career. Your supervisor's job is to ensure that you are given the freedom to explore these things within the context of the overall project.

If, for example, you want to learn about linguistics but you are working on a project in international development, that is probably not a good use of you or your supervisor's time unless you can link it somehow. On the other hand, if you're working on such a project and you decide to study some of the history of the country your project is based in, then that is probably a good use of your time, provided you don't lose track of your main project. Your supervisor, with regular check-ins, can help you to better understand if you are on the right path with side interests and will also help to steer you back toward your project if you are going too far off track.

• Thank you, I found this particularly useful. From my understanding, I know that some departments at the MSc level operate in 2 ways: (1) They have the project for you and (2) you make it all up. My department is in the (1) category, but unfortunately my supervisor has been gone since I have begun research, hence why I am trying to tease out what might be some rather basic questions. So thank you. –  GrayLiterature Commented May 22, 2019 at 16:46

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Supervision of master and bachelor thesis

 stephan glatzel.

• Determination of hydrological parameters in differently degraded peatlands (laboratory focus, method development); MSc & BSc
• Vegetation of the Puergschachen bog (field work, floristic knowledge necessary); MSc
• Methane and carbon dioxide release potentials of differently degraded peat (laboratory work); MSc & BSc
• The carbon dioxide release of Austria's peatland soils (GIS knowledge required); MSc
• The role of reeds in sediment retention on the shore of Lake Neusiedl (field and laboratory work); MSc
• The CO2 and CH4 balance of the Puergschachen bog (data analysis: experience with processing large amounts of data is essential); MSc
• Storage of gas samples in crimp-cap vessels: A method comparison (laboratory work); BSc
• Peatlands in the Enns Valley: Land use and greenhouse gas release (literature and field work); MSc & BSc  
• ... within the framework of these theses and research issues, individual research projects are welcome!

I look forward to getting in touch! ( stephan.glatzel @ univie.ac.at , Tel: 0043-14277-48660)

 Pamela Baur (co-support)

• Vegetation composition and properties of the reed belt at Lake Neusiedl in the mean footprint of the EC tower: Vegetation mapping for the quantification and qualification of the areas with reed ( Phragmites australis ) stands and open water / soil in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl near Illmitz. Aerial photos can be taken with a small drone or current orthophotos can be used. Further characteristics such as height, age of the reed culm (living or dead culm of Phragmites australis ), LAI and other characteristics should be taken into account and assessed. (Master thesis)
• Above and below ground biomass from reed ( Phragmites australis ) in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl: Investigation of biomass from reed over a certain time period. Use of several sampling areas along a transect from land to open water (Bachelor thesis)  
• Methane emission through ebullition in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl: Use of ebullition traps to measure methane emissions along a transect in the reed belt over a certain period of time (Bachelor thesis)
• Phenology of the reed belt at Lake Neusiedl near Illmitz: Determination of the phenology of the reed belt through various plant indices, using satellite images and phenocams (Bachelor / Master thesis)
• Methane emissions from the reed on different scales: Measurement of the methane emissions transported by the reed plants ( Phragmites australis ) in different scales (leaf, stem, plant, stand) in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl near Illmitz (Master thesis)
• Reed-cutting experiment: Reed pruning experiment with Phragmites australis in the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl near Illmitz (in situ): Effects of reed pruning on carbon fluxes and their various transport pathways (Master thesis)
• Phenology of   the peat bog ‘Puergschachen’: Determination of the phenology of the peat bog through various plant indices, using satellite images and phenocams (Bachelor / Master thesis)
• Ringing of bog birches ( Betula pubescens ) as a management strategy for the peat bog ‘Puergschachen’: Comparison of the situation before and after the management measure in order to evaluate the success of this management strategy (Bachelor thesis)
• Immigration of the bog birch ( Betula pubescens ) into the peat bog ‘Puergschachen’ : Quantification of the immigration of the bog birch into the peat bog ‘Puergschachen’with the help of historical aerial photographs (Bachelor / Master thesis)

If you are interested, please contact us via email stephan.glatzel @ univie.ac.at or pamela.baur @ univie.ac.at or personally in UZA2, wing 3A, room 2A376 or 2A393!

 Raphael Müller (co-support)

Depending on the type of the final thesis (BSc, MSc, teacher education program) literature reviews and/or laboratory/field work can be done!

Study of physical and chemical characteristics of peat, sediments and other organic materials (Puergschachen Bog or Lake Neusiedl):

• hydraulic conductivity (vertical and horizontal) of peat
• water movement and dispersal in peat and peatlands
• site and/or depth specific microbial activity in peat soils/sediments
• site and/or depth specific potential enzymatic activities in peat soils/sediments
• water table depth measurements (automatic and/or manual measurements) in peatlands
• decomposition studies of plant litter
• priming effect in wet ecosystems
• determination of carbon (total carbon, inorganic carbon, organic carbon) of sediments, peat and peaty materials
• temporal and site/depth specific distribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in bogwater
• …and many other topics dealing with different wetlands!

If you are interested, please contact us via email stephan.glatzel @ univie.ac.at or [email protected] or personally in UZA2, room 2A376 or 2A393!

PhD training

Training especially selected for PhD's

01. PhD Competence Assessments

• PhD Competence Assessment Gives insight in the degree that you have the competences and skills required to do a PhD in an effective manner and, when lacking, how these can be developed. The assessment is for PhD candidates at the beginning of their PhD assignment at Wageningen University and Research BEFORE the go/no go decision is made.

02. Writing and Presenting training

• FLOW CHART to support you to decide which writing or presenting course you should follow
• Creating and Pitching Virtual Posters How to design an appealing virtual poster and enticingly pitch your research to an online audience.
• Developing my Research Vision (Postdocs and junior Tenure Track staff) Having a research vision is crucial, especially for those who want to proceed in science and must demonstrate a clear research vision, an (international) visibility and ambition for a tenure track.
• The Essentials of Scientific Writing and Presenting Presents an overview of how to effectively write and present scientific information
• Efficient Writing Strategies Putting your thoughts on paper
• Intensive Writing Week Do you wish you could become a more productive writer? Do you want to write together with other PhD-students for a whole week, supported by academic writing teachers and coaches?
• Posters and Pitching Want to learn how to sell your ideas and yourself in a poster presentation? Want to know how to design an appealing poster and to enticingly pitch your poster to an audience?
• Reviewing a Scientific Manuscript This half-day workshop gives insight in how to review a scientific manuscript and what possible issues may occur. Besides two lectures we will be having interactive sessions where challenges and examples of review will be discussed.
• Science Journalism Enhance your popular science writing and communication skills, increase your visibility and learn how to disseminate academic knowledge to a larger audience.
• Scientific Publishing This one-day workshop provides insight and awareness in the developments, process, rules and ethical aspects of scientific writing and publishing. Furthermore tips how to get your work published are also addressed.
• Scientific Writing Assisting you if you are currently writing an article or a dissertation
• Writing Grant Proposals Teaches you how to write a project proposal for funding
• Writing propositions for your PhD Workshop on propositions of the PhD thesis, including a lecture on propositions and possibility to submit your own (draft) proposition.
• Presenting with Impact To improve and practice oral presentations of your own work

03. Communication skills training

• Communication with the Media and the General Public Provides you with the necessary ideas and skills to communicate your work to non-scientists
• Critical thinking and argumentation Training to debate and speak in a clear, convincing and effective way
• Effective behaviour in your professional surroundings This course aims to help PhD candidates develop professional skills that are important during their PhD project. Such skills include communication, self-insight, building professional relations and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
• Making Impact: Increasing the relevance of research through science-society interaction (in person) During this course, Dr. Harro Maat, Prof. Cees Leewis and Prof. Phil Macnaghten of the Knowledge, Technology and Innovation team will provide you with the scientific insights on how to make an impact. In addition, you can learn from them, and a panel of researchers on the different approaches they take to turn this into practical approaches. Note: this course will take place on campus as an in person training
• Mobilising your - scientific - network Offers you the essential tools to create a network through a variety of introductions, discussions and assignments

"This is a highly recommended course from my point of view. During the course, we got tested and knew more about our own communication styles, like assertive and passive, and we also had a lot of chances to share and discuss our own communication problems, and many effective and tailored methods were raised from the teachers or other participants.", Penghui Shen, Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods, Wageningen University

04. Project and Management skills training

• Mindful Productivity for scientists -Online In “I focus and write” Ana Pineda helps scientists to have a more creative, productive, and happier academic life. To do that, she uses a mindful approach (that is not spiritual) to overcome common mental and especially emotional struggles that scientists have, while they are getting things done.

“After the course, I managed to submit a PhD thesis on time, so I'm very happy that I joined! I would have finished it regardless, but definitely with a more troubled mentality. I'm currently in the post-submission stage, happily going through a "void" period and not feeling guilty about it!  I'm super happy I signed up!“ Daniela Requena Suarez, PhD researcher at Wageningen University

“Before I joined this course, I was feeling negative about my work. Especially due to the lack of motivation, not having clear priorities and being drained by difficult tasks. Now I feel less stressed because I am aware that many of my blocks (such as procrastination) come from emotions, but I can understand them and put them into place with the tools I got. Also, having good planning and overview has helped me feel more positive about myself and my work.” Ana Shein, PhD researcher, NIOO-KNAW

“When I joined this course, I had just started a tenure track position and I felt utterly overwhelmed. I was just working like crazy, but not having time for my own research. I felt that I couldn't enjoy any time off because I hadn't achieved enough for my work. The course really helped me get clear on what my values are and what I should give priority. Even if this means that I have to say no to others.”, Katja Hoedjes, Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Project and Time Management Planning, control, monitoring and management of the research project and time are essential in accomplishing the PhD.
• Research Data Management This course is offered by Wageningen Graduate Schools and organised by WUR Library. It consists of lectures and practical assignments that cover various aspects of managing research data (see program below) throughout the research cycle. The course follows the order of data management topics in the WUR data management plan template (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7233369 https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.7233369), allowing participants to fill in or update their data management plan during the course. Note: you have to participate in all three parts of the course in order to receive the certificate.
• Searching and Organising Literature for PhD candidates Make effective use of scientific information sources in the Wageningen University & Research Digital Library and EndNote

05. Training on Teaching

Skills in teaching and supervising training sessions are offered by Educational Staff Development

• Start to supervise BSc & MSc thesis students Students expect certain behaviour of their supervisor, but the supervisor also has expectations of his/her student. Questions about responsibilities for supervisor and student arise. In this 2,5 hour workshop you will be provided with some general information about supervising thesis students at Wageningen University and discuss good practices, expectations, basic skills. Furthermore there will be room for questions.
• Start to teach at university This course is meant for PhD candidates who want to explore the art of teaching within university settings and will introduce you to some basic teaching and learning principles.
• Supervising BSc & MSc thesis students This course is intended for PhD candidates, postdocs, and academic staff who are or will be supervising students during their BSc or MSc thesis

06. PhD/Postdoc Well-Being

• Courses offered by Sports Centre the Bongerd Courses offered by Sports Centre the Bongerd

07. Ethics training

• Ethics and Animal Sciences (online (January) or in-person (all other editions) This 2-days course aims at PhD candidates interested in ethics and animal sciences.
• Ethics for Designers: Concepts and Tools In this 2 day course, we provide concepts and tools for reflection for the goal of creating ethically responsive designs.
• Ethics in Plant and Environmental Sciences (Note: one edition per year in person; one online) This one day course focuses on ethical issues that are encountered when doing research in plant and environmental sciences.
• Ethics for Social Sciences Research (in-person training) One-day seminar on dealing with ethical issues in human subjects research
• Philosophy and Ethics of Food Science and Technology Series of six discussion sessions including hands-on dealings with ethical, philosophical, and societal issues surrounding science
• Scientific Integrity (in-person training) This 1 day-course focuses on an array challenges related to scientific integrity.

08. Career oriented training / Assessment

• Biotech 101 The workshop offers academic expertise on biotech entrepreneurship which is expanded by the hands-on expertise of those working in the field such as industry experts, patent attorneys, and entrepreneurs who will share their advice and experiences.
• Career Assessment (New format) The career assessment will help you to translate your competences, knowledge and skills acquired during your PhD to the demands of employers in various sectors, by describing them in tangible results.
• Career Development for Postdocs: Science and the Alternatives Supports in making career choice in science or beyond and making a plan of action how to reach the desired goal.

"It helped me reflect and build self confidence about I want to do, the skills I already have and what needs to be done. It helps me to understand the different approaches to look for jobs and personal attitude to develop" "It helped me to get a clearer picture of what I want and that I can take an active attitude to finding my next job" "I was in a moment of great confusion and trying to ‘orientate’, so it was really helpful" "It gave me tools to start thinking in a very pragmatic way about job-options, and how to contact the right people to get these jobs" "I attended a Career Orientation course given by Hertz in the Fall of 2016. It helped me put the interesting pieces of my personality, motivations, skills, and objectives together to formulate the career of my dream. I enjoyed making a collage of my career path using random pictures. It was to me like making sense out of a puzzle. It was very interactive, informative, and exploratory. I looked forward to each course day with much interest and expectations. Now I know what are of priority in my next job(s). I therefore recommend this course to you."

• Career Perspectives (New format) The training Career Perspectives is meant for PhDs in their third or fourth year to prepare them for their next career step.
• Entrepreneurship in and outside Science Analysis and development of entrepreneurial skills and career opportunities for young scientists in or outside academia to create impact, exploring possibilities for applications of scientific insights: projects, impact propositions and working as or at a startup company as a scientist
• Getting on Track with your Veni application This programme aims to provide the skills and competences needed to develop a high quality Veni proposal.
• Preparing Your Veni pre-proposal This programme aims to provide talented postdocs and other promising researchers the skills and competences needed to develop a high quality research pre-proposal to submit within all NWO Veni domains.
• WUR Student Career Services (events & information) For tips on how to search for jobs and links to vacancy websites, visit the webpage of the WUR Student Career Services. Most of their information and events are also relevant and accessible for PhD candidates. The individual career advice offered by WUR Student Career Services is not meant for PhD candidates, instead WGS organises the career related activities you can find above.

09. Other training

• Radboud Academic Test of English (RATEr) RATEr is an assessment of academic English. It aims to determine whether students, prospective students, PhD candidates and other academic researchers possess the required language proficiency to take an English-taught degree programme at Wageningen University & Research or Radboud University Nijmegen.
• Adobe InDesign - from Dissertation Layout to Poster Design (online training) This course in InDesign will help you create beautiful but also functional print and web layouts.
• Introduction to Git for scientific software development Do you write scientific software? Or do you write scripts as part of your research (e.g. Python, R, Matlab, Perl)? This course introduces the git protocol, the command-line and GUI clients available and the concepts that make git such a popular versioning tool.
• Short Workshop - Introduction to LaTeX An introductory workshop that covers the basics and the useful features of LaTeX; an automated document preparation system and mark-up language which can be used as an alternative to text processors like MS-WORD.
• Introduction to WUR Library for PhD candidates (online training) Introduction to the tools and services of the Library relevant to the first steps of your research
• Last Stretch of the PhD Programme Issues and questions: what must you do first, who is responsible, printing your thesis, booking doctoral defence ceremony dates, do's and don'ts.
• Quarto Course to learn basic principles of Quarto as a tool for open science. After this course you will be sufficiently equipped to apply Quarto to your own research project.
• Adobe Illustrator – Scientific Artwork & Infographics (online training) This course will help you create beautiful and functional scientific graphics.

11. Links to training organized by individual Graduate Schools

• PE&RC - Production Ecology and Resource Conservation Training page of PE&RC
• VLAG - Biobased, Biomolecular, Food and Nutrition Sciences Training page of VLAG
• WASS - Wageningen School of Social Sciences Training page of WASS
• WIAS - Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences Training page of WIAS
• WIMEK - Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research Training page of WIMEK
• EPS - Experimental Plant Sciences Training page of EPS

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Supervising BSc and MSc Students

Contents In many research groups projects by Bachelor’s and Master’s students are supervised on a daily or weekly basis by PhD students. Often side projects of the own PhD topic form essential parts of the BSc/MSc work and it is expected by the group leaders to supervise in an adequate manner.

This seminar wants to   • Provide the legal background for supervision by PhD students • Show methods and communication tools to productively address the above problems • Give advice how to solve problems in these tasks • Make clear what kind and extent of supervision can/should be expected by the BSc or MSc student • And show how and in which way a PhD student can benefit from supervision

Methods The exchange of experience and problem-solving approaches will constitute the seminar, as well as role plays on how to react in difficult situations. Furthermore, input will be given on the legal situation and both national and international common practice of this task in the natural sciences. 

To attend, please register here .

Note: Registration of GSLS doctoral researchers has priority to non-GSLS participants. Non-GSLS participants pay a service and workshop fee of EUR 50 by bank transfer.

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PhD at the University of Amsterdam

Contrary to the situation in many other countries, PhD students in the Netherlands become employees of the university. PhDs are usually not required to follow classes and can concentrate on their research project through the 4 year PhD period. However, they are expected to teach as e.g. Teaching Assistants for about 10% of their time. This is often in the form of leading Tutorial or Lab sessions for BSc and MSc students. They will also participate in supervising BSc and MSc thesis research projects.

Requirements to enter a PhD

In order to enter the PhD program at GRAPPA, applicants will have to have completed an MSc in Physics and/or Astronomy or a closely related field at a recognized university. A good command of English is also required and computing skills are typically also strongly desired. Depending on the opening, additional competences may be necessary.

Employment Details

PhDs have an employment contract with the University of Amsterdam. They obtain a temporary contract for 38 hours a week for a duration of 4 years. The Initial appointment will be for a period of 18 months and after a satisfactory evaluation it can be extended for a total duration of 4 years. The employment should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be €2.325 to €2.972 (scale P) gross per month in 2020, based on fulltime employment (38 hours a week), exclusive of an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. A favorable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

For more information please refer to University of Amsterdam website .

Nikhef's PhD vacancies are advertized at  https://www.nikhef.nl/en/vacancies/ .

Theses and interships at Animal Breeding and Genomics

Animal Breeding and Genomics (ABG) has a wide range of thesis topics for BSc and MSc students. We also offer help with finding internships and research practices and provide supervision of these projects.

Students who want to do a BSc or MSc thesis or a research practice at ABG can choose from an extensive list of thesis projects.

• Download the list of possible MSc research topics
• Thesis tracks for students of the MSc Animal Sciences (MAS)
• More for BSc students

If you are interested in doing a MSc or BSc thesis at ABG, please contact:

dr.ir. P (Pascal) Duenk

dr. RPMA (Richard) Crooijmans

Students who want to do an internship should contact Dr. Pascal Duenk. Please note: it can take some time to make all the necessary arrangements for you to start your thesis or internship, so make sure you contact him in time (preferably ~6 months before the planned start of your thesis or internship).

What do our students say?

We asked several students to share their experiences of their theses/internships. Check out their testimonials!

Writing a thesis is not the ‘big scary thing’ that you might think.

Read Danique's testimonial

What I also found very useful were the thesis rings.

Read Anne's testimonial

My internship makes the research much more tangible.

Read Samirah's testimonial