Empowering Doctoral Candidates Through Personal Development Planning
In March 2013 the Center of Doctoral Studies of the University of Vienna together with Matej Bel University (Banská Bystrica ) and Comenius University (Bratislava) launched the project project Empowering Doctoral Candidates through Personal Development Planning. The project aims at contributing to a change of the PhD training perspective towards a primarly human centred individualized outcome of the PhD trajectory. Whereas previously the focus was on the written dissertation and other publications, this has changed towards a more human centred approach. Today the young independent researcher, having acquired a number of skills and competences and experienced a substantial gain through performing research and working independently, is considered as the major outcome of a doctorate. Universities have developed a variety of strategies to encourage PhD candidates to reflect upon and evaluate their own research experiences and plan for their own development. Influenced by the Higher Education System in the UK, the term Personal Development Planning (PDP) has become popular to describe this process.
The project addresses the increasing need to develop personal and professional development support measures in universities. It aims at developing a set of guiding principles for a successful implementation of PDP practices, ranging from practical tools to communication routes for articulating the value of PDP and the development of appropriate policies.
The project is funded by the Aktion Österreich - Slowakei.
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