PhD Courses in Denmark

Owning your PhD and your future - The road to completion and beyond

Graduate School, Arts at Aarhus University

Course description

This PhD course addresses both within- and post-PhD aspects of the PhD trajectory. 

Session 1 in the morning focuses on challenges and strategies for completing the PhD. The goal is for participants to assess their progress and create some action items for their own situation. 

Session 2 in the afternoon addresses the challenges of finding post-PhD positions and the need to develop a post-PhD trajectory. The goal is for each participant to generate action items to advance their post-PhD futures.

This course is built on the findings from more than 20 years of research on PhD and post-PhD careers in Europe and beyond - highlighting how PhD researcher agency is critical to achieving life-career goals. It is premised on the notion that, in today’s world, traditional organizational-based career paths are no longer the norm. Rather, the merging model is a self-authoring career path.

Aim

  • In the course, the students will expand their understanding of their own roles in the successful completion of the PhD and post-PhD futures.
  • The students will generate action items based on this knowledge.
  • The course aims to encourage more agentive work, writing, and coping strategies.

Target group/Participants

  • All PhD Students enrolled at a Graduate School

Language 

  • English

ECTS-credits

  • 1

Lecturers

  • Lynn McAlpine, Emerita Professor
  • Søren Bengtsen, Associate Professor

Literature

  • McAlpine, L. (2024). Post-PhD careers: Mobility and ‘research’ in the non-academic arena. In Oancea, A., Derrick, G., & Nuseibeh, N.Handbook on Meta-Research. Cheltenham: Elgar Publishing, Ch. 25, 322-332. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-meta-research-9781839105715.html.
  • McAlpine, L., & Castelló.M. (2024). What do PhD graduates in non-academic careers actually do? Interaction between organization type, job specifications and graduate experience. Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences, 17, 1, 77-106.
  • McAlpine,L. (2023). The PhD: A time to develop career literacy to enhance career mobility potential? In Baik, C., & Kahu, E. Research Handbook on the Student Experience. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Ch.23, 325-343.

Venue

  • Campus Aarhus. Building and room TBA
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