Doctoral Education Doctoral School in Science and Engineering

Course offers

During their doctoral studies at the University of Luxembourg, doctoral candidates are required to gain a minimum of 20 ECTS points (5 ECTS in transferable skills and 15 within their discipline). The aim is to provide a framework for acquiring the necessary competence to complete a successful Doctoral thesis, whilst at the same time gaining a solid basis for future meaningful research within your specific discipline, the academic community and society in general.

Disciplinary/interdisciplinary courses

Disciplinary/interdisciplinary courses are designed for candidates within the relevant programmes. Each programme offers a series of disciplinary courses in a variety of different formats (reading groups, traditional courses, intensive courses, lecture series, seminars, etc.). More specific courses are also offered in the various doctoral programmes.

Transferable skills

Transferable skills (TS) courses help you to develop core academic skills (e.g. writing research papers, skills in academic teaching, giving presentations, etc.) and professional/interpersonal skills (e.g. project management, leadership, conflict management, etc.).
In addition to our Doctoral School offer, our central administration also organises additional Transferable Skills courses.

Examples of courses regularly offered by our Doctoral School

  • Details

    Number of ECTS: 1
    Target group: All doctoral candidates (preferably in their 3rd or 4th year)
    Location: Belval Campus

  • Facilitator

    Dr Patrick Corsi

  • Description

    The entry into professional life within the industrial or, more generally, the socio-economic sphere, breaks fundamentally with academic objectives and frameworks. Entering this critical stage of life can often be perceived as relatively intimidating or unfamiliar territory by many doctoral students. However, it is possible to develop a more confident and robust entry pathway that will mitigate the risks of adjustment for both them and their employers, which will more quickly translate into mutual benefits.

    The course offers multifaceted exposure to a range of critical determinants, situations, and environments similar to professional experience in current contexts. It will allow for a better perception of an individual’s skills set and competencies, both by the new employee and by the employing organization.

    The course method alternates key thematic inputs, targeted role-playing and real-life anonymous stories drawn from the coach’s experience in industrial contexts – from start-ups to large multinationals, institutional and otherwise, over 35 years internationally. The approach is very dynamic, involving students in increasingly complex situations, while provoking reactions and debates.
    Reading references, methods and appropriate toolkits are offered to participants, with the aim of supporting their career development.

  • Learning outcomes

    Students benefit in several ways. They- learn to value their strengths, neutralize their weaknesses and improve their self-confidence in various contextualized situations- understand how to position themselves on the job market according to their own abilities- understand the cultural and managerial ways of operating in companies- know how to better manage one’s time and skills to best adapt to the job.

  • Workload

    In-person course workload (hrs): 25

    Pre/Post course work (hrs): 2

  • Details

    Number of ECTS: 1
    Target group: All doctoral candidates (preferably in their 1st or 2d year)
    Location: Belval Campus

  • Facilitator

    Dr Michael Mende

  • Description

    As a researcher, one has the privilege to work freely and creatively, pursuing own interests and adding to the knowledge base of the scientific community – and the community in general. This freedom comes with responsibility: The responsibility for self-control, accuracy, honesty, efficiency and objectivity. The scientific community has introduced rules of research integrity, which aim to preserve the freedom of research and prevent scientific misconduct.

    The course informs about the rules of research integrity and Good Scientific Practices and how to Avoid Research Misconduct.

    The workshop introduces the standard statutes of research integrity (Singapore Statement, , ALLEA Code of Conduct, DFG Codex) as well as local regulations at place (Code of Conduct ULux, Research Integrity Guidelines Lux FNR). It is also intended to raise awareness for the significance of Good Scientific Practices with respect to different scientific disciplines. The workshop not only focusses on compliance alone but prepares scientists for the complexities and dilemmas of the day-to-day research life by promoting moral and value development: it is structured around the DFG Curriculum „Good Scientific Practice“ for Courses in Science and Medicine | G. Sponholz | 10/2011, as well as the Horizon 2020 supported Virt2ue Ethics concept | Embassy of Good Science 2020, with particular emphasis on the following topics:

    • Recognizing Scientific Misconduct 
    • Data storage, handling and protection
    • Documentation
    • Publication process and Authorship
    • Plagiarism
    • Conflict Resolution / Ombudssystem
  • Learning outcomes

    All participants will gain a brought background knowledge in general rules and guidelines concerning Good Scientific Practice and learn how to consult these efficiently. Furthermore, they will receive relevant material links to useful resources, a tool-kit with relevant publications, institutional guidelines as well as local contact points, which they can refer to throughout their scientific careers. These skills are also valuable to scientists who transfer to other career paths.

  • Workload

    In-person course workload (hrs): 20

    Pre/Post course work (hrs): 5

    The workshop encourages the active involvement of the participants and features case discussions, individual working sessions, plenary discussions, and information input. Small assignments are given in between course days – which require 60′ of participants’ research for appropriate suggestions related to case studies. Final course evaluation will be a written homework/paper.

  • Details

    Number of ECTS: 1
    Target group: All doctoral candidates
    Location: Belval Campus

  • Facilitator

    Dr Maria Jerez

  • Description

    The purpose of the course is to understand the process of scientific publishing, analyse the structure of scientific articles, and learn what the key aspects of each part of the article are, in order to know how to write them properly and increase their impact.

  • Learning Outcomes

    • Scientific publication and peer-review
    • Considerations to choose a journal?
    • Bibliometric factors
    • Elements of scientific articles
    • Where to start when writing an article
    • The review article
    • The submission process
    • The editorial process
    • Ethics and fraud in publication
  • Workload

    In-person course workload (hrs): 16

    Pre/Post course work (hrs): 9

    The workshop encourages the active involvement of the participants in exercises and discussions

  • Details

    Number of ECTS: 1
    Target group: All doctoral candidates
    Location: Belval Campus

  • Supervisor

    Dr Manuel Maidorn

  • Description

    The purpose of the course is to train doctoral candidates in science communication and presentation, including both an interdisciplinary exchange between topics and preparation for public outreach activities. During the course, participants will acquire a skillset to design a target-group oriented presentation which is tailored to effectively convey their message. Along those lines, also exercises to improve the personal presentation style, overcome anxiety and explore new presentation formats will be introduced. After the course, students shall be able to confidently present their topic in an exciting way, even in stressful situations.

  • Learning outcomes

    • Pre-course survey: self-assessment of deficits, expectations, experience of candidates. Which are the most crucial factors to improve according to the participants? What do they see as the major challenges in presenting their work?
    • Knowing your audience: the appropriate choice of wording and language
    • Storytelling: how to gain the attention and enthusiasm of the audience while being scientifically accurate?
    • Seeing is believing: how to design appealing slides and figures supporting your content without overloading the presentation?
    • Time is key: learn to focus on the most important aspects of the story giving the spectator enough time to understand
    • More than words: what does body language tell you during presentations?
    • Vocal and phonetic training: how to get your message across clearly?
    • Improvisation: how to deal with unforeseen situation and anxiety?
    • Hands-on exercises: creation of mini-presentations with individual feedback
    • Alternative ways of science communication: more than just Power Point!
    • Intercultural awareness: how communication changes across the world
    • The second part: How to deal with (unexpected) questions and moderate your own discussion
    • Science in a nutshell – how to present your topic in a very condensed way during networking events
    • Moderation and leadership – just another way of presenting?
    • Final evaluation & feedback: Considering the initial concerns & self-assessment: What might be different in future presentations?
  • Workload

    In-person course workload (hrs): 21

    Pre/Post course work (hrs): 4

    Preparatory work is a self-assessment

    Homework: create a small presentation to present during the workshop