On behalf of the board of EPAR, we wish you merry christmas and a happy 2012! Best wishes for a very productive and fruitful new year!

On January 18 EPAR and EUR will organize a new edition of the PhD Career Day 2012. From 12.30 till 17.00 hours there will be workshops about the various skills and qualities that are needed for the successful completion of your PhD trajectory and further career. Afterwards there will be drinks in ‘Café de Smitse’ in the presence of rector magnificus Prof.dr. H.G. Schmidt.

The program consists of two types: workshops for first and second year PhD students, that assist you during the PhD trajectory, and workshops for third and fourth-year PhD students, that are focused at your career after getting that PhD.

Registrations are open now at: http://erim.3uu.de/uc/PhDCareerDay2012/

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At the moment, there is not enough knowledge about the tasks that PhD candidates fulfill and it is often unclear what their role is in the department and university. In short: what do PhD candidates mean to their universities, their departments, and also the students they teach? The information gained from this research will be summarized in a report, that will be used by a number of committees and also EPAR and PNN, for instance with regard to the bursury discussion. If you have time and like to give your opinion, please do fill out the survey here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dEtvdWpSWGt1bWJUMVdUYTE4amZCZ2c6MQ#gid=0

This year the PhD day will be organized by EPAR in close cooperation with the University and it will offer interesting workshops to all PhD’s of Erasmus.

For 1st and 2nd year PhD’s there will be workshops that focus on making a good and efficient start with your PhD research and at your first conference. For 3th and 4th year PhD’s there will be workshops that focus on what is next after your PhD; how to decide what to do and to become aware of what you have to offer. Besides that, there will be an information market with amongst others the University Library and a number of PhD thesis printing companies.

Soon we will send you more information about the PhD day, but you can already mark the 18th of January in your calendar!

Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a good scientist? Herman Lelieveldt has recently published Promoveren, een wegwijzer voor de beginnend wetenschapper, a Dutch book in which he discusses the ins and outs of turning your PhD project into a success. In cooperation with Amsterdam University Press , EPAR will give away five brand new copies of the fifth edition of Herman Lelieveldt’s handbook for starting scientists. All you need to do is send an e-mail to epar@epar.nl before October 16, 2011 in order to let us know you want to win this book. EPAR will randomly select 5 winners out of the participants and will inform these winners by e-mail.

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