Progress reporting at the Natural History Museum

Progress meetings 

The first progress meeting takes place in the third semester. Third semester reporting is mandatory for everyone enrolled in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. At NHM, the fifth and seventh semester reporting is also mandatory, and if necessary, candidates report in the ninth semester as well.

For main supervisors and internal co-supervisors, attendance at progress meetings is mandatory.  

The progress meetings are confidential and provides a venue for PhD candidates and supervisors to speak openly about challenges with the project itself or within the supervisor team.

Meeting structure

The progress meeting lasts for 1.5 hours. The meeting begins with the PhD candidate giving a 15-30-minute presentation. Then, the main supervisor explains how the supervision is done and structured. Subsequently, the committee initiates a discussion with the candidate and supervisors on the status of the project. Possible directions and priorities in the project as well as potential delays shall be identified and discussed. The last part of the meeting will discuss the supervisory relations with first only the supervisors present and then with only the candidate present. 

Prior to the meeting, the PhD candidate and the main supervisors will be asked to complete separate online reporting forms. Links to the forms will be shared by email about two weeks beforehand. The reports will be shared with the follow-up committee and will be treated confidentially.

One week before the meeting, the following will be shared with the committee:

• The PhD candidate and main supervisor’s reports (shall be treated confidentially)
• The PhD candidate’s project description
• The committee’s report from last year
• The reporting template to be completed by the committee

We recommend that the follow-up committee meets 15 minutes earlier to discuss how to address the feedback from the candidate and the supervisor in the progress meeting.

The PhD candidate's presentation

The PhD candidate must prepare a presentation that includes the following elements:

• a short description of the project. In the 5^th, 7^th and 9^th semester reporting the focus shall be on the progress rather than the project itself.
• achievements since last progress reporting 
• if the project is on schedule
• if the completion of the educational components is on schedule
• if the completion of the duty work is on schedule
• publications so far

The duration of the presentation should be 15-30 minutes in the third semester and 15-20 minutes in the fifth, seventh and ninth semester.

The main supervisors account

After the candidate's presentation, the main supervisor will be asked to describe how the supervision is functioning, how co-supervisors are integrated and their role in the project. 

The follow-up committee

The follow-up committee is appointed by the PhD Committee at NHM and must consist of at least three members, preferably with good academic insight in the project's subject area and experience in supervising PhD candidates. One of the members shall be affiliated to the PhD Committee and shall lead the progress meetings. 

The role of the follow-up committee is to support the PhD candidate in their work and to mitigate in case of problems or delays. The committee shall

• evaluate the progress in accordance to the timeline in the project description

• provide input in an academic discussion with the PhD candidate and supervisors about possible changes and adjustments, priorities and potential needs for narrowing down the scope of the project. 

• seek to identify problematic aspects and evaluate whether there are needs for changes to be done in the project, educational component or supervisory group

The follow-up committee's report 

The meeting leader sums up the follow-up committee’s conclusion in a report which is shared with the PhD Committee shortly after the progress meeting. Potential problematic aspects must be elaborated on in the report. Based on the report, the PhD Committee will evaluate the need for measures to be taken and will make sure to provide the candidate and supervisors with feedback. If the follow-up committee recommends special measures, they shall be specified in the report.