The PhD-PDEng Office will be the central desk for PhD candidates and PDEng trainees with any practical or personal questions not related to their research topic, and also the place to go if they wish to talk to a counselor or psychologist. “This is necessary because we know that PhD candidates and PDEng trainees are under a lot of pressure", says dean Paul Koenraad of the TU/e Graduate School.

PhD candidate Gilles Timmermans, representative of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry on the PhD-PDEng Council, is pleased with the idea. He says that in principle all the information PhD candidates need is available, but it is often difficult to find. “Especially in the final phase of a doctoral study a lot of administrative hassle is involved. We are keen to have some place we can go to ask what exactly the rules are on reimbursements for having a thesis printed, or whether we can apply for benefits once our contract has expired.”

More about the PhD-PDEng Office, and the current state of affairs of the TU/e Graduate School as seen by dean Paul Koenraad, can be read in a long article on our site.