CAPHRI considers good supervision by (co)promoters essential. CAPHRI implemented a sound quality system to actively monitor the progress of PhD students and the quality of the supervision by promoters and co-promoters, supported by the PhD monitoring system ‘TRACK’.
TRACK is an innovative support and monitoring system that is part of CAPHRI’s PhD student Quality and Monitoring System. Together with the support offered by the PhD co-ordinator (Hannerieke van der Boom) and the confidential advisor (Trudy van der Weijden), TRACK aims to improve the transparency of PhD trajectories, and monitors the progress of PhD projects and the quality of the supervision. These safety nets result in the early detection of problems (of any kind) and allow CAPHRI to act timely. The feedback of PhD students provided in the annual PhD questionnaire is evaluated in the CAPHRI Board of Education. Individual problematic situations are discussed by the PhD co-ordinator and the scientific director.
TRACK is a web-based application that has four main tasks:
- register all CAPHRI PhD students
- offer transparent ways of communication between PhD students and their supervisors
- monitor the progress of PhD projects
- gain insight into the quality of the supervision
Once a person is accepted as a PhD candidate within CAPHRI, s/he will be evaluated twice each year by the supervision team, in the TRACK system.
PhD students can fill out their Training and Supervision Plan digitally, and attach documents (e.g. articles, their preliminary thesis) to create a portfolio, and make agreements with their supervisors. They also complete the Annual Questionnaire via the TRACK system.
Supervisors also log in via the CAPHRI website and only have access to the general data of their PhD students, and their annual progress reports. They cannot access the confidential section in which feedback is given by the PhD student on their supervision.
At least twice a year, the promoter(s) should mark the progress of the project of each of their PhD students with a colour and evaluative comments (see step 6 above). The aim of this database is to support CAPHRI to signal problems in the project, the supervision or the performance of the PhD student in an early stage, and to provide adequate support by making agreements for improvements with the PhD student and/or the supervisor(s).
The data of all internal PhD students (PhD students, researchers and people with a zero-appointment) and their supervisors are securely stored. PhD students only have access to their individual data via a secured link on the CAPHRI website. A back-up of all data is made every 24 hrs and is available anytime, anywhere via the internet. TRACK is managed by the PhD co-ordinator, who is the only person having full access to the data.
When you notice incorrect or incomplete information, or you would like to use a different e-mail address, please notify the PhD coordinator, Hannerieke van der Boom.