Purpose and guidelines for the midway assessment
The midway assessment is a compulsory part of the educational component. The head of the relevant PhD group will find an external expert for the midway assessment, and can consult with the principal supervisor and/or the head of the relevant research group (faggruppe) if needed. The external expert should be someone who is not involved in the PhD Candidate’s project and not part of the academic staff at IAKH.
The head of the PhD group will plan and organize the midway assessment with support from the PhD-Coordinator. The planning start in the beginning of the spring semester, and the head of the PhD group finds a suitable date and place for the midway assessment in consultation with the external expert and principal supervisor.
No later than 3 weeks before the meeting, the PhD candidate must submit a “folder” to each member of the assessment group, containing the following:
- Completed key paragraphs/draft articles that give insight into the project
- Outline for completion of remaining articles/chapters/paragraphs
- Overview of completed and remaining course work, and plans for completion
- Brief report giving an overview of other relevant activity for the period, or other important information
Doctoral candidates hired by IAKH, and that are eligible for a completion grant, must also send in their CV.
The midway assessment consists of three parts (four for internal doctoral candidates):
- An open seminar led by the head of the PhD group, which reviews academic elements. This seminar is based on opposition from the external expert and will take the form of a discussion of the presented chapters/articles. The candidate will give a short presentation of the project at the start of the seminar.
- A subsequent closed meeting where the candidate, external expert, principal supervisor and the head of the PhD group is present. The meeting will address practical and specific academic issues and possibilities for the dissertation. The meeting will conclude with recommendations with a view to completion.
- The external expert will prior to the meeting write a short assessment of the PhD candidate progression, the state of the dissertation project and what kind of measures the external expert recommends moving forward.
- Doctoral candidates hired by IAKH, and eligible for a completion grant, will have a 30 minute conversation with the head of the doctoral programme (and possibly the supervisor and relevant phd-leader) about the plan for the completion grant and broader career goals.