"The PhD journey, is all about learning from and with each other"
‘Hora est’ is the Latin phrase used at the end of the public defence of a PhD thesis at Maastricht University. It means that the time for the defence is over. The PhD candidate usually is relieved, proud, and happy all at the same time. That’s certainly how I remember it from my own PhD defence in 2009. It is a wonderful culmination of many years of hard work which deserves to be celebrated. Now, as a PhD supervisor in the School of Health Profession’s PhD programme, to me ‘hora est’ also signals that a very special working relationship has come to an end.
Embarking on a PhD journey requires a mutual commitment from a PhD student and his or her supervisors. In the four or five (or sometimes more) years that it will take to complete a PhD by publication, there are numerous team meetings, in person or online, one on one discussions, brainstorm sessions, celebrations and sometimes moments of disappointment and doubt. As a PhD supervisor, I read and comment on dozens of versions of research plans, manuscripts and conference abstracts. Through time and by working together, you get to know each other. Over the past 10 years, I have played a role in supervising 13 PhD students who have completed their thesis. Each of these unique journeys have been interesting, challenging and valuable in their own way.
First of all, every time I start working with a new PhD student, I am impressed by the motivation and drive that leads people to choose for a PhD Of course, the research topic is often the main talking point at the start of the relationship between a PhD student and a supervisor. What practical and scientific issues are we going to address with the research that we plan to do? How are we going to make the world a bit smarter or better? Talking about these things also requires, in my opinion, talking about the PhD student’s personal ambitions. Knowing what drives the start of a PhD journey is one thing, but knowing what will help to stay motivated through hard times is equally important. After all, a PhD is about the research process. The aim is for it to be a time of learning how to initiate, plan, execute and report high quality research. Publications are a testament to that process and important in their own right, but it’s the PhD student’s development that really counts.
Second, since this learning process several years, so too evolves the way I work together with the PhD student and the rest of the supervisory team. To me it feels like being on a journey together with the PhD students. That is also why I prefer to see myself as a team member or even travel companion on this journey rather than as a supervisor. Everyone brings different things to the team, expertise, experience, goals even. As the PhD student becomes a content expert with research experience under his or her belt, roles in the team shift. The PhD student is in the lead, building on the contributions of the other team members to achieve a collective outcome that could not have happened without their leadership. This makes a PhD truly a team effort in which I, as part of that team, learn from and with the PhD student. The exciting thing about each team that I am or was involved in, is that different PhD students go through this process in different ways and other PhD supervisors have their own ways of participating in this process.
‘Hora est’, therefore, marks the end of a special working relationship. It also is the beginning of new opportunities. Former PhD students go on to help other new researchers find their way in the world of health education scholarship. Sometimes even in PhD teams that I am also a part of. And so, the learning continues.
SHE Professor Pim Teunissen
Study Recommendation Tips:
Are you also interested in under taking a SHE PhD journey? Read more information on the SHE PhD programme
Or about the preparatory courses towards a PhD such as:
Critical Appraisal of Resarch on Assessment Starting 8 April 2019
Critical Appraisal of Research on Task-Centered Learning Environments Starting 8 April 2019
or
A new edition of the succesful SHE course Writing a PhD Research Proposal Starting 1 October 2019
Need more information or help please email to she@maastrichtuniversity.nl