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SETS Joint Doctorate Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies |
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Structure and Contents
Training and Research
The SETS joint doctorate is divided into a training period and a research period. Students will devote their first year to training (60 ECTS), in which they will learn research methodologies and study specific subjects related to their assigned line of research. The common language of instruction is English. Along the following three years, the doctoral research will be conducted within a research group of one the degree awarding universities (Comillas, TU Delft or KTH). Students will participate in their group’s activities, which will include collaboration in a specific international project. Following specific mobility pathways, students will perform their activities in different consortium countries. In this regard, all students will spend at least nine months in another university than their research group university and, in addition, students spending time in the country where they earned their preceding university degree will spend at least six months in a third university. Courses overview
Students will devote their first year to training (60 ECTS), in which they will learn research methodologies and study specific subjects related to their assigned line of research. Students will plan their activities with their supervisors and submit their work plan to the joint Academic Committee. This plan will cover doctoral courses and specific research work. All activities will be evaluated and at least 30 of these ECTS credits must be earned in specific requisite courses. The remaining 30 ECTS credits may be earned from research conducted by students in their research groups. Credits for these activities are subject to submission of a report summarizing the research results, typically in the form of a scientific paper. The doctoral courses counting toward ECTS credits during the training period are listed in Table 1. Each course is delivered at one of the HEIs awarding the joint degree. To ensure suitable integration, only students whose home HEI is in the country where they earned their last degree may spend up to one semester of their training period in another HEI. All others must train in their home HEI only (unless otherwise decided by the Academic Committee in light of exceptional circumstances).
Research Lines
The scope of this research lines include:
Each HEI will contribute specifically to these lines of research depending on its expertise, under an interdisciplinary approach based on technology, economics and policy-making. The focus will be on the analysis of sustainable energy technologies and strategies (SETS) in place across the board, contributing to economic growth and sustainable development with the implementation of new approaches and technologies, as well as other research findings. Research positions available:
Candidates with other funding means may apply to the Reserve Research lines. Joint evaluation
Requirements
to earn the joint degree.
To
earn the
joint degree students are required to:
Evaluation of
the training period
All
training period activities (academic courses and research tasks) will
be
evaluated by the professors involved. Activities will be evaluated in
the HEI where
they are performed. Evaluation procedures will be specific to each
activity.
Exams may be written or oral, or be replaced by term papers. Students
must write a report summarizing their activities at the end of the
training
period, which should cover both the academic and research work
performed. These
reports will be publicly defended during the yearly SETS meeting and
evaluated
by the joint Academic Committee (which may enlist the advice of experts
if
deemed necessary). Evaluation
during the research period
Student
research will be supervised by their supervisor/s and the joint
Academic
Committee. As mentioned in the preceding section, students must attend
the
annual SETS meeting, where their progress will be evaluated and they
and their
supervisors will receive pertinent feedback. The evaluation will
consist in a
report written by the students summarizing his/her activities over the
year,
comparing the progress made with the year’s work plan and establishing
the
following year’s objectives. Students must defend their reports
publicly. Viva voce
examination
The
joint
Academic Committee will verify student eligibility to defend their
theses (as
described in some detail above). The decision on whether or not a
thesis is fit
to be defended is likewise incumbent upon the joint Academic Committee,
to
which students must therefore submit their dissertations. The
viva
voce examination will be judged by a five-member thesis committee. The
three
HEIs awarding the joint degree will appoint one professor each to the
committee, while the other two members will be called in from other
institutions. All committee members will be selected on the grounds of
their
international experience and academic excellence in the subject
addressed in
the thesis. The committee will be chaired by the highest ranking
academic. Viva
voce
examinations will be held at the home HEI and the exercise will be
broadcast
on-line to all other participating HEIs. During
the
examination, students will present their theses, highlighting the
research
problem/question, approach, the contributions made and implications of
the
findings. Presentations may last no longer than 50 minutes. After their
presentations, students will have to answer the thesis committee’s
questions.
Any other PhDs in the (home HEI or on-line) audience may subsequently
pose
questions to be answered by the student. |
