For Supervisors and Employers
This page provides guidance for supervisors and employers at BCE who are planning to hire and supervise a PhD student.
Here you will find:
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A step-by-step guide to the hiring and admission process – from project planning and financing to recruitment and onboarding.
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Practical information on your responsibilities as a supervisor or employer
Obligatory course in PhD supervision
The GSTS offers two courses in PhD supervision with focused training in key supervisory skills. It brings experienced and inexperienced supervisors up to date on developments and research in the area.
The PhD Supervision Course is obligatory for all new permanent research VIP staff from assistant professor and up.The course is aimed at main supervisors and co-supervisors of PhD projects at Graduate School of Natural Sciences and Graduate School of Technical Sciences.
The course is expected to be completed within the first year of employment.
Hiring a PhD Student – From Start to Finish
The process of hiring and enrolling a PhD student at BCE involves several steps from planning to onboarding.
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Before admission
GSTS (Graduate School of Technical Sciences) is your main contact during the early stages, when the project description, financing plan, and approvals are prepared. -
After a candidate has accepted
Once a candidate has been selected and accepted the offer, the focus shifts to practical tasks. The PhD secretary and Sekretariat will assist with system access, and onboarding.
Below you can find more information about each step in the hiring process.
Prepare, approve and submit the project
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Complete project information form
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Complete the PhD financing plan
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Before a new PhD student can be admitted, a financing plan must be prepared and approved:
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The PhD financing plan is completed by the Project Manager (PL) in collaboration with the Project Controller (PC).
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The completed plan must be approved by the Head of Department (IL) or another authorized person.
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Submit
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Once approved, the supervisor forwards the financing plan together with the project description to GSTS (admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk) , PC, and the chairman of the PhD committee (Keld Lars Bak)
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Advertising the position
The PhD project will be announced by the PhD administration when all necessary information is received.
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Advertising
- Where possible, advertising costs must be covered by project funds. Therefore, as a grant holder, you must consider this when preparing project applications. If expenses cannot be covered by project funds, advertising is financed by the budget of the section in question.
- Read more about advertising on the following link [Advertising at BCE]
Shortlist, interview and selection of candidate
After the deadline for the PhD position has been reached the evaluation procedure begins, which consists of the following steps.
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Shortlist potential candidates
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GSTS will carry out a legality check on the applicants. This means that the GSTS will check all applicants, among other things for whether they meet the language skills requirements. If they fail to meet the language skills requirements, they will not be included in the further assessment process.
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Background screening
- Potential candidates from Iran, China and Russia must undergo background screening before any potential interview
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Interview potential candidate
- When you interview one (or more) applicants for the position there must be a member of the PhD committee, or another senior staff present at the interview. The person must be impartial because the participation is to ensure proper administration of the process
Enrolment and Onboarding
After a candidate has been selected and offered the position, GSTS and the PhD secretary will handle the final steps.
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GSTS prepares the employment and admission letters.
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The PhD secretary:
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Ensures the PhD student is registered in internal systems and given access to facilities.
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Suggests a suitable PhD Buddy to help the new student settle in
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