PhD Spring Forum launches new era for doctoral education at ITE
The Doctoral Education Spring Forum, held on 6–7 March 2025, has marked the beginning of a new approach to improve doctoral education at the School of Information Technology (ITE). Bringing together PhD students and their supervisors, the forum provided a platform for discussion, collaboration, and shaping the future of doctoral education.
The forum, designed to be interactive and engaging, featured sessions on current issues in doctoral education, such as course development and research collaboration. Workshops focused on strengthening the School’s doctoral community, increasing transparency in doctoral education, and refining the Individual Study Plan (ISP) process. An important session was the one targeting the low scores in recent PhD student barometers.
“The forum is a new and longed-for meeting place for PhD students and their supervisors, and it is part of our new doctoral education organisation. It brings us together to think creatively about how to solve today’s challenges in doctoral education as well as proactively discuss how to meet future possibilities”, said Vaike Fors, Director of Studies for doctoral education at ITE, about the initiative.
ITE’s PhD students and their supervisors gathered to discuss the doctoral education.
PhD students helped shape their education
“It has been nice to meet all the other PhD students and see what they are working on, as well as contributing to creating new courses to improve our education in general”, said Joel Nyholm, PhD student representative in the steering committee for doctoral education.
Federico Valeri, member of the student union’s doctoral education committee, agreed with the importance of being allowed to help shape doctoral education, and added “I’m placed at the School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, so this has also been a really great opportunity to feel like a part of the group of ITE PhD students.”
PhD students Federico Valeri (left) and Melania Mihalcea (centre) are looking for the perfect Lego pieces.
Workshop visualised connection between research and society
Among the many engaging sessions, one of the most appreciated activities was a hands-on Lego-building workshop designed to visualise how the PhD students’ different research projects interconnect.
“The idea behind the Lego exercise is to physically visualise how our PhD research projects are connected through socio-technical challenges in society. It helps illustrate both the interdisciplinarity of our doctoral research, as well as how the projects are not isolated but interact with each other when looking at them in broader social contexts”, said Vaike Fors.
PhD student Joel Nyholm focused on his Lego building.
Melania Mihalcea, the newest PhD student at ITE, enjoyed the session: “I like the physical aspect of building a world together because it makes us think about how our research projects are related to each other in a tangible way, the way they would be in the real world. It’s important to have a vision of where your work is heading, and this workshop really showcased that.”
The result of the practical Lego workshop.
Key role in enhancing doctoral education experience at ITE
With the success of the Spring Forum, this new initiative is set to play a key role in enhancing the doctoral education experience at ITE. By fostering collaboration, transparency, and innovation, the forum is hoping to establish itself as an important step towards a stronger and more cohesive doctoral education. The next step will be the Autumn Forum, which will continue the momentum by providing a space for PhD students to further refine and develop their doctoral education journey.
Text: Emma Swahn
Photos: Emma Swahn and Vaike Fors
