CNIC PhD Office, at the service of students
The CNIC’s PhD Office aims to become a forum of support, guidance and scientific growth for all doctoral students enrolled in the CNIC Pre-Doctoral Program, regardless of their university affiliation or source of funding.
The office, coordinated by Dr. Jorge Alegre, head of the Molecular Mechanics of the Cardiovascular System Group, also has two permanent members: Dr. Beatriz Ferreiro, head of the CNIC’s Office of Scientific Management, and Dr. Ángel Ciprés, member of the Research Office, as well as two doctoral students, a senior one and junior one. The representatives of the doctoral students in the office are elected annually through a vote where the candidates make a small electoral campaign, also helping the diffusion among the Predocs.
The office is thought of as an internal work group of the CNIC. It has a specific section on the intranet in the training section, which has been presented to students. In addition, an open day has also been held.
At the same time, a welcome document for new PhD students promoted by the pre-doctoral office is being prepared too, with the aim of helping their integration into the CNIC, the PhD program and the rest of the pre-doctoral community.
The contribution of PhD students is fundamental to the CNIC’s mission. “PhD students are an important part of the CNIC staff, with the particularity of being trainees,” assure Inés Martínez and Ignacio Heras, the first students to join the office.
Up until now, the pre-doctoral community, on which a large part of the CNIC’s research activity falls, did not have a body that would coordinate the specific scientific needs of the pre-doctoral researcher within the CNIC. For this reason, the current students in the Doctoral Office, Laura Lalaguna Díaz and Diego Calzada, assure that the office “can be of great help in the initial integration of Predoc students, giving support and promoting the creation of opportunities in their personal and professional development during this period and, in general, looking out for their interests.”
Both Inés and Ignacio consider that this body is necessary because “it can handle two challenges that the Predoc group has at the CNIC: on the one hand, to improve integration into the institution and, on the other, to expand the training offer that the CNIC currently provides to PhD students.”
For example, they say, many students have doubts about how to make use of the training money available to them, “either from different external sources of financing or from the CNIC training account, because the procedures and conditions are not very clear.” In this sense, they point out, “the office is working to create simpler guidelines that make day-to-day life easier for students.” Dr. Jorge Alegre adds that this simplification will have a positive impact on the operation of various CNIC departments.
Main Requests
Inés and Ignacio point out that among the main requests received at the office, are the mentoring programs for senior scientists for students, apart from the thesis committee of the Predoctoral Program. In addition, “some students have proposed social or sports activities by and for students with the aim of promoting interaction.”
That said, although a large-scale collection of proposals and/or needs of the pre-doctoral community is still pending, Laura and Diego acknowledge, “there are a series of common points on which the office should focus on.” These are:
- Open a channel of direct communication to collect all the proposals, aspects to improve or initiatives of the pre-doctoral community and safeguard their interests.
- Provide professional development opportunities and activities.
- Promote mental health and social relations among the Predoc community.
- Assist and guide in the administrative processes of the Predoc activity (use of training funds, welcome guide...).
“One of the most advanced proposals is the creation of a welcome document for doctoral students who join the CNIC. In it we have collected information on the procedure of the predoctoral program and the organization of the center, advice from former CNIC Predoc students and other information and resources that we consider useful in this first stage,” advances Laura Lalaguna. “Furthermore, we have begun to propose some informal activity with researchers aimed at motivating and bringing different scientific careers closer to the predocs,” adds Diego Calzada.
"The CNIC’s PhD Office aims to become a forum of support, guidance and scientific growth for all doctoral students enrolled in the CNIC Pre-Doctoral Program, regardless of their university affiliation or source of funding"
In general, studying a PhD is a very enriching and rewarding experience, but no one can deny that it is also associated with a series of difficulties: some directly related to the scientific project and others that are more general.
In regards to the first ones, the PhD is demanding and often frustrating (stalled projects, experiments that don’t work out...), with the added-on stress caused by knowing that you have a limited time to complete your project successfully. Particularly, the CNIC also pursues scientific excellence that entails an increased complexity of the projects and with it an increased level of demand.
Doing a PhD requires developing skills in time management, critical thinking, writing, presentation, etc. “It is a constant learning process that is usually accompanied by frustration and stress,” says Laura Lalaguna.
The academic career is very competitive. In a center of excellence like the CNIC, we work in a very demanding environment. The pressure to publish in high-impact magazines affects both group leaders and doctoral students, and this can affect our mental health, point out the members of the PhD Office.
Furthermore, they also add, “the doctoral students have obligations to the university they belong to, the organization from which they receive funding and the CNIC pre-doctoral program. These obligations are usually evaluation procedures, follow-up or registration procedures that must be kept in mind, which add to the multiple deadlines that add stress to the equation.”
An opinion shared among the pre-doctoral group is the need to improve the training program better adapted to the students’ needs, such as optional basic training courses in technical skills or transversal activities.
Inés Martínez and Ignacio Heras detail that among the actions that have been planned, one of the office’s tasks has been to update the distribution list of CNIC pre-doctoral students. This has been done to facilitate the dissemination of information within the group, including, to as much extent as possible, pre-doctoral students who work at the CNIC and have an agreement with the CNIC, but are linked to other institutions
In addition, “this line of work includes increasing the participation of CNIC pre-doctoral students in the selection of seminars and guest scientists; as well as the launch of a line of seminars directly aimed at students, such as the one given by the researcher Amelia Escolano,” points out Inés Martínez.
The office is currently organizing an active collection of proposals, although at the moment they have mostly received questions about administrative procedures and some proposals for complementary activities.
During the completion of their thesis, both Inés and Ignacio identified certain shortcomings and problems that affect a large part of the students. “Participating in the resolution of these problems will improve the experience of writing a doctoral thesis at the CNIC, and collaborating with this seems rewarding to us,” they indicate.
"The CNIC Predoctoral Program makes it possible for doctoral students to have a support and follow-up committee for their thesis. This committee is made up of the thesis director, another CNIC researcher and an expert from outside the Center. All predoctoral students complete the Frontiers in Cardiovascular Research course organized by the CNIC in collaboration with the UAM (Autónoma University of Madrid)"
“I think it will be an enriching experience,” agree Laura Lalaguna and Diego Calzada. “In addition to exchanging ideas, listening to, and interacting with many members of the predoctoral community, it is comforting to know that we can take small steps to improve the predoctoral stage at the CNIC for ourselves and/or those who come after,” they state.
Functions of the Doctoral Office
- Provide support and follow-up on the progress of CNIC doctoral students, particularly in relation to the actions described in the CNIC Pre-Doctoral Program (for example, organization and meetings of the thesis committee...).
- Facilitate the tutoring of CNIC doctoral students.
- Make proposals to other scientific and management bodies of the CNIC in scientific and training matters and activities that are relevant for doctoral students.
- Channel the proposals of CNIC doctoral students aimed at improving training at the CNIC.
- Ensure that the office is known by current and future doctoral students by maintaining a document on the CNIC intranet and website, which will include a scientific welcome to the CNIC, and the updated list of members of the office. With the same objective, the office will deliver an annual seminar for new and future doctoral students to present the office.
- Provide scientific mediation in the development of doctoral thesis projects.
- Advise the scientific direction of the CNIC on relevant issues for doctoral training and professional development of doctoral students.
- Provide other CNIC departments with information related to the CNIC Predoctoral Program.
- Promote the exchange of scientific experiences and career development between current and past doctoral students, and members of the CNIC Doctoral Office.
