PhD Training Track

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PhD selection procedure
In the PhD student selection process candidates might be interviewed by a committee formed by two PIs in order to provide an extra opinion that complements the opinion of the responsible PI.

Mentoring
Students will be assigned two tutors among the CABD PIs and associate group leaders. Tutors, which will be assigned by the PhD supervisor, will be in charge of following and advising the student during their PhD projects.

Introductory seminar and presentation
Students will present a first seminar before the first 6 months after joining the CABD, and thereafter, one seminar a year. In the first seminar, the students will be presenting their thesis plan. The student, supervisor and mentors will meet after each seminar to discuss progress. Additional meetings can be arranged if the student or the student’s supervisor deem necessary.

Student portfolio
Each student will keep a portfolio with a record of all her/his activities (e.g. signed seminar attendance sheet, attended workshops, etc.). It will be the advisor and mentors task to supervise this portfolio.

CABD seminar attendance and organization
CABD seminars and other seminars: CABD PhD students will have to attend a minimum of 90% of the CABD seminars and participate in the Internal Seminar series. In the CABD conference room, there will be a list to be signed by the PhD students.
At the end of selected CABD talks, after the general discussion, senior members of the CABD will abandon the conference room to allow PhD students have a more informal 15-30 minutes discussion with the invited speaker.
Organization of a yearly Focused symposium by PhD students and postdoc association: Students will choose the symposium topic and three speakers. Choice of topic and speakers should be presented in the form of a proposal.
To maximize the impact of the invited speakers, speakers might be taken out for lunch by the students and postdocs.

Complementary activities:
General Science reading: to broaden the perspective on Science in general, students will choose General Science books (a collection of these books is available at the CABD first floor book shelves, but students are encouraged to suggests titles), one in Fall and other in Spring. At the end of these seasons, an informal discussion session will be held, so that students will share their readings. Examples of these books are “What is life” (by E Schrodinger), “Your inner fish” (by Neil Shubbin), “Chance and Necessity” (by J. Monod) among others.

Science communication and English: to increase fluency in English and efficacy in Science communication, students will watch selected documentaries or talks (including on-line lectures, TED talks, science documentaries from the BBC, Carl Sagan´s Cosmos, etc.). Students will hold a group discussion (in English) on the content and the communication techniques used in the pieces. Postdocs and PIs would be welcome to join this activity.

Workshops tailored to the students needs:
Students should identify common needs and propose the organization of workshops on those matters. For example, Common Databases (Wormbase, Flybase, Protein databases, etc.) should be a known resource to very PhD student from very early on in their research career. Other examples might include Image Analysis tools, Basic Programming, DNA analysis tools, or how to prepare and give a presentation.

Fernando Casares and Rafael Rodríguez Daga will assist you with the organization of these complementary activities.