Hello, fellow CSE PhD students and welcome to the CSE PhD Council!

As a PhD student, you have many different roles: an employee, a teacher, a student, and a researcher. In addition to this, you might have moved to Gothenburg from a different city, or even a different country. Your supervisor might feel like your go-to person, and the supervisor is the best to talk to about your research, but research is not everything that your PhD consists of. For instance: who should you talk to when it comes to educational matters such as course credits or your work environment?

We are aiming to continuously improve and extend this material. We are grateful for your suggestions and comments. So if you can't find what you're looking for, then please post about it in the discussions so we can direct you to the right place and add the information for future students. In addition, we encourage you to use the discussion board for different topics: perhaps you are looking for recommendations of something to do in Gothenburg, you have found a cool summer school that you want to share, or want people to join you for an activity? Write about it!

Don’t hesitate to contact us via email (phdcouncil.cse@chalmers.se) or talk to one of the council members if you have questions!

The information on this page is divided into modules, below we describe the themes of these modules. Our focus on this page is not to write lengthy articles about everything, but to make sure that you know who to turn to or where to look when you have different types of questions. So in many cases, we link to the source or the "owner" of the question.

 

The PhD Council

In this module, you will find anything you need to know about the PhD council and your local PhD representatives.

Some questions that you might have:

• Who are the PhD Council?
• What do they do?
• What is the CSE PhD ombudsman?
• What is this Phadder system?
• How do I become a Phadder?
• What activities does the PhD council host?

 

Workplace in General

This module is for your role as an employee and teacher. Here you can find information about anything that would be of interest even if you weren't a PhD student and started working at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Many of these questions are also answered on Chalmers Intranet and Medarbetarportalen for Göteborgs Universitet.

Most of the time the person who can help you with workplace-related things is your line manager or your division/unit administrative staff.

Some questions that you might have:

• What is a line manager and what do they do?
• What is this "kollektivavtal" that I keep hearing about?
• What is the trade/labour union?
• Who should I talk to about my broken office chair?
• I am sick, how do I report this?
• I went to a conference, how do I reimburse my costs?
• What is meal benefit (kostförmån)?
• Should I really take all of my vacation? (short answer: YES you should)
• What is a "röd dag", a "halvdag" and a "klämdag"? (Swedish public holidays)
• What is this BTA-form that I have to fill in before travelling?
• What is "friskvårdsbidrag"? (health and wellness benefit)

 

PhD Specifics - Education

This module is mostly a redirect to the CSE Doctoral Studies Canvas Page. If you are not added to the page, email the PhD student admins at phdadm.cse@chalmers.se. For most things related to education, you can also ask them, but check the canvas page first.

The second part of your education is your research. Here you have your supervisors to help and guide you. And in the end, everything is approved by your examiner. 

Some questions that you might have regarding your education:

• How do I register for courses?
• How do I count credentials from reviewing papers?
• What is GTS?
• How do I create my ISP?
• What happens during my follow-up meeting?
• I want to change supervisors, how do I do that?
• What are the different roles of the supervisor vs the examiner for my PhD Education?

 

PhD Specifics - Student Life in Gothenburg

Here we have collected information about social life and student influence at the universities.

Some questions that you might have regarding the student life:

• What is the student union?
• How do I get student discounts? / How do I get the Mecenat discount card?
• Why should I join the student union?
• What is Cortègen?
• Can I book a room in the Chalmers Student Union Building?
• Are there any networking meetups or work fares for PhD students?
• How do I join a student union association?
• How do the student unions represent me at the universities?
• What is this "ombudsman"-thing (DOMB)?

 

Sweden (and Gothenburg)

In this module, we posted some things that might be of interest to a new resident in Gothenburg and things related to academia in general in Sweden. A lot of this information is linked to other places since this is information of interest to anyone moving here.

Some questions that you might have:

• What is försäkringskassan?
• What is personnummer?
• How do I get a bank account?
• How do I pay my taxes?
• How do I find somewhere to live?
• Is it true that you can just camp wherever in the Swedish forests?
• I want to meet and befriend Swedish people outside of the university, but it seems impossible, is there a way?
• How do I survive the darkness of the winter?

 

 

Safety Net Information

As a PhD student navigating your academic journey, understanding the safety nets available to you is crucial. These safety nets encompass various resources designed to support students in times of need, ensuring their well-being and academic success.

• As a PhD student at GU or Chalmers, what are my benefits?
• What to do if I'm unhappy with my supervisor(s)?
• What to do if I'm facing work-related stress issues?

 

Now, what are you still doing here? Go check out the modules where all the information is, or start writing in the discussions!