This material was developed in collaboration with Wetsus, and it is used in the Wetsus Personal Development Programme for PhD students. This program aims to support their personal and professional development, enabling a meaningful PhD trajectory. Special thanks to Ingrid Weurman, a coach and trainer, for her valuable feedback and insights.
When working on your PhD, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture—your personal and career goals. This Personal Development Plan (PDP) setup is designed to help you reflect on your aims, create plans to achieve them, address challenges that arise along the way, and adapt to the ever-changing nature of the research field and workplace. As there is no single prescribed path to doctoral success, this plan might serve as your strategy for defining your own way forward. Let this PDP act as a learning strategy, providing structured opportunities for reflection and growth. Allow it to inspire you to engage in peer learning (e.g., during intervision or active reflection with peers on your PDP). Let it be a gift to yourself: the gift of learning. Regularly updating, revising, and reflecting on this document, as well as your progress, is an essential part of the process.
Sooner or later you are going to realise, just as I did, there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
-Morpheus, in The Matrix
Personal
Name:
Title of research project:
Start date of research project:
Final date of research project:
University:
Theme:
Why are you doing this PhD?
(E.g., What energises you? What keeps you going? How do you put your curiosity and creativity into your research?)
Who do you want to be in this process?
(E.g., How do you want to take ownership? Show personal leadership? How do you want to implement your strengths, qualities and values into your PhD journey?)
What do you need to develop to finish your PhD within four years?
(E.g., Which (academic, transferable, soft, and hard) skills do you need to develop? What strengths, qualities, and values challenge you? Do you have a network of experts in your field to ask for feedback and insights?)
University, research institute, faculty or department (hereafter, institute)
What makes your stay at your institute a success for you?
To create your own personal development plan, it might help to keep in mind that a strong doctoral program features the following characteristics:
Good supervisory relationship
Clear boundaries
Explicit Teaching
Feedback-rich environment
Access and effective use of technology
Supervisory Responsibility for employability
Career development
Student-to-student engagement
Discussions of expectations
Overt discussion of publishing policies (Norton, 2011)
Now, consider the list above from Norton (2011). What needs attention to strengthen your doctoral program?
What kind of colleague, peer and supervisor do you want to be?
(E.g., How do you want to collaborate with the people within your institute? What do you want others to think and say about you? How do you want to communicate with and listen to them, and provide feedback?)
Who are the people involved in your project, and how do you want to work and communicate with them?
(E.g., Think of your supervisors, teachers, peers, lab technicians, administration, company, and others. With whom do you share ideas, doubts, and problems on critical issues?)
What are the expectations you have of your co-workers, and which ones do you perceive them to have of you?
(E.g., Which of the expectations should you share with them? Which expectations can you handle easily, and which ones are challenging?)
What do you need to have a joyful and prosperous time at your institute?
(E.g., What kind of support or resources do you need, practical and academic?)
Support system
Who are the people around you who act as your support system?
(E.g., Who are the people close to you, with whom do you want to share your values and worries, who can you ask for support in making tough decisions or taking steps into the future. And do you dare to share your needs, to be critical and set boundaries?)
What do you need to do to maintain, grow or strengthen your (inner) support system?
(E.g., How do you take responsibility for your own feelings, negative thoughts, and the way you act? Do you take care of yourself? Are you aware of your needs, challenges, and pitfalls (Ofman)?)
Being an academic is running your own small business. Recognising your own value proposition and added value. Using authenticity is crucial to all of this. It involves research on every level: exploring yourself deeply and investigating externally, identifying the skills and competencies required. So, when you find a match between your internal and external drivers, you gain life, develop an authentic self, and then you will succeed (Brabazon, 2018).
Future
Where do you want to be in a year’s (two years, three years, four years) time?
What are your ideas about the future?
Where do you want to be in five years? And what activities do you envision yourself doing daily?
(And how can this PDP help achieve that?)
Hopefully, this PDP helps you gain a clearer understanding of yourself and your career strategy, allowing you to design your own path and make the most of your time as a PhD student. Ultimately, personal growth happens when you discuss it with others. Therefore, we encourage you to share your ideas and perspectives with your peers, starting from now.
Additional information
- “The most important piece of career advice you probably never heard“, written by Cal Newport. An additional exercise that focuses on what you value in life and where you want to be valued for.
