Peer Coaching Intro Session - WS 2021/22

Target Group

All doctoral students in the Faculty of Natural Resources are welcome to sign up.

Students who have already participated in the Peer Coaching Program in the past are eligible to participate again.

 
What is a Peer Coaching Group?

Whether you are at the start of your Ph.D. journey or in the final leg, your peer coaching group will keep you on track, give you momentum, and provide you with the support you need to complete your Ph.D. program successfully.

Studies show that students who regularly meet with a peer coaching group finish more quickly, produce better work, and are more likely to maintain balance and well-being during the dissertation writing process.   The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants of our peer coaching pilot program confirms these finding.

Comments from past participants:

"I really like that it helps me to stay on track with my bi-weekly smart goals. It has also been a nice space to share other things besides PhD stuff and to know the different challenges other colleagues have to go through."

"We do goal setting and discussing, which is great because it forces a focusing of the working process, which makes it easier to identify and talk about specific issues that are occurring. It's also great fun to see the others in their struggles and progress, and to sometimes being able to give them useful input myself."

"I found it useful to see that every PhD has more or less the same problems with a supervisor, writing, coauthors…"

"I certainly do benefit a lot, although the type of benefits changed considerably. At first, there was lots of skill-sharing and learning from each others' experiences and strengths. Having 'harvested' these resources, the benefit of our group for me now is rather connecting to other people in a similar situation and talking about how we feel etc."

How does it work?

If you decide to sign up, we will assign you to a group of 4-6 Ph.D. students. (You also have the option of forming your coaching group and applying to the program together).  

Your peer coaching group will meet every two weeks on the same day and at the same time throughout the semester.  You will decide as a group when and where you meet.

During these structured meetings, you will debrief on the last two weeks, set goals for the coming two weeks, ask questions, and share strategies that have helped you move forward.

In addition to the bi-monthly meetings, you will be required to attend three short (90 min) check-in sessions throughout the semester.

During these meet-up sessions, we will engage with a specific topic (e.g. time management strategies, managing collaborations, etc). You will have an opportunity to exchange with other peer coaching groups during these meet-ups.

Session 1 (Oct 13 , 11:30 - 12:30): Starting off. The focus of the first session is to get to know each other and learn how to structure/manage your group.

Session 2 (Jan 11, 11:00 - 12:30): Mid-way check-in. We will check-in and see how things are going. You will have a chance to compare notes and share best practices with the members of the other groups. Djahane will also provide short inputs based on your requests, such as time management, do's and don'ts of writing, setting smart goals, etc.

Session 3 (March 30, 11:00 - 12:30): In the final workshop, we will take the time to review your past six months and make plans for the future. Djahane will also provide a short input based on your requests.

 

Will we get support?

Dr. Djahane Banoo Salehabadi will support your group and make sure that your meetings are structured, effective, and efficient. She will also run the three workshops. Djahane is the managing director of the graduate school and a trained academic coach.

Apart from these three workshops, your group will have 3 “credits” for sessions with Djahane. She can run an exercise for your group or give an input on a specific topic you’d like to learn more about.

Moreover, Djahane is available throughout the semester to answer any questions via email.

Please note: Peer Coaching Groups are only as strong as their members. Please only sign up for this offer if you can commit to attending every meeting for the entire semester.

 

Facilitator: Dr. Djahane Banoo Salehabadi

Registration deadline: October 8

Registration: sign up here for the 6-month Peer Coaching Group starting on October 13.

Cancelation policy: read here

Are you registered as a member of the Graduate school? If you haven´t done so already, please register online here. This is a general prerequisite for participating in Graduate School activities.