[Drand] Covid-19 and PhD studies.

[Sten Hellman]

Hello all.

We are aware that many of you have questions and concerns about how the current situation is affecting your PhD studies. Although there are still many uncertainties we would just like to highlight a few things that are underway, and remind you of some others.
At Fysikum we have a small group consisting of Kajsa-My Blomdahl, Jorge Laraña Aragón, Sten Hellman and Per-Erik to discuss the situation. 

Similarly the faculty has set up a working group which will adress and evaluate the situation. Per-Erik Tegnér is one member of this group,  the  PhD student representing our section of the faculty is Alexander Pietrow at the astronomy department.
The plan is that the faculty group will reach out to all students with a survey in the early autumn. The group will also try to formulate common guidelines for how to react. One questions that is often raised is the one of prolongation of the time for the PhD due to delays incurred by the pandemic. The current statement from the dean of the faculty is that there will be no general prolongation, rather this will be judged based on individual requests for extensions. These will be handled at the department level, but one of the things we hope that the faculty working group will produce is guidelines for how to process these requests at the department level, and also criteria to use when evaluating them. If you have other ideas for issues this group should bring up then please contact us.

It has also been decided by the president of the university that the next time the individual study plan is updated it must contain a description of how, and to what extend, the work has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have suggested that the faculty group tries to develop a template for how this should be done.

Finally we remind you that the department information regarding these matters is collected at https://www.fysik.su.se/english/about-us/news/information-for-students-and-staff-about-the-coronavirus-1.490240 (there is a section under "Teaching" referring specifically to PhD students). As stated there you are still recommended to work from home if possible. If you need to bring equipment from your office/lab to your home to be able to work you should agree this with your supervisor. 

If you have questions or concerns discuss them with your supervisor or mentor or one of Per-Erik or Sten. And perhaps most important, keep in touch with your fellow PhD students!

We hope that you will stay safe and that you will have the opportunity to enjoy some rest during the summer!



Jorge, Kajsa-My, Per-Erik & Sten


____________________________________________
Sten Hellman
Fysikum / Dept. of Physics
Stockholms universitet / University of Stockholm
106 91 Stockholm  /  SE 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

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