Interview

Purpose

The interview allows the Graduate School of Precision Engineering to discuss your research project with you more closely and evaluate your potential as an academic researcher. It further provides you’re the opportunity to demonstrate your acquired scientific knowledge, and soft skills and is a chance to meet the institute.

You may receive feedback with detailed information that will offer valuable insights from experts, highlight potential areas for improvement in your proposal, and suggest new avenues of inquiry.

Arrangement of the Interview

After your application has been assessed, you will receive a date and timeframe for your interview by the GSPRE. If you are unavailable on said day, please contact the GSPRE office promptly for rescheduling.

Interviews take place within one to three months after you receive confirmation of the receipt of your application. The interview committee is determined by the GSPRE and based on your thesis proposal and the expertise of the individual mentors.

Format

Please present your research project in 5 to 10 minutes. Visual aids are permitted and encouraged in the following form: Slide Presentation (PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi) with up to 15 slides. No videos are to be included.

Afterward, you are asked questions related to your research project for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

After your Interview

Your mentor will serve as the third and final member of your PhD thesis advisory team alongside your supervisor and co-advisor. As a link between the GSPRE and your PhD thesis advisory team, your mentor is an experienced researcher, lecturer, and GSPRE member.

Some applicants may be asked to revise and resubmit their research proposal. If the expert committee determines that revisions are necessary, you will receive detailed instructions on the required changes.

You will receive the relevant Doctoral Agreement form attached to the post-interview email.

Any concerns, suggestions, or inputs from the expert committee during your interview will be communicated to you in that email.

Meeting with PhD Thesis Advisory Team

Now that your mentor has been assigned, you are required to organize an individual meeting with your supervisor and your assigned mentor. This meeting should take place as soon as possible following the receipt of the post-interview email.

If you have been asked to revise your research proposal, the mentor meeting should occur after the revised proposal has been confirmed as accepted by the GSPRE.

The purpose of this meeting is for your thesis team to personally convene and discuss your curriculum. The details should be specified in the relevant doctoral agreement form sent to you in the post-interview email.