LOCAL REPRESENTATION

Each school at KTH has local PhD student representatives. They are organized in PhD Student Councils and one student is elected Chairperson for the local PhD Student Council.

The student representatives for the PhD programs are called PADs (Program representative PhD student). Each PAD is connected to their respective PhD program. A school can have one or more PhD programs, therefore one or more PADs.

 

PhD school councils pages:

ABE: https://www.dr.kth.se/abe-phd-student-council/

CBH: https://www.dr.kth.se/cbh-phd-student-council/

EECS: https://www.dr.kth.se/eecs-phd-student-council/

ITM: https://www.dr.kth.se/itm-phd-student-council/

SCI: https://www.dr.kth.se/sci-phd-student-council/

 

General contact to councils, through council coordinator: councils@dr.kth.se

General contact to PhD representatives at the schools’ programs (PADs), through education manager: edu@dr.kth.se

 

The following is more detailed description of the work.

The objectives of a PhD Council are to promote more effective and higher quality PhD education and research, to promote a stimulating working environment and to improve the general conditions for the PhD students at the given KTH School. A PhD Council shall work towards a greater unity and fellowship among the PhD students at the given and shall maintain good contacts with the PhD students working centrally at KTH. The council meeting is the supreme school-level decision making body and the council board is the  supreme school-level executive level.

 

Board member(s)

The PhD Council Board is responsible for: 

1. a) Contributing to the development of research and research education at the school through exercising and organising PhD student influence at the school, including appointment of provisional PADs and other PhD council functionaries, if needed;
2. b) Promoting greater unity and fellowship among the PhD students;
3. c) Communicating to relevant PhD students at the school and PhD Chapter Board on appointment of doctoral representatives at the school and other decisions at the school concerning education or conditions affecting doctoral students.

If the PhD Council meeting wishes so, members of the board or council can be also PADs or with other specific roles within the board, e.g. PhD Council Treasurer, PhD Council with Social Affairs focus, or PhD Council with Education Manager role.

 

Council chairperson

The council chairperson leads the council’s board. All the members of the PhD Council Board are equally responsible for the PhD Council. The PhD Council Chairperson is responsible for the communication with the PhD Chapter. The Council Chairperson shall communicate in written form to the PhD Chapter Board the names of any PhD student representatives that need to be appointed to the commissions of trust at the given KTH School. This includes decision on time compensation for doctoral representatives.

The chairperson is the main nominee for the executive group.

 

Council vice chairperson(s)

By default, there is one vacancy for the position of PhD Council vice chairperson. However, the school council meeting or school council board or the school council nominating committee shall have the right to decide on the number of vice chairpersons deemed necessary.

The vice chairperson fills for the chairperson when absent and share part of her/his duties.

The vice chairperson is the main nominee for strategic council.

 

Educational Manager

See council board roles above.

If specified, the education manager is the main representative for quality council of doctoral studies at the school.

 

Social responsible

See council board roles above.

The social responsible has the main duties of organising social events for doctoral students at the council.

Furthermore, the social responsible is the main representative for sustainability, equality and safety questions at the council of doctoral studies at the school.

 

Program representative(s) – PAD

According to the bylaws, the following applies:

1. 1. 1. Name
         PAD is an acronym for “Programansvarig Doktorand”, in English “PhD student representative of the program”.
         The PADs can also have deputy PADs or specialisation/track specific PADs within the program.
      2. Responsibilities
         PhD Council PADs duties are to work together with their PhD Program Director (PA), or PhD program administration or the Director of Third Cycle Education (FA) or FA deputy at the given KTH School, in order to: 
         a) Advocate for improved quality of the PhD program;
         b) Advocate for PhD students’ rights and their conditions at their PhD program; 
         c) Arrange social and educational activities for the PhD students in their PhD program with resources from the given PhD program; 
         d) Help the election process by informing, identifying and training possible candidates to become PADs at the end of their mandates. 
         e) Communicate with the PhD Council on ongoing activities or issues.

PADs shall have a formal position to represent all the PhD students at the given PhD program and in all the management and decisional meetings for the given PhD program.
PADs shall be able to participate in executive departmental meetings when decisions concerning conditions of PhD studies and PhD students are taken.
PADs shall inform, involve and delegate their role to the PhD Council Board if the matter of discussion is of greater relevance than their PhD program itself.
PADs shall ensure that every new PhD student at their PhD program is reached by the PhD Chapter, PhD Council and PAD information about their rights and opportunities as PhD students.
PADs shall attend and pay an active role in the PhD Chapter Education Council, by ensuring that the opinions of the PADs in the Education Council reflect the opinions of the group of PhD students in their PhD programs.

1. 1. 1. Election
         PhD Council PADs are elected annually by the PhD Council Election Meeting. For each PhD program at the given KTH school, 1 (one) PAD and 1 (one) Deputy PAD shall be elected by the corresponding PhD Council. Each PAD or Deputy PAD elections must be approved by the PhD Chapter Board through the PhD Chapter Chairperson or Vice Chairperson signature on the PhD Council Election Meeting protocol. Elections of PhD Council PADs must be announced and reported on the PhD Council KTH Social webpage or other relevant channels.
      2. Eligibility
         A PhD Council PAD must be at least a PhD student at the given KTH School enrolled in the corresponding PhD program that the PAD shall represent.
      3. Mandate period
         A PhD Council PAD and Vice PAD can only be elected for 1 (one) year at the PhD Council Election Meeting. The mandate shall be extended every year by means of reelections. 
      4. Vacancy
         In case of vacancy for both a PAD and the correspondent Deputy PAD, the PhD Council Board can directly appoint a Provisional PAD with mandate until the following PhD Council Election Meeting.
      5. PhD Chapter Education Council
         All the PADs at KTH are part of the PhD Chapter Education Council and have the responsibility to attend the PhD Chapter Education Council Meetings called by the PhD Chapter Board.

Council member(s)

Council members are council board, PADs, in addition to helpers and deputies on unspecified mandate.

 

School Positions

 

Executive group

 

Who’s in the Executive Group?

The executive group consists of: 

• the Dean (Head of School), 
• the heads of all departments, 
• some administrative staff (head of Administration, HR, and Finance are almost always there. Sometimes other administrative groups are present). 
• Director of First and Second Cycle Education (GA) 
• Director of Third Cycle Education (FA) 

Finally, two positions are always held open for student representatives in this group, one from first/second cycle education and one from third cycle education. 

What is the Executive Group? The Executive Group discusses how the school is run, a sort of advisory group to the Dean. Mostly the content of meetings consist of reminders about important upcoming events at the school and summaries from the other organizational groups at the school. For example the head of school reports from the Strategic Council, GA from the GRU-council and FA from the Doctoral studies council. 

So topics vary, could be about anything from discussing new masters programs, discussing interview processes for new faculty, recruitment processes for new PhDs, how to prepare for upcoming quality reviews for educational programs, reminders on information that should be further delegated by department heads to other faculty and/or students. Could also be about how strategic goals (impact, sustainability, gender equality) are being translated into action at both university and school level. Occasionally the budget of the school is also presented at a high level by the head of the economy. Usually this stays at the level of looking at the yearly balance between departments at the school, and then the school as a whole relative to the other schools at KTH. 

For more information about the topics discussed in the Executive group you can look through some of the previous meeting notes. Meeting notes from all Executive Group meetings (in Swedish) can be found the school intranet (for example) .

So, how often do they meet? Usually 1 meeting/month, for roughly 2 hours. Meetings are held in Swedish. Sometimes at the beginning of each semester a multiple day workshop is held somewhere outside of KTH to e.g., discuss an action plan for strategic goals or how to improve the efficiency of the executive group meetings or improve communication between departments. I have not personally attended any of these workshops however, only the monthly meetings. 

How much time does it take? Not a lot. Some preparation before meetings is required. The head of administration usually sends out documents and material that will be referred to during the meeting a week in advance of each meeting. A rough estimate is 1-2 hours of preparation before each meeting. Could be more, or could be less however depending on content and your own ambition level. If you would like to bring up your own discussion point as representative of the PhDs in one of the meetings then you are welcomed to do so as well. E-mail the head of administration before the meeting if you would like to have a point added to the agenda. 

The way I personally view the role as PhD representative in this group is to primarily attempt to extract issues that relate to doctoral studies within the Executive Group meetings. Usually this is only a small portion of all the content (mainly news from the FA). Regardless, even the other content can be very interesting to listen too as well. I feel I have learned a great deal about how the school is organized and how strategic goals are pursued because of it. 

Sounds fun! It is! And very important! 

 

Strategic council

What is the Strategic Council? The Council is more of a discussion forum for common school issues than an actual decision- making council. As the name suggests its purpose is to discuss strategic issues related to development and improvement of the School. This can include issues such as: 

– Policy- and operations documents for the School 

– Improving the health and work environment in the School 

– Promoting collaboration between the School and external actors 

– Integrating sustainability into the education 

– Increasing diversity and gender equality in the workplace 

Rather than formally deciding on these issues, the council is an opportunity for representatives of the different facets of the School as well as external actors to discuss them – often in a workshop-like format. 

Who’s in the council? The council is elected for a three year mandate (probably). It includes the Head of School who acts as chairman. Then there are several teachers, research and administration representatives, as well as external representatives from “the industry” which seem to vary between mandates. 

And then there is you! And you are elected into the Council through THS rather than through the Strategic Council’s election process. 

So, how often do they meet? Around two or three times per semester seems to be the average. And around two hours per meeting. 

Doesn’t sound like a lot work. How much time does it take? Not a lot. But it does require a bit preparation before the meetings, e.g., reading up on policy documents and material that will be discussed in the meetings. So in total maybe 1⁄2 hour per week on average? Maybe less? Maybe more? I don’t know I didn’t really time it. And I’m bad at math. 

Sounds fun! It is! And very important! 

Quality Council for doctoral studies

What is the Quality Council for doctoral studies? This council is about the Doctoral programmes at the school. The Council coordinates and conducts development work related to the different programmes. The Council address issues related to admission to doctoral programmes, the establishment of the eISP as well as who gets to be a member (what criteria the person should fulfil) in the committee at the defense. The doctoral programmes are different, but at the Council meetings, shared quality aspects are discussed 

Who’s in the council? 

The Director of Third Cycle Education (FA) is head of the Council and in charge of the meetings. Programme Directors (PA) or deputy Programme Directors at the school are summoned to the meetings. 

And then there is you! And you are elected into the Council through THS rather than through the Strategic Council’s election process. 

So, how often do they meet? Since fall 2019 the Council meet about once a month. The council usually meet for 2 hours. 

Doesn’t sound like a lot work. How much time does it take? As a doctoral representative, you are expected to attend the meetings. You may also read documents sent out before the meeting, in order to get there prepared. It could be an idea to share info to all doctoral students at the ABE-school per email, if the discussed issues should be shared with all doctoral students, but that info might be available on KTH social by now. That’s good.

Sounds fun! It is! And very important! 

 

Doctoral education program council(s)

Refer to description of quality council for doctoral education.

Quality council – basic education

Contact THS head of educational affairs or THS school councils for more details.

Quality council – administration

Contact THS head of educational affairs or THS school councils for more details.

Committees and councils: safety, sustainability, equality

Refer to description in the central level.

Future faculty (Recruitment and docentship)

Refer to future faculty group description in the central level.

Executive groups (department level)

Refer to future faculty group description in the central level.

 

Contacts

 

• School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE)

The list of representatives can be described as follows:

Organ	Sub-organ	Dr Functionary E-mail
Executive Group/LG		abe-chair@dr.kth.se
Strategic Council/SR		abe-vicechair@dr.kth.se
Educational errands	General	abe-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/3rd cycle	abe-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/1st & 2nd cycle	–
	Quality council/admin	–
Architecture Program		abe-pad@dr.kth.se
Art, technology and design		abe-pad@dr.kth.se
Civil and architectural engineering		abe-pad@dr.kth.se
Geodesy and geoinformatics		abe-pad@dr.kth.se
Studies in the humanities and social sciences of technology, science and environment	History of science, technology and environment philosophy	abe-pad@dr.kth.se
	Philosophy	abe-pad@dr.kth.se
	Technology and Learning (ITM)
Land and water resources engineering
Planning and decision analysis
The built environment and society: management, economics and law	Business studies
	Real estate and construction
Transport science
Departments/LG
	Architecture
	Civil and Architectural Engineering
	Philosophy & History
	Real Estate and Construction Management
	SEED
	Urban Planning and Environment
THS/Dr ABE Council		abe-council@dr.kth.se
	Chairperson, ABE/Dr	abe-chair@dr.kth.se
	Vice chairperson, ABE/Dr	abe-vicechair@dr.kth.se
	Presidium, ABE/Dr	abe-presidium
	Educational Manager, ABE/Dr	abe-edu@dr.kth.se
	Social Responsible, ABE/Dr	abe-social@dr.kth.se
	Council board, ABE/Dr
	PADs, Dr/ABE	abe-pad@dr.kth.se
	Council, Dr/ABE	abe-council@dr.kth.se

 

• School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)

The school’s work is described through the established work- and delegation scheme. It describes all the school’s groups and councils. Decision made by the Head of School’s is published in the school’s document archive.

The list of representatives can be described as follows:

Organ	Sub-organ	Dr Functionary E-mail
Executive Group/LG		eecs-chair@dr.kth.se
Strategic Council/SR		eecs-vicechair@dr.kth.se
Educational errands	General	eecs-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/3rd cycle	eecs-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/1st & 2nd cycle	eecs-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/admin	eecs-edu@dr.kth.se
Electrical Engineering		eecs-pad@dr.kth.se
Information and Communication Technology		eecs-pad@dr.kth.se
Computer Science		eecs-pad@dr.kth.se
Mediated Technology		eecs-pad@dr.kth.se
Departments/LG		eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Communication	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Computer Science	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Electrical Energy Engineering	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Electronics and Embedded Systems	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Human Centered Technology	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	Intelligent Systems	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
THS/Dr EECS Council		eecs-council@dr.kth.se
	Chairperson, EECS/Dr	eecs-chair@dr.kth.se
	Vice chairperson, EECS/Dr	eecs-vicechair@dr.kth.se
	Presidium, EECS/Dr	cbh-presidium
	Educational Manager, EECS/Dr	eecs-edu@dr.kth.se
	Social Responsible, EECS/Dr	eecs-social@dr.kth.se
	Council board, EECS/Dr	eecs-board@dr.kth.se
	PADs, Dr/EECS	eecs-pad@dr.kth.se
	Council, Dr/EECS	eecs-council@dr.kth.se

 

• School of Engineering Sciences (SCI)

The SCI school organisation is a line organisation in which administration and faculty are organised in two separate sections.

The list of representatives can be described as follows:

Position	Sub-organ	Functionary E-mail
Executive Group/LG		sci-chair@dr.kth.se
Strategic Council/SR		sci-vicechair@dr.kth.se
Educational errands	General	sci-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/3rd cycle	sci-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/1st & 2nd cycle	sci-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/admin	sci-edu@dr.kth.se
Aerospace engineering		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Physics	Physics	sci-pad@dr.kth.se
	Biological physics	sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Applied Physics	Physics	sci-pad@dr.kth.se
	Biological physics	sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Vehicle and maritime engineering		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Solid mechanics		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Mathematics		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Applied and computational mathematics		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Engineering mechanics		sci-pad@dr.kth.se
Departments/LG		sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Aeronautical & Vehicle Engineering	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Physics	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Applied Physics	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Solid Mechanics	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Mathematics	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	Mechanics	sci-board@dr.kth.se
THS/Dr SCI Council		sci-council@dr.kth.se
	Chairperson, SCI/Dr	sci-chair@dr.kth.se
	Vice chairperson, SCI/Dr	sci-vicechair@dr.kth.se
	Presidium, SCI/Dr	sci-presidium
	Educational Manager, SCI/Dr	sci-edu@dr.kth.se
	Social Responsible, SCI/Dr	sci-social@dr.kth.se
	Council board, SCI/Dr	sci-board@dr.kth.se
	PADs, Dr/SCI	sci-pad@dr.kth.se
	Council, Dr/SCI	sci-council@dr.kth.se

 

• School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH)

The school’s work is described through the established scheme of delegation. CBH is lead by the Head of School, and the work is delegated as seen in the organisational chart.

The list of representatives can be described as follows:

Position	Sub-organ	Dr Functionary E-mail
Executive Group/LG		cbh-chair@dr.kth.se
Strategic Council/SR		cbh-vicechair@dr.kth.se
Educational errands	General	cbh-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/3rd cycle	cbh-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/1st & 2nd cycle	–
	Quality council/admin	–
Biotechnology		cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
Theoretical chemistry and biology		cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
Chemical science and engineering	Chemistry	cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
	Chemical engineering	cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
	Fibre and Polymer Science	cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
Technology and health		cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
Medical technology		cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
Departments/LG
	Medical Engineering & Health systems
	Protein Science
	Theoretical Chemistry and Biology
	Industrial Biotechnology
	Gene Technology
	Engineering Pedagogics
	Chemistry
	Chemical Engineering
	Fibre and Polymer Technology
THS/Dr CBH Council		cbh-council@dr.kth.se
	Chairperson, CBH/Dr	cbh-chair@dr.kth.se
	Vice chairperson, CBH/Dr	cbh-vicechair@dr.kth.se
	Presidium, CBH/Dr	cbh-presidium
	Educational Manager, CBH/Dr	cbh-edu@dr.kth.se
	Social Responsible, CBH/Dr	cbh-social@dr.kth.se
	Council board, CBH/Dr
	PADs, Dr/CBH	cbh-pad@dr.kth.se
	Council, Dr/CBH	cbh-council@dr.kth.se

 

• School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM)

The list of representatives can be described as follows: 

Organ	Sub-organ	Dr Functionary E-mail
Executive Group/LG		itm-chair@dr.kth.se
Strategic Council/SR		itm-vicechair@dr.kth.se
Educational errands	General	itm-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/3rd cycle	itm-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/1st & 2nd cycle	itm-edu@dr.kth.se
	Quality council/admin	itm-edu@dr.kth.se
Energy and environmental systems	Energy technology	itm-pad@dr.kth.se
	Industrial ecology (ABE)	itm-pad@dr.kth.se
Industrial economics and management	Industrial economics and management	itm-pad@dr.kth.se
	Economics	itm-pad@dr.kth.se
Production engineering		itm-pad@dr.kth.se
Machine design		itm-pad@dr.kth.se
Materials science and engineering
Departments/LG		itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Energy Technology	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Industrial Economics and Management	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Learning in Engineering Sciences	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Machine Design	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Materials Science and Engineering	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Production Engineering	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	Sustainable Production Development	itm-board@dr.kth.se
THS/Dr ITM Council		itm-council@dr.kth.se
	Chairperson, ITM/Dr	itm-chair@dr.kth.se
	Vice chairperson, ITM/Dr	itm-vicechair@dr.kth.se
	Presidium, ITM/Dr	itm-presidium
	Educational Manager, ITM/Dr	itm-edu@dr.kth.se
	Social Responsible, ITM/Dr	itm-social@dr.kth.se
	Council board, ITM/Dr	itm-board@dr.kth.se
	PADs, Dr/ITM	itm-pad@dr.kth.se
	Council, Dr/ITM	itm-council@dr.kth.se