The PhD Order outlines requirements for environmental change in a PhD program.
Participation in research environments: PhD students should participate in active research environments, which may include stays at other research institutions, mainly abroad. This environmental change should be part of the PhD period.
Normally, the environmental change should be a lengthy stay of 2 to 6 months (or a minimum length of 3 consecutive weeks) at a foreign research institution relevant to the PhD program.
The main supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the student can establish contacts with active research environments outside of SDU. The supervisor will use their national and international networks to plan the student's environmental change.
The environmental change must be included in the PhD plan. If the stay is not finalized in connection with the PhD plan, the plan should indicate when the environmental change is expected to be planned.
If a prolonged stay abroad is not possible or appropriate, reasons for this should be provided in the PhD plan, along with plans for how the requirement for an environmental change will be fulfilled.
Under certain circumstances, the environmental change can be conducted in Denmark. For instance, if the student does not have a Master's degree from abroad, the environmental change can be in Denmark.
If the place of employment for an industrial PhD student has an active research environment, the PhD School can decide that the environmental change can take place there.
Credit for Environmental Change: PhD students can be credited with a certain number of working hours (mentioned earlier) for the environmental change.
ECTS points for environmental change: Alternatively, instead of working hours, students can obtain ECTS points for the environmental change if they receive training in new methodologies, theories, or other educational activities during the stay. Students can earn 1 ECTS point per week for a maximum of 15 ECTS in total. To obtain ECTS points, the student must write a short report (5-10 pages) and give an oral presentation in the presence of an internal censor. More than 6 ECTS requires both the report and the oral presentation.
The report from the environmental change can be included in the PhD thesis as a chapter. When including it, clearly state in the thesis that the report is reused material and provide appropriate references.
Mutually exclusive options: Students cannot receive both ECTS points and working hours for the same environmental change; the options are mutually exclusive. Contact the PhD School for futher information about the application process for obtain ECTS for the environmental change.
These guidelines ensure that PhD students have the opportunity to gain valuable international experience and research exposure during their studies.