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PhD Summer School

9th International PhD Summer School

PhD Summer School provides the opportunity for intellectually curious doctoral students to explore new knowledge, to expand cultural awareness and to exchange experience. You are welcome to participate in our Summer School!

Practical information

Aims and goals of KTU PhD Summer School

KTU PhD Summer School focuses on development of key competences required for achieving best results in successful defence of the doctoral dissertation and identifying further research directions.

Therefore, topics of KTU PhD Summer Schools include: management of scientific research data, writing of scientific articles, open science, communicating scientific ideas, communication skills development, etc.

PhD Summer School:

  • equips participants with essential skills that are necessary in all fields of science;
  • provides participants valuable networking opportunity with participants from other countries;
  • creates and shares friendly social environment;
  • awards participants with certificate of attendance.

Target group: up to 40 doctoral students (regardless of major).

Prerequisites: the KTU PhD Summer School is held in English. To participate, doctoral students should have sufficient language skills.

Credits info: 54 academic hours (which are equivalent to 2 ECTS). If you are seeking to transfer credit, be sure to consult with your home institution before applying to the summer school to ensure that your participation will be recognized.

Doctoral School

Kaunas University of Technology

Studentų g. 50,  Kaunas, Lithuania

 

Organising team:

Simona Devenytė-Janauskienė

Projects Manager

Contact us by e-mail: phd@ktu.lt

Programme

PhD Summer School 2025 programme

Communicating your (scientific) ideas – Meeting with the editor
Frank Witlox

Successfully publishing in peer-reviewed journals is crucial for academic development and career progression. This two-day session will offer a comprehensive guide on how to create high-quality manuscripts, select appropriate journals, and effectively navigate the peer-review process. Participants will gain valuable insights into common challenges, strategies for increasing research visibility, and tips for responding to reviewer feedback. Additionally, attendees will explore the role of an editor by working in groups to assess and decide on journal submissions. Is serving as an editor challenging? How to find a balance between strictness and leniency. Whether you are an early-career researcher or an experienced academic, this session provides essential tools to enhance your publication success and academic influence.


How to improve the visibility of individual researchers and their research outputs
Milica Ševkušić

The rise of the Internet has transformed scholarly communication, making it easier for researchers to access information and share their research globally. However, this increased access and ease of dissemination present challenges: How can researchers ensure that their contributions are properly attributed and discoverable across academic services, search engines and the global network?
This training focuses on strategies and tools to enhance the visibility and outreach of researchers and their outputs. The course will focus on:

  1. Open and proprietary author identifiers;
  2. The role of open science practices in making research outputs more accessible, citable, and impactful;
  3. Social media profiles.

Participants will learn how to prioritize dissemination strategies based on their effectiveness and how to navigate open science practices towards enhancing the visibility and impact of their research.


Research ethics in the XXI century 
José Luis Molina Gonzalez

This session aims to introduce the main concepts related to research ethics, research integrity, and, in general, the scientific ethos in an increasingly competitive environment. Following this introduction, participants will engage in discussions about various ethical dilemmas in small groups. Finally, the session will provide a list of good research practices adapted to the participants’ ongoing research projects.


 

 

 

 


Lecturers

Frank Witlox earned his PhD in Urban Planning from Eindhoven University of Technology under the guidance of Harry Timmermans. He also holds Master’s Degrees in Applied Economics and Maritime Sciences from the University of Antwerp. Currently, he serves as the Head of Department and Senior Full Professor of Economic Geography at Ghent University’s Department of Geography. Additionally, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu (Estonia) and the International Head of the Mobility Lab. Since April 2017, he has been a Visiting Professor/High-end Foreign Expert at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA, China), College of Civil Aviation. Since September 2018, he has been recognized as a 100 Talents Program laureate of Jiangsu Province. From January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2023, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Transport Geography, a prominent interdisciplinary journal focusing on the geographical aspects of transport, travel, and mobility. Presently, he holds the position of Editor-in-Chief for European Transport Research Review and is a founding-co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Urban Mobility. Furthermore, he serves as the Section Editor-in-Chief of Smart Cities and holds roles as an Associate Editor for several journals, including Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Travel Behaviour and Society, and more. Witlox is also part of the editorial board for various Web of Science-listed journals, such as Journal of Transport Geography, European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research, Journal of Urban Technology, Transport Reviews, Journal of Location Based Services, Transport, Cities, Transport Problems, Sustainable Cities and Society, and Applied Mobilities.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

No, you don’t.
KTU International PhD Summer School welcomes doctoral students regardless of their institution, country and major.

You may check visiting the official websites of these networks:

ECIU List of members>>>

NORDTEK List of members>>>

BALTECH List of members >>>

In case the event is online, or hybrid, you will need a computer, a high speed Internet connection, a newer version of a web browser, and access to common tools and software like word processors, email, etc.
And although differenct courses they may have different technical requirements, most of Summer School online courses are offered through Zoom. Generally, you’ll interact with the lecturer and other doctoral students via discussion boards, interactive chat rooms, and video conferences.

In case the event is online or hybrid: methods vary by lecturer but may include pre-recorded or synchronous lectures, videos, podcasts, PowerPoint slides, interactive chat rooms,  and more.

This PhD Summer School is a full-time activity. Each course consists of about 6-8 academic hours of academic activities.

Yes, you can  e-mail us, and we will proceed your request.
For details on our reimbursement policy, please read the terms and conditions.

The confirmation that your application is received will be sent to you by e-mail indicated in the registration form. Please type your e-mail address carefully. If you are in doubt of your registration, write phd@ktu.lt

Unfortunately, the dates for the school are fixed and participants must undergo the full programme without exception.

Doctoral students usually can apply to their scholarship organization or research council for a grant to cover the costs of attending this event. Some universities or their departments, doctoral programs, etc. may provide small-scale grants for attending training. Research projects funded through third party funds may also include a budget to cover members’ training needs. Please address your research council, local mentor, supervisor or research-training group for more information.

To complete your registration you must upload a certificate of your doctoral student status at your home university. The document must be signed and stamped by a university official.

Exceptions: if you are a doctoral student at Kaunas Unversity of Technology, you do not need to provide this document.

The International PhD Summer School does not provide ECTS, but the certificate indicates how many academic hours you have studied and it depends on your institution whether to grant credits. Usually it is considered as 2 ECTS.

History

PhD Summer School 2016-2024

Lecturers of previous PhD Summer School editions

2024

Magdalena Szuflita – Žurawska, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland

Vikki Wright, the PhD Life Coach, United Kingdom

Frank Witlox, Ghent University, Belgium

Maria Soriano-Carot, IMFAHE, Spain

Wim Blokzijl, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

 

2023

Goda Raibytė-Aleksa, science journalist

Inga Popovaitė, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

Magdalena Szuflita – Žurawska, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland

Joeri Tijdink, Vrije University, The Netherlands

Jurgita Lazauskaitė-Zabielskė, Vilnius University, Lithuania

Jörg Langwaldt, Tampere University, Finland

Sarah Lynne Bowman, Uppsala University, Sweden

Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Uppsala University, Sweden

 

2022

Domenico Golzio, European Patent Office, The Netherlands

Frank Witlox, Ghent University, Belgium

Eva Hnatkova, University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, Czech Republic

Wim Blokzijl, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Jörg Langwaldt, Tampere University, Finland

 

2021

Frank Witlox, Ghent University, Belgium

Domenico Golzio, European Patent Office, The Netherlands

Hallvard Fossheim, University of Bergen, Norway

Nicolas Dintzner, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Wim Blokzijl, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

 

2019

Frank Witlox, Ghent University, Belgium

Ari Visa, Tampere University, Finland

Enrico Luzzatto, European Patent Academy, Germany

Hallvard Fossheim, University of Bergen, Norway

 

2018

Martijn Wackers, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Telma Esteves, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Roger Strand, University of Bergen, Norway

Arminas Ragauskas, Health Telematics Science Institute,  Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

 

2017

Flavien Massi, Intelligentsia Consultants Sàrl, Luxembourg

Lynn P. Nygaard, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway

Jacek Fiutowski, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Sarah Jones, Digital Curation Centre, United Kingdom

Iryna Kuchma, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), Lithuania

 

2016

Lucie Boudova, Elsevier, Czech Republic

Heidi Dyson, Next Level Innovation Ltd., United Kingdom

Dietmar Grichnik, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Elīna Gaile-Sarkane, Riga Technical University, Latvia