Spectrum of Activities

The Doctoral Program

• offers courses in all areas of mathematics at graduate and research level,
• organizes workshops and block-courses in which experts present advanced topics and work with the doctoral students,
• organizes workshops and seminars where the doctoral students present in an accessible way the context and the progress of their own research in a talk or by a poster,
• encourages doctoral students to participate actively in international conferences,
• proposes complementary training in scientific English, computer science, scientific writing and presentation technique,
• prepares and stimulates the transition of the doctoral students to the professional life in industry, administration or in academia,
• sets up a network of information relevant to doctoral students for succeeding in their thesis and in their career planning.

Activities of the Doctoral Program include the following events primarily targeted at the graduate student audience:

• Graduate courses: in general, these are special courses at the graduate level given over the period of one semester, or more concentrated courses having around 20 teaching hours. Graduate courses have a flexible format: they can be given by one or several teachers, and they can be offered once a week or they can be organized in intensive modules dispatched over one-week periods.
• Summer/Winter Programs: these are one-week events which bring together graduate students and leading experts in their respective fields. Typically, the invited speakers present several mini-courses, and there is a possibility for informal discussions with graduate students.
• Graduate Colloquium: this is an opportunity for graduate students to present their own work in front of a friendly audience. Such events can be organized in particular topics, as well as at the interdisciplinary level (between different fields of mathematics).
• Other Events can be organized at the request of the members of the Doctoral Program, if the committee finds them suitable.

Every year, the Doctoral Program organizes a list of events where doctoral students are encouraged to participate and to earn credits. Each event is assigned a certain number of credits depending on its length and content.

Below we list more particular targets of the Doctoral Program which are not currently covered by the 3e Cycle Romand:

• To offer a choice of advanced graduate courses in various fields of mathematics (similar to American graduate schools). These courses will be addressed to graduate students in the beginning of their studies. The main purpose is to provide an up to date background in the major fields of mathematics to the graduate students participating in the Doctoral Program.
• To organize two-day meetings within the Graduate Colloquium. These meetings will give an opportunity to doctoral students to present their research area to other doctoral students and their results to experts in the respective fields.
• To organize Summer/Winter Schools in case the offer of such schools is not sufficient. The topic can vary and it will be chosen according to the research topics of graduate students participating in the Doctoral Program.

On a smaller scale, the Doctoral Program addresses the issues of marketing of scientific research and of the professional integration of doctoral students. In particular, the following issues should be touched upon in the format of lectures or workshops:

• How to write articles in mathematics (what is an introduction, how to compose the bibliography etc.)?
• How to make a presentation (in particular, in English)?
• How to use a computer in mathematical research?
• How to write a CV, and how to prepare a job interview?