Coaching in “thesis circles”

You are coached as a member of a so-called “thesis circle”, consisting of 6-8 students who start their thesis around the same time.

Some students in this thesis circle will work on similar topics - either from a substantive perspective (the “topic”), or from a methodological perspective. Others will work on more dissimilar topics, but will face comparable challenges throughout the supervision process from which you can learn.

You will be notified about students in your thesis circle at the beginning of the coaching process.

Weekly meetings

Coaching takes place in pre-scheduled, weekly online meetings. Please reserve time in your agendas.

The kickoff meeting (meeting #1) is mandatory for all students that are part of the thesis circle. Students then have the option to “book” coaching time for subsequent weeks, using a public Google Doc for scheduling.

• You can find the schedule here (Fall 2022 cohort, Spring 2023 cohort; viewable only when being enrolled as a thesis student with Hannes and logged in to Google with your @tilburguniversity.edu email address - no access? Send an email, please!).
• Typically, students have 5-7 meetings with their coach.
• Use our meeting planner to find out how to approximately space out appointments over time. Try to plan meetings in smaller groups of 2-4 likeminded students working on similar topics/methods/problems.

Conduct your research independently

In-between online meetings, you work independently on your research, and stay in close touch with other students (e.g., to give feedback on writing or code). Please bundle questions for your next online meeting. If you’re stuck - get in touch with your coach.

• If you do not receive a reply in reasonable time, please remind me about your message.
• Don’t contact me for every tiny question you have, but first try to find a solution yourself or in discussions with other students in your thesis team.
• If you write an email, write it short and to the point.