The Transversal program is intended to provide training for doctoral candidates coming from all the CUSO member and partner universities. This can mean a journey of nearly two hours for some participants, just to get to the location of the workshop! We also need to find the best balance of locations, taking into account the availability of our trainers and rooms. Keeping our workshops short and intensive (from 1/2 day to 2-day maximum, exceptionally 3) means that participants have a minimum time to take out of their research and ordinary obligations, while making sure they get the maximum out of their time.

If you need some help in determining possible trajectories to find possible coherent tracks for your professional development, please visit this webpage: https://competences.cuso.ch/en/orientation

We’d love to be able to meet the full demand for these workshops. We know they’re hugely appreciated, and cover important topics for doctoral candidates. Nevertheless, our budget is limited and we need to make sure we provide a sufficient offer across all the different topics.

The Transversal Program is intended to provide training that is as relevant as possible for doctoral candidates from as many scientific disciplines as possible. One of the intentions (and an advantage!) is to give you the opportunity to meet people you might otherwise never have met, and to understand the point of view that comes from their scientific background. Sometimes there are general topics that ultimately separate along disciplinary lines: management of qualitative and quantitative data for example, or bibliographic referencing tools. In this case, we draw an approximate line between the two main groups (exact and natural sciences, and social sciences and humanities). Nevertheless, we do not refuse anyone from a workshop just because, by checking their CUSO doctoral program, we wonder if they’ll find the content relevant. We trust that you have read the workshop description and decided it’s right for you. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to write to us at [email protected] (we can also check with the trainer for their opinion). If there is a particular topic that you would like to see covered with a focus on your scientific disciplinary needs, then remember your CUSO doctoral program is able to organize its own “Competences” workshops: get in touch with your program coordinator!

By a combination of factors: suggestions and recommendations received from doctoral candidates and the CUSO doctoral programs, spontaneous offers from qualified and experienced trainers, consultation with our steering group, discussion with our colleagues in Swiss and European networks, and of course... budget feasilibity.

If it fits within our objectives, yes! On the evaluation form for every workshop, there is a space for your suggestions. We are also very happy to receive your ideas by email to [email protected] We can’t guarantee your suggestion will become reality: it depends on the overall demand, the feasibility (pedagogical, trainer availability, etc.) and our budget. Nevertheless, we will take your ideas seriously.