Managing your PhD intern

Use University HR guidance to plan your induction.

Induction should also include the following areas:

• An introduction to the department/School, including history, services, culture and values.
• Brief introduction to the senior members of the department as well as the people that the PhD intern will be working with on a regular basis.
• Tour of the facilities (e.g. work areas, breakout areas, where to get food/drink, where nearest toilets are and where the fire exits are situated).
• Explanation of the health & safety guidelines, access arrangements, absence reporting, timekeeping, etc.
• A clear outline of the job/role requirements, in addition to short-term and long-term objectives that are relevant at the beginning of the internship

Accessing People and Money

Students cannot log into People and Money with their student ID, they need a staff log in. You are responsible for ensuring your intern has a staff ID (UUN). The process for setting up a staff ID can differ by department. If you are unsure contact the IS helpline - Contact the IS Helpline | The University of Edinburgh. Interns need to go onto People and Money to ensure that their bank and personal details, including address, are up to date.

Arrange a first meeting

As part of the induction an initial meeting with the line manager should be arranged, to go over the key project deliverables. General topics should include:

• The project description – are they clear what they need to do? Agree outputs.
• Working hours – interns should be treated as you would an employee and the line manager and PhD intern should agree on a weekly/project schedule.

Throughout the project, the line manager is responsible for ensuring their intern is progressing as planned. PhD interns tend to be experienced and to work well unsupervised and independently. However, clear milestones should be set and checked during the internship period.

Interim review

It is recommended the line manager conducts a mid-point review. This is a chance to check the project(s) are on track and to make amendments to the project description. Potential topics to include:

• Progress on project – are they where you would expect? Are there any issues needing addressed?
• Positive feedback – let the intern know what they are doing well.
• Areas of development – what would be useful for the intern to focus on for the remainder of their internship?
• Discuss areas of interests – are there colleagues it would be useful for them to meet?

Reflection

It is generally recognised that incorporating periods of reflection into a work based experience can enhance the intern’s employability and help them to make a success of the project through increased self-awareness of their strengths and areas they may need to work on.

Please take the opportunity to involve the intern in as many aspects of your School/department as possible and as time permits. This could not only help your intern to complete the project more successfully, it will also help them to increase their network.

Arrange a final meeting

The final meeting is an opportunity for the line manager and the PhD intern to summarise the project results. Some areas you might want to discuss include:

• What have they learned and how have they developed over their internship?
• How well do they think they have performed against the objectives set?
• What has been their biggest achievement?
• What do they think they could have done differently?
• In what ways are they better prepared for the job market after completing this internship?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What areas of development do you, as line manager, suggest they concentrate on in future jobs?

We would recommend writing down the answers to your questions, as this will form the basis of any reference letter that you may be asked to provide for your PhD Intern. The final meeting is also an opportunity to:

• Summarise their achievements and outcomes of the project so you can feedback to any of your colleagues/stakeholders
• Gain feedback on your organisation - this can be a rich source of information about your workplace and it is important to capture the evaluation provided by your intern.
• Discuss any potential work opportunities in the future

Practical things to consider

• Notify your HR department if you plan to extend your intern’s contract
• Remove their access to any mailing lists, IT systems and folders on any shared drives
• Make sure they have fully handed over any work necessary to the appropriate colleague

We will ask for feedback after the internship has finished from both the interns and line managers. This will be in the form of an evaluation form sent out by email. We would be grateful if you could complete the short survey as your feedback will help to shape future internship programmes. For any questions, please get in touch with the Internships and Work Experience Team, via email employ.ed@ed.ac.uk