ILLC PhD Trajectory

Programme: ILLC PhD programme
Coordinator: Maria Aloni

MoL

Description

The goal of the trajectory is to provide ILLC PhD candidates with information, training and extra support in their first year. It includes two soft skills courses, a DEI training and a number of lectures illustrating different research lines within ILLC.

Organisation

  1. Introduction (with drinks and pizza afterwards) [September]
  2. DEI/active bystander training (with supervisors) offered by Our Bodies, Our Voice [October]
  3. LoLaCo lectures [September-December]: at least 3 lecturers obligatory. The lectures can be followed in different years although it is advisable to complete the assignment in year 1. Deadline to submit report: 15 December. The report consists of a short summary (max 100 words per lecture) of the 3 lectures attended. Submission is via email to m.d.aloni@uva.nl, subject: LoLaCo report.
  4. ILLC P(h)D day [January]: (Poster) presentations given by new and senior ILLC PhD candidates and PostDocs. Researchers who want to present their work should submit their abstract via email to phd-illc@uva.nl by 15 December. Abstracts should be max one page long and clearly indicate whether the submission is for a talk or a poster presentation. First-year PhD candidates are further expected to give a short (max 3 minute) one single static slide presentation to introduce themselves to the ILLC community.
  5. Presentation skills [February-March]: you’ll learn to use voice and gesture, how to structure a story, and how to present with clarity and confidence.
    • The first class is a 2,5 plenary session. It will cover essential presentation skills, like vocal clarity and articulation, body language, use of gesture and storyline.
    • The next two 1-hour sessions are individual, where you will be working towards developing two very different kinds of presentations; a 5- minute pitch for a general public and a 10-minute scientific talk.
    • During the final 1-hour session you will be working in pairs on either the pitch or the scientific talk.
  6. AI literacy training [April]
  7. Academic writing [May-June]: offered by senior ILLC researchers representative of different research areas (in 2026, Krzysztof R. Apt, Martin Stokhof and Khalil Sima’an) and includes plenary presentations by the instructors and individual feedback on writing samples submitted in advance by the participants.

Schedule 2026/27 (subject to change)

The lectures are normally scheduled on Monday afternoon.

1st Semester

2nd Semester (under construction)

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Schedule 2025/26

1st Semester

2nd Semester