Dear all, 

We are very happy to see that so many of took the time to complete our survey. Two weeks ago, we received the final report with the analyses of the data.

Currently, we are:

1. Discussing the results per department with all PI's; we will make sure that these discussions result in concrete actions, we will report on the details in the coming two weeks,
2. Defining actions we, as PhD Platform and Casimir Research School support team, can take to improve your situation; so far, we have initiated a stress coping strategy workshop and we are offering a 'lunch walk buddy' program (see below), 
3. Working on presenting the data in such a way that you can easily discuss it with your fellow group members - we will send you insightful posters and a short summary of the results soon!

Stress coping workshop

One of the conclusion was that PhD students are experiencing stress, but that they are unaware of stress coping strategies they could use. Therefore, we've asked PhD coach Katja Lubina to give a dedicated workshop for us. Read more about and sign up for the workshop we are organizing on 8 December here: https://casimir.researchschool.nl/casimir-online-workshop-mental-health-during-your-phd-and-beyond-sign-up-now-and-acquire-stress-coping-strategies--4927.html

Lunch walk buddy

In our survey, most of our PhD students and postdocs mentioned that they miss the in-person meetings, especially when working from home. Therefore, we would like to offer you the possibility to meet fellow PhD students who live in your neighborhood, so for instance you can meet to walk during lunchtime. For more info and to sign up, click here. Of course, you can also contact our Casimir PhD Platform representatives! Read all about them here: https://casimir.researchschool.nl/two-new-phd-platform-members-don-t-be-afraid-to-contact-them--4979.html

General useful links 

If you are looking for more general information on how you can improve your situation and/or whom to contact, please have a look at the following websites:

• https://forum.kavli.tudelft.nl, mainly intended for Delft/Kavli groups, but with useful links for LION PhD students and postdocs, too!
• For Delft PhD students: https://intranet.tudelft.nl/en/group/guest/-/i-m-a-phd-student (useful links in times of Corona), with links to workshops and psychological support.
• For Leiden PhD students: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/science/graduate-school-of-science/current-phd-candidates, https://www.leoleiden.nl, https://www.facebook.com/PhDoc/, 
• A Corona guide offered by your peers (based on TU Delft links, but tips are useful for other PhD students and postdocs too): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uf6d4IdXcAxZ_WvXiKBdZtPDar7Y-F8HVktYYRMAsbU/edit#heading=h.p8ziqq6guzjd