Course syllabus

Welcome to the course Introduction to doctoral studies and information retrieval!

Course content

The purpose of this course is to introduce doctoral students to the rules and regulations that apply to doctoral studies and where to find the information. Furthermore, the doctoral students will get familiarised with expectations and opportunities during their education as well as the university organization and administration.

The university's support functions of importance for doctoral students will be presented and the doctoral students will learn how to efficiently retrieve information and handling references.

The course is part of the faculty’s mandatory course package for doctoral students.

Course set up 

The course consists of two parts; the rules and regulations that apply to doctoral studies at GU and SA and information retrieval.  The teaching is campus-based on Monday-Tuesday and via Zoom on Wednesday and Friday. There is no teaching on Thursday, instead, you have time to work on your quizzes and assignments.

The course content is organized in Modules. Links and materials needed to participate in the teaching and to prepare for examination are found in the modules. 

The schedule is found in TimeEdit or as a Pdf. If we need to make changes, this will be posted under Announcements.

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Learning outcomes

After completing the course the doctoral student is expected to be able to:

Describe the rules for doctoral education at the Sahlgrenska Academy (SA) and the University of Gothenburg (GU). Describe how doctoral education is organized at SA/GU, and the university organisation and administration. Know where to obtain information on doctoral education at SA/GU.

Describe the sustainable development goals at SA/GU.

Identify what sevices are provided by support functions at GU and where to find information.

Apply search strategies in different types of scientific databases, compose search strategies, organize the result and critically assess the result. Evaluate the achieved information as well as the search process per se.

Examination and grade requirements

The examination is covered through individual assignments; quizzes (0.5 credits) and assignments A and B on information search (1 credit).

 The deadline for the quizzes is Sunday the 15th of September at 23:59 pm.

The deadline for the individual assignments A and B on information search is Sunday, the 15th of September at 23:59 pm. Attendance at the compulsory components is required to get the individual assignments A and B graded.

The course is graded Pass (G) or Fail (U).

Course leaders

Anna Benrick and Ingrid Wernstedt Asterholm.

E-mails regarding this course should be sent to introductionphd@neuro.gu.se 

AI policy

This course permits the use of generative AI tools (such as copilot, perplexity, and ChatGPT). However, special attention needs to be paid to the appropriate use of these tools due to various concerns. These concerns include, for example, the ability of GenAI tools to generate new content; their long-term implications for education; potential overuse, misuse or abuse; user privacy and data protection; and environmental impact.

It is important to note that GenAI tools are trained on data that can be outdated and biased. In addition, outputs generated by GenAI are based on probability and can be incomplete, incorrect, or biased. Therefore, it is imperative that you select and use the tools critically, ethically, and responsibly. For example, you must critically evaluate and fact-check AI-generated content when consulting or using it in connection to coursework.

The University’s position on generative AI; Guidance for students on the use of generative AI in their studies

Cheating and plagiarism

It is considered plagiarism when you copy other people's texts without stating the source, or reproduce texts verbatim or almost verbatim without using quotation marks. Examples of cheating are using unauthorized aids in an exam, such as unauthorized notes. Other examples of cheating are collaboration between students in individual compulsory assignments.

No collaboration is allowed during the examination individual assignment "quiz". It is not permitted to collaborate or work in groups for individual assignments. It is also not allowed to share your answers to exam questions with other students. All of these scenarios are considered cheating through prohibited collaboration.

As a student, it is your responsibility to take part in information about what is allowed and not allowed during, for example, exams and when you write a report.

When plagiarism is suspected the following will happen:

• The correction of the examination stops immediately and the head of the department will be contacted. If suspicions of plagiarism still remain the next step will be initiated.
• The student will be called to a meeting with the examiner and the head of the department to allow the student the opportunity to explain the situation.
• If suspicions of plagiarism still remain it will be reported to the vice-chancellor and handled as a disciplinary matter.

Substantiated suspicion of plagiarism will be reported to the vice-chancellor and handled as a disciplinary matter according to the University of Gothenburg’s guidelines for handling of suspected fraud and for handling of disciplinary matters.