For all PhD candidates, a cycle of annual Progress & Development Meetings (Let’s Talk) is automatically generated in Hora Finita, based on the start date of the PhD programme. These meetings are to discuss with your supervisor the progress of your PhD project, vitality aspects (e.g., work-life balance, working environment), and your development, including future career perspectives.

• The Progress and Development meeting cycle is automatically scheduled by Hora Finita when a PhD project is created (after the registration has been approved).
• The meetings are called interviews in Hora Finita.
• The meeting cycle consists of four annual meetings. The provisional dates for these meetings are based on the start date of the PhD programme. The screenshot above shows the meeting cycle of a PhD programme with start date 01-10-2025.
• Reminder emails will be sent automatically by Hora Finita.

In addition to the cycle of annual progress and development meetings, the Go/NoGo evaluation meeting is created, with a provisional date of 15 months after the start of the PhD project.

Also, the PhD checklist in Hora Finita, visible for both the PhD candidates and their (co)promotors, shows the meetings (provisional dates as targets dates).

Reminder email prior to the meeting

Hora Finita sends a reminder email to the PhD candidate and promotor 28 days before the provisional date, with the request to schedule a final date. This reminder email serves multiple purposes:

• Scheduling a final date. This date needs to be agreed on outside Hora Finita;
• Once the PhD candidate and the promotor and/or daily supervisor have agreed upon a date, the provisional date can be adjusted and a time and location for the meeting can be added in Hora Finita. Both the PhD candidate and the promotor can adjust the meeting details.
• Two documents are attached to the email: the template form for the P&D meeting (Let’s Talk for PhDs) and a document listing suggestions to prepare for the meeting and to have a good discussion.

After the meeting

The starting point for initiating the administrative process in Hora Finita after the meeting, is the uploading of the Progress and Development meeting form (report) by the PhD candidate. Once the meeting (interview in Hora Finita) is submitted, an approval workflow is triggered. This workflow consists of two steps: first the PhD candidate receives an email with the request to review the report, followed by the supervisor.

Steps to complete the administrative recording in Hora Finita:

1. The PhD candidate:

• Uploads the Let’s talk | Progress & Development (P&D) form for PhD candidates (report);
• Sets the meeting status to 'Done';
• Submits the meeting.

2. Approval procedure:

• First review request: addressed to the PhD candidate;
• After approval by the PhD candidate, the promotor receives a review request as the second reviewer. This task cannot be delegated by the promotor;
• If no action is taken by the reviewer, one week after sending the initial request Hora Finita will send a reminder to the reviewer. When applicable, a second reminder is sent one week after the first reminder.

3. Recording positive outcome:

• The PhD candidate is automatically notified;
• A green check mark appears for this item on the PhD candidate’s checklist.

Manual for PhD candidates: What is a progress and development meeting?
Manual for Supervisors: What is a progress and development meeting?