Admission requirements
Bachelor's degree in science
Description
This course teaches master's and PhD students how to successfully manage the entire life cycle of scientific projects from the scientist’s perspective.
The course starts with the formulation of scientific visions and strategies and continues with competitive proposal writing skills and the establishment of scientific requirements. The central part of the course covers the classical project management approaches to organizing, planning, and executing a scientific project. The last part is focused on communication, personnel issues and time management. In practical classes, you will apply the approaches discussed in the lectures. Presentations and written assignments will improve your communication skills.
The lectures and exercises will cover the following topics:
Scientific projects
Scientific vision and strategy
Project definition
Science requirements
Proposal planning and organization
Work breakdown structure
Cost and schedule estimates
Team formation and hiring
Project organization and control
Schedule and time management
Risk management
Communication
Typical project problems
Course objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to organize scientific projects using modern project management approaches.
In particular, students will be able to:
Formulate visions and strategies for scientific projects
Organize a scientific project
Develop a work-breakdown structure and deduce time and budget estimates from it
Identify risks and develop a prioritized risk mitigation plan
Evaluate projects based on given schedule and budget information
Communicate effectively
Propose effective solutions to typical project problems
Soft skills
In this course, students will be trained in the following behaviour-oriented skills:
Structured and result-oriented thinking (structure, modulated thinking, computational thinking, programming)
Project management (planning, scope, boundaries, result-orientation)
Self-regulation (independence, self-esteem, aware of own goals, motives and capacities)
Verbal communication (presenting, speaking, listening)
Written communication (writing skills, reporting, summarizing)
Creative thinking (resourcefulness, curiosity, thinking out of the box)
Timetable
See Astronomy master schedules
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Practical classes
Exercises
Assessment method
Oral exam: 60%
Practical classes participation: 20%
Homework assignments: 20%
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used to communicate with students and to share lecture slides, homework assignments, and any extra materials. You must enroll on Blackboard before the first lecture. To have access, you need a student ULCN account.
Reading list
Course material will be provided at the start of the course.
Registration
Via uSis. More information about signing up for your classes can be found here. Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Prospective students website for information on how to apply.
Contact information
Lecturer: Prof.dr. C.U. (Christoph) Keller
Remarks
PhD students, postdocs and faculty of Leiden University are welcome to attend.