Giovanni Huisken is the chairman of the 'Twente PhD-student Council' (In Dutch: 'Twents Aio Beraad' - TAB), an organisation that aims to look after the interests of Ph.D students but lately has decreased its participation in UT life.
'The people who used to be members of the TAB don't have time anymore, they are mostly in their fourth year and we cannot find new people who want to put some time in', said Giovanni looking really dejected. 'Maybe it is because most PhDs students in Twente already have what they want, so they see no point in participating in TAB. They have a good salary, and facilities like traveling, so they think there is no need for an organisation like TAB", he explains.
But the truth is that with the decline of TAB, how and when PhD students get information is also severely affected. TAB used to publish UThesis magazine, which was in English, and it also used to translate information to send to PhDs students via e-mail but now that is no longer possible. 'Sometimes we receive a lot of information that is in Dutch and there are no people to translate it, so we deliver it in Dutch. Only when the information comes directly from TAB, we try to do it in English', said Giovanni who is also in charge of this activity.
For the time being, the only thing that is left from TAB is the Faculty representatives, who protect the rights of students or attend to any problems they have. If you have a complaint or need some help dealing with your everyday life as a PhD student you can contact them. Please check out the website: www.utwente.nl/tab for their names and contact information.
