Why doesn’t Hora Finita work for UT?
Need: ‘At other universities, Hora Finita is often used as a kind of checklist at the very end, to document that PhD candidates have met all the criteria to complete their trajectory. At UT, we want to keep track of the workflow throughout the process. As an overview of everything PhD candidates have done and still need to do, essentially a kind of route planner.’
Alberts: ‘On top of that, UT works slightly differently from what the off-the-shelf system could facilitate. That meant expensive customisations were constantly needed, which also cost a lot of time and energy. For people at UT, the system mainly generated complaints.’
Need: ‘Such an adjustment sometimes caused changes to the layout of the programme, making it hard to find back specific components.’
What makes Doctorate better?
Need: ‘First of all, it is much clearer and more user-friendly. It is presented as a dashboard with tiles, showing clear tasks and upcoming deadlines. As a PhD candidate, you can see at a glance where you stand and what still needs to be done. There is, for example, a kind of bead chain that shows a timeline with actions to complete and information to submit.
Another major advantage is the simple link with AFAS. Previously, new PhD candidates had to go through a whole verification procedure and, for instance, scan their passport again, even though they had just done so for UT. That information is now imported automatically. Those kinds of practical improvements make Doctorate much more user-friendly.’
Alberts: ‘From an IT perspective, the system is modular, which makes it relatively easy to make adjustments tailored to the specific PhD trajectory. It was developed in Mendix, a so-called low-code application development platform. That means we do not need to do a lot of coding and can still implement changes quickly. We can deliver more customisation ourselves, and much faster. That saves a lot of time.’
How will the transition take place?
Alberts: ‘We are taking a phased approach. From January onwards, new PhD candidates will start directly in the new system, so they will not encounter Hora Finita at all. The rest will be transferred gradually, with dossiers that are almost complete being prioritised. Supervisors will therefore still partly work in Hora Finita with more senior PhD candidates. We expect the transition to be completed around the summer holidays.’
Need: ‘With around 1,800 users, you can imagine there are people working in the system all the time. To ensure that no information is lost, we will temporarily lock the system during the Christmas recess.’
What have the reactions been like so far?
Alberts: ‘A test group of deans, supervisors, PhD candidates, and management assistants has been working with the system for some time now. They are very positive, calling it a breath of fresh air and much more intuitive. I especially like the fact that we now have a system that was genuinely developed in close consultation with the end users.’
Need: ‘People are creatures of habit or simply tired of change, so some prefer to stick with the old system. But I think that through good communication and really listening to everyone’s wishes, we have managed to create a system that works for everyone. Personally, I am very happy with how easy it is to find everything.’
