What is an ISP and why should I care?

Last changed: 13 June 2024

The most important document of the doctoral education is the individual study plan (ISP). Here we explain what it is and show you tips on how you as a doctoral student can use it.

Doctoral education is an individual education.

The fact that the doctoral education is individual means that the content of the education is adapted to each doctoral student, even for the doctoral students who are admitted to the same doctoral education subject. In order for you as a doctoral student, your supervisors and the university to know what your education should contain and how it should be carried out, it is important to have an individual study plan (ISP).

SLU is obliged by law to ensure that each doctoral student has an ISP that contains a timetable and the doctoral student's and the university's commitments. This means that SLU must ensure that even doctoral students who does not participate in the work with the ISP (for example in the event of illness or in the event of a conflict) will still receive an ISP.

 

Your individual study plan is a legal document

It is important to know that your ISP is a legal document – ​​a kind of contract between you as a doctoral student and SLU that regulates what your education should contain and how it should be carried out. If the education does not work as intended, it is the ISP that should form the basis for any measures (for example, in the event of a change of supervisor or if the university starts an investigation into the withdrawal of supervision and other resources).

A well thought-out ISP means that expectations become clear and thus that there are good conditions for good supervision. It also means that there are good conditions for keeping to the schedule and that any problems are noticed early.


A planning tool to be changed as needed

By law, the ISP must be updated regularly, and at SLU this must happen at least once a year. It is important to note in the ISP if, for example, there are delays or if a planned course is not carried out and why you have to leave the plan. However, keep in mind that the ISP is an official document and therefore you should not write anything too personal in it.

The plan must be so concrete that it constitutes real support and a basis for discussion for the student and the supervisors and be designed so that it facilitates the annual follow-up of the studies. The ISP must be detailed for the next year and can be less concrete regarding the later part of the education.

 

Advice for writing your first ISP

The advice below comes from the report "The Individual Study Plan" written by Mathilda Fredriksson and presented by SFS (The Swedish National Union of Students). You will find a link below to the report if you would like to read the full report. 

  • Start early and allow your ISP work to take some time. Sometimes this can be easier said than done. But the sooner you begin seeking information and planning your ISP work, the easier the process becomes.
  • Familiarise yourself with the form, purpose, and concept of ISP in your
    studies so you gain an understanding of what it is, how it is used, and what is expected of you.
  • Be aware that ISP is a legal document regulated in the Higher Education
    Ordinance. 
  • The ISP can be used as a planning tool.
  • Talk to your supervisor. Your supervisor, and co-supervisor, should be
    available to support you in your doctoral studies and is responsible, together with you, for the establishment of the ISP.
  • Talk to other doctoral students who have progressed further in their doctoral studies. They have their own experience of recently writing and perhaps updating their ISP, and can hopefully give you advice.
  • Ask to review other doctoral students' ISPs. 
  • Make it manageable for yourself. The ISP is an important document, but it is not meant for you to spend so much time, energy, and worry on it that you feel unwell.
  • Some doctoral students are worried about or intimidated by potential legal consequences. Despite the ISP being a legal document, most of the time, for most of the doctoral students, there are no legal actions taken based on the ISP and in practice it is mostly used as a project management tool, and to measure the progress in your doctoral studies. 
  • Is anything unclear? Do not hesitate to ask!

Advice for updating your ISP

The advice below comes from the report "The Individual Study Plan" written by Mathilda Fredriksson and presented by SFS (The Swedish National Union of Students). You will find a link below to the report if you would like to read the full report. 

  • Maintain a log of your activities during the year (e.g. completed courses, conference participation, teaching hours, doctoral representation in boards, field work). This will help you remember, and make the process of following up and updating your ISP easier.
  • You can change and update your planning. Things do not always go as
    planned, and new things may arise. 
  • It gets easier – but can still feel difficult. Many doctoral students find it
    easier to update their ISP compared to filling it out for the first time, but it is still not unusual to feel uncertain or to not know everything in detail. 
  • Check your progression against the ISP regularly. The ISP documents the plan for your doctoral education that you and your supervisor have developed together. Therefore, it is good to regularly follow up the planning and progression in relation to the ISP, and not set it aside until the annual follow-up. This is not only useful for the ISP, but also to measure your progress towards attaining your PhD!