WASP PhD Student Council Survey 2025

Each year, the WASP PhD Student Council conducts a survey to better understand the experiences, needs, and aspirations of PhD students across all WASP universities. The council is composed of elected student representatives and serves as the voice of the PhD community, raising important questions and providing input to WASP’s decision‑making bodies.

The 2025 survey was open for two months and received 82 responses. While the council hopes for a higher participation rate next year, the results offer valuable insights into what students appreciate and where improvements are needed.

Overall impressions of WASP courses

The WASP Graduate School courses continue to be well‑received: Nearly 50% of respondents rated the courses 4 out of 5, indicating strong overall satisfaction.

Students also highlighted several thematic areas where they would like to see more course offerings, including:

• Software engineering
• Robotics and control
• Cybersecurity
• Statistics and optimization
• Philosophy and ethics of AI
• State‑of‑the‑art machine learning, including LLMs

While most students prefer in‑person courses, a significant minority expressed interest in hybrid formats. Notably, 73.3% would like the WASP Ethics course to be offered in a hybrid version.

Summer schools

About 30.9% of respondents participated in a summer school this year. Students suggested a wide range of topics for future editions, reflecting the diversity of WASP research areas:

• Vision‑Language Models (VLMs) and Vision‑Language Agents (VLAs)
• Robotics
• Software engineering
• Mathematics and algorithms
• Statistics
• Neuro‑symbolic AI
• Ethics, philosophy, and societal aspects of technology

Clusters

Clusters received a more moderate evaluation, with 41% rating them 3 out of 5. A recurring theme was that many clusters are not sufficiently active, making them less relevant or engaging for students.

Study trips

Study trips remain one of the most appreciated components of the WASP program. 90.5% of participants rated their experience 4 or 5 out of 5, and self‑organized or cluster‑organized trips scored even higher at 92.3%.

Students highlighted several ways to further enhance the experience:

• Provide clearer and earlier information about trip content to support informed selection.
• Increase interaction with local PhD students, prioritizing discussions over lectures.
• Improve alignment between visits and students’ diverse research backgrounds.
• Consider eligibility exceptions for students on parental leave, who may otherwise miss opportunities.

Students also emphasized the importance of evaluating the outcomes of study trips—such as whether new collaborations or research links emerge—and how WASP can help students turn contacts into concrete partnerships.

Career aspiration after PhD

The survey reveals a broad range of career ambitions, with many students considering multiple paths. The top three choices were (multiple choice answer):

• Industry R&D (78.3%)
• Academia (57.8%)
• Industry engineering roles (42.2%)

Encouragingly, 96.2% of respondents said that WASP has had a positive impact on their career development.

Students also shared suggestions for strengthening career and alumni support:

• More guest talks from WASP alumni—and opportunities for alumni to serve as mentors
• Stronger connections with companies, including internships and mentorship programs
• Clearer information about postdoc funding and academic career support
• Better guidance on travel support for short‑term exchanges or internships
• A structured alumni platform for networking, job opportunities, and shared experiences
• Mentorship from alumni who are 3–5 years ahead in their careers

Looking forward

The WASP PhD Student Council takes student feedback seriously and adapts future surveys and initiatives based on the input received. The results have already been presented at the latest Graduate School Management (GSM) meeting, where it was noted that student satisfaction with the education has improved compared to previous years.

The council extends a warm thank‑you to everyone who participated and encourages even more students to share their perspectives next year. Your voice helps shape the future of the WASP PhD experience.