4TU.Ethics Graduate School Policy on Award of Credit for Outward-Facing Activities
Updated in March 2026Ā
The 4TU.Ethics Centre recognizes the importance of PhD candidates developing a wide range of skills and engaging in outward-facing activities particularly those related to the Centre. Hence this policy outlines the process for receiving credit for participation in such activities.
The 4TU Graduate School offers up to 5 ECTS for work related to activities that are outward facing, bring value to the 4TU.Ethics Centre, and represent a significant amount of voluntary labor. In accordance with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS),Ā 1 credit (EC) equals 28 hours of study and/or activity. ECTS can be requested toward the 4TU.Ethics certificate by documenting the number of hours (to a maximum of 140 or 5 ECTS) worked over the course of PhD trajectory for a specific range of activities. A letter/email should be written to the 4TU Graduate School Director explaining the request for credit and including approval from the PhD promoter/supervisor. This request may be followed by a brief discussion including review of the candidateās overall TSP together with the candidateās PhD supervisor. Credit cannot be given twice for the same work: if the work is credited to the candidateās institutional TSP, it cannot be requested as credit toward the 4TU.Ethics certificate, and vice versa.
The 4TU.Ethics Blog is a specific activity for which PhD candidates are eligible to be recognized for such credit. It is recognized that the 4TU.Ethics Blog offers considerable visibility to the work of 4TU and permits development of a range of editorial and networking skills. By effectively working as a volunteer editorial team, PhD candidates involved in the Blog Team gain significant experience in service to the community by performing editorial work particularly in translating material between specialists and broader audiences. These are transferable skills that could be credited to PhD candidatesā TSPs at their local university but alternatively are eligible to be credited to the 4TU.Ethics certificate using the process above.
In the future, we can imagine that members of our community will set up additional outward-facing initiatives associated with the 4TU.Ethics Centre and requests for credit will be considered using the same process and principles as above.