Support for people with special needs

Educational advisor

The educational advisor works to ensure equal access to education and research for doctoral students, particularly those with special needs, including disabilities. The Advisor’s duties are set out in the respective regulation issued by the IB PAS director. These include, in particular:

identifying the individual needs of doctoral students and proposing appropriate forms of support,
providing doctoral students with special needs with advice and consultation on the adaptation of educational conditions,
acting as an intermediary between doctoral students and the Office for the Support of People with Disabilities with a view to removing barriers hindering the educational process,
collaborating with the teaching staff of the Doctoral School to adapt teaching materials and assessment methods to the individual needs of doctoral students,
acting as an intermediary between doctoral students and the administration of the Doctoral School with a view to removing barriers hindering the educational process,
analysing the infrastructure and technical conditions of education in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities,
proposing improvements to the digital accessibility of teaching resources,
organising training sessions and workshops for doctoral students and academic staff on accessibility and an inclusive approach to doctoral education,
promoting the principles of equality and preventing social exclusion of doctoral students with special needs,
developing initiatives that foster social integration within the academic community,
implementing best practices in the field of accessibility based on the experiences of other research units and institutions,
assessing the effectiveness of the measures implemented and recommending improvements,
analysing problems reported and proposing solutions.

The reporting of needs, the performance of the educational advisor’s duties and services supporting doctoral students with special needs are governed by the support regulations. Support for doctoral students concerns the educational process and the method of assessing learning outcomes.

Support in the education process includes:

changing the format of teaching sessions (a universal format or an adapted version), including practical classes (such as laboratory classes, student internships, etc.),
minimising factors that are harmful, noxious or hazardous to health,
adjusting the timetable for teaching activities,
enabling classes, except for practical classes, to be held in a hybrid or remote format,
the possibility of obtaining an individualised study programme, including one-to-one sessions,
ensuring the availability of teaching materials,
providing materials in electronic format, including alternative descriptions for non-text content,
enabling the recording of (teaching) sessions,
providing a workstation (equipped with a scanner, photocopier, etc.) for students to create accessible versions themselves,
enabling access to the resources of accessible materials as part of digital libraries.

Support in the process of assessing learning outcomes includes:

providing an accessible form of examination or assessment (oral, written, computer-based, etc.) in accordance with universal design principles or another form that is as close as possible to the original one,
ensuring objectivity when assessing the results of an examination or assessment conducted in an alternative format (maintaining anonymity as for the standard format, not increasing stress levels as compared with the standard format, etc.),
selecting a suitable venue for the examination or assessment,
providing the option to sit an examination or assessment remotely – with the exception of the assessment of practical skills,
providing the option to assess learning outcomes either jointly with others or individually, at the PwDSO office, etc.,
ensuring the availability of examination materials,
ensuring that adequate time is allowed for the examination or assessment (extending the time limit, dividing the examination into parts, introducing breaks during the examination, etc.),
for oral examinations or assessments: enabling candidates to receive questions in an accessible format (text form, large print, electronic form, etc.).

Support during the admissions process for the Doctoral School includes: