The duration of doctoral studies has increased in Europe. Personal study planning has been considered as one possible solution to help students in achieving shorter study times. This study investigates how doctoral students experience and use personal study plans in one university department of industrial engineering. The research material consists of a questionnaire study and personal study plan forms submitted by doctoral students. The results show evidence concerning the usefulness of personal study planning in doctoral education in industrial engineering and reveal differences across student groups. This study highlights the situation-dependent character of personal study planning and confirms that the implementation of personal study planning requires time and effort in order to change the culture of individualised studies. (Contains 3 figures.)