Graduate School

Graduate School

• REGULATIONS

  The Doctorate Regulations of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam officially establish the rules to which the PhD trajectory is bound. These regulations are applicable to all individuals conducting PhD-research under the supervision of a VU-based promotor and who intend to defend their thesis at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
  

  On behalf of the Faculty of Behavior and Movement Sciences, the PhD Education Committee (PEC) is the decisive authority about Training and Supervision Plans.
  
  All PhD candidates must be registered in Hora Finita. The initial registration of a PhD candidate in HF will be done by the secretariat of the faculty board (Bestuurssecretariaat), upon the request by the supervisor or department manager. All planned training activities must be registered in the TSP and must include the # of ECTS per activity. Under the HF heading ‘Training plan’, in the field ‘plan first year’ and ‘plan subsequent years’ one may add additional text, but the activities registered in the TSP are leading. Information about Hora Finita can be found in the user manuals.
  
  Additionally, see the FGB specific guidelines for the dissertation (conform article 17 of the doctorate regulations).

• TRAINING AND SUPERVISION PLAN

  PhD candidates at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam not only do research, but also follow training courses for professional and personal development. PhD candidates are recommended to make use of the training possibilities to prepare themselves for a career after their PhD. Detailed information about the faculty’s requirements can be found in section 8 of the TSP ‘Training and Supervision plan’, that can be downloaded below. 

  All PhD candidates within the faculty, both internal and external, must complete the training amounting to 30 ECTS (1 ECTS = 28 hours). Courses offered by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam can be found in the university’s study guide , including their number of credits. PhD candidates are also free to incorporate courses from other universities in their TSP. All academic courses attended should at least be MA-level to be approved. The PhD candidate should contact the corresponding course coordinator to clarify if there are any doubts on the level and number of credits for the course. Examples of courses that will be approved can be found in the list of sample courses. Please note that this list contains a suggestion for courses; updated information can be found on the course organizer’s website or in the study guide.

  It is the responsibility of the PhD candidate to keep track of the courses s/he has completed during the trajectory, and to build a portfolio in Hora Finita with certificates and confirmations of completed activities. Deviations from the original training plan are welcome, provided these have been discussed in advance with the supervisor, and as long as the candidate ultimately completes at least the required 30 ECTS. Major alterations to the training plan should also be approved by the PEC. The supervisor initially approves the training the PhD candidate has registered in Hora Finita, and towards the end of the trajectory the PEC confirms that the candidate fulfils the requirements stipulated by the faculty. 

  Link:

  • Training and Supervision Plan
  • Course information Research Ethics
  • Science communication for PhD students (only available in Dutch)
  • Exemption request
  • This course on the supervision of student projects is aimed at PhD candidates and is credited with 1 ects.
  • Course on Machine Learning for the Social Science

• PLAGIARISM CHECK (ARTICLE 14.5 DOCTORAL REGULATIONS)

  All VU PhD candidates who started their PhD track on or after 1/9/’22, have to do a plagiarism scan of their first paper. The aim of the plagiarism scan is educational; to get the discussion going on the topic. After approximately 2 years of you starting your PhD track, you will receive an account to access Ithenticate, the scanning system to be used. If you need the account earlier, please contact one of the Hora Finita key users on bestuurssecretariaat.fgb@vu.nl or pec.fgb@vu.nl.

  Once your first paper is ready for publication, scan it using your Ithenticate account and discuss the outcome with your supervisor. Make a short summary of the discussion (using one of the templates below), signed by your supervisor and yourself, and send it to one of the HF key users (see above) who will upload it to HF. If you do NOT do the scan, you will not be able to upload your manuscript to HF when you reach the end of your PhD track.

  NOTE: Do you not have a VUnet id? Ask your supervisor (with a VUnet id) to apply for an Ithenticate account and do the scan for you.

  Questions?

  • Check out the https://libguides.vu.nl/ithenticate
  • See also: Plagiarism check for PhD candidates - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Template 1
  • Template 2 

• FINANCES

  Tuition fee
  As of January 1, 2026, the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences (FBMS) charges a tuition fee for external PhD candidates, i.e. for all PhD candidates without a formal employment (paid position) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).

  The PhD tuition fee is meant to cover the university’s indirect costs beyond direct research. This includes rent, utilities (e.g., library access and IT facilities), and administrative overhead as well as hospitality and training costs.

  FBMS charges €5,000 for the first year of the project and €4,000 for the consecutive years with a maximum total amount of €25,000 for the entire PhD project.

  The PhD candidate or any supporting organisation is responsible for paying the tuition fee.

  Waiving policy
  The tuition fee can be waived in parts or in full. The reasons for waiving the fee may vary per PhD candidate. Two example categories eligible for waiving the tuition fee are:

  1. Candidates from an affiliated institution
     The institution (or organisation or company) has a strategic alliance partnership with FBMS. This must be demonstrably manifested through, e.g., endowed professorships or formal partnerships (including cooperation agreement) with the respective institution.
  2. Candidates on a scholarship
     The funding agency has a formal agreement with the VU about waiving PhD tuition fees.

  Procedures
  Requesting a reduction or exemption from the tuition fee (waiver)

  • Motivated requests for waiving the fee must be submitted by the PhD candidate and the primary PhD supervisor (first promotor) to the management team of the department at which the project shall be hosted.
  • A request must include a detailed budget for all indirect costs (see above) and the hospitality and training costs.

  After approval of the department’s management team, the request for a waiver must be submitted to the Dean of FBMS, along with the approval of the department’s management team. Please send the request form to bestuurssecretariaat.fgb@vu.nl.

  After approval by the Dean, the tuition fee agreement will be registered in Hora Finita by the faculty secretariat.

  Formal requests for waiving the tuition fee must be submitted before the start of the PhD project. Note that a PhD project must not be started without approval.

  PhD Reimbursement
  As of 1 January 2017, the PhD defence reimbursement will be paid by the Faculty (i.e. FGB). All FGB PhD candidates that have provided the University Library with a licence for non-exclusive publication of the dissertation in electronic form, if necessary with a temporary publication embargo, are entitled to a PhD defence reimbursement of € 500,-. Read more on the application for the PhD Reimbursement. 

  If an (external) PhD candidate meets all of the following requirements, they may also qualify for an additional expense allowance of €300 in addition to the standard expense allowance of €500 (bringing the total expense allowance to €800): 

  • The PhD candidate is employed by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam or is an external PhD candidate with their own time-dependent scholarship or stipend;
  • The (external) PhD candidate meets the timeliness requirement of their contract (full time max 4 years, part time max 5 years at 0.8 fte). The date of admission to the dissertation defense, signed by the dean, must therefore be before the end date specified in the training and supervision plan at that time. 

• FUNDS

  Travel fund
  PhD-candidates who want to pursue part of their training/education abroad, can be partly funded by the faculty (c.q. graduate school), to compensate for extra expenses related to the period abroad. There are two submission rounds annually, May 1 and November 1, and applications are only considered when the application form is completely filled in. The PhD candidate may submit the application, ensuring that the department head is included in the CC. The PhD-Education Committee (PEC) has the final decision as to whether a request for funding will be endorsed. 

  FGB Junior Career Award
  The faculty (c.q. the PEC) annually awards the FGB Junior Career Award to a talented PhD student who have recently defended their thesis or are in their final stages of preparing their thesis. The award of €500 is granted to the candidate as an appreciation of his/her contribution to the scientific field of study and as encouragement in the early stage of an academic career. The nomination must be put forward by the head of the department, and every department may nominate one candidate per year by sending the application to the PEC. The PEC will evaluate the submitted applications and interview invited candidates. The department head and the PhD candidate will be informed of the outcome within 6 weeks of the deadline.

  The FGB Junior Career Award was first awarded in 2017. The names of the winners can be found below and will be updated annually.

  Year	Name Winner	Department
  2025	Anne-Marijn de Graaff	Clinical Neuro and Developmental Psychology
  2024	Jaël van Bentum, PhD	Clinical Neuro and Developmental Psychology
  2023	Lianne de Vries, PhD	Biological Psychology
  2022	Ruddy Faure, PhD	Experimental and Applied Psychology
  2021	Sanne Bruijniks, PhD	Clinical Neuro and Developmental Psychology
  2020	Yayouk Willems, PhD	Biological Psychology
  2019	Bastian Pietras, PhD	Human Movement Science
  2018	Angelo Romano, PhD	Experimental and Applied Psychology
  2017	Junhui Wu, PhD	Experimental and Applied Psychology

  Link:

  • Formal Requirements

• EXTRA INFORMATION AND CONTACT

  The PhD Education Committee (PEC) comprises members from the various department of the faculty, view the names of the committee members. 

  Please contact the Graduate School FGB, c.q. the PEC in case of further questions about the training plan. Other questions regarding Hora Finita can be addressed to the key user HF, c.q. the secretariat of the faculty board (mail).
  
  Information for PhD candidate
  If you have questions regarding your PhD traject, please first contact your supervisor. If you cannot discuss the issues with your supervisor, contact the PEC. 

  In case of more personal problems (with your supervisor), you can contact one of the confidential counsellors of the faculty or get in touch with a counsellor outside you own faculty at the VU. Please find an overview of confidential counsellors, scroll down to page end.

  If this help is not sufficient, you can also get in touch with the ombudsperson.

  Links:

  • Why it is not a ‘failure’ to leave academia
  • Teach undergraduates that doing a PhD will require them to embrace failure 
  • The PhD candidates Network of the Netherlands (PPN)
    

  Information for supervisor
  Ius promovendi
  On June 6, 2017 a new law was passed in the Netherlands enabling that the ius promovendi can be awarded to persons with a doctorate other than Full Professors. The law came into effect in September 2017, and required an amendment of the Doctorate Regulations of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
  
  Links:

  • Joint Doctorate Agreement Individual Convention

• PHD CANDIDATE ADVISORS

  Good supervision and mental well-being prevent PhD students from dropping out. Early detection is crucial to prevent (escalation of) problems. Therefore, the PhD candidate advisor acts as an accessible contact point for PhD candidates. They are available to PhD candidates to exchange ideas about the PhD track, discuss problems concerning scientific integrity, inappropriate behavior and general concerns, and to function as a sounding board. The PhD candidate advisor also pays attention to the mental well-being of PhD candidates and keeps track of the PhD research progress.

  Tasks
  The tasks of the PhD candidate advisors are:

  • Visible presence by 1) going to the departments, 2) participating in activities for PhD candidates, such as the introduction for PhD candidates and 3) organizing, together with the Confidential Advisor on Scientific Integrity, an annual informal session for PhD candidates in which dilemmas are openly discussed.
  • Conducting interviews with PhD students at the beginning, halfway and end of the PhD trajectory.
  • Referral to confidential counsellor or others, if necessary.
  • Signaling and, if deemed necessary, escalating issues within the Graduate School. This is done with the consent of the PhD candidate or in an anonymous manner that cannot be traced back to the PhD candidate. The task of the PhD candidate advisor is limited to identifying issues and not checking.
  • Coordinating with the confidential counsellors and PhD representatives about what is needed to increase the well-being and job satisfaction of PhD candidates.
  • Providing feedback to the Faculty Board, for example by means of annual, concise, and anonymous reports.
  • Participation in a central network with PhD candidate advisors to share findings for monitoring and developing the VU-wide policy. The network can then provide feedback (again anonymized) via the Network of Graduate Schools (NoGS) to advise the Board of Deans (CvD).

  Link:

  • PhD candidate advisors Graduate School of Behavioral and Movement Sciences

• EXPLORE THE GRADUATE SCHOOL FGB ON CANVAS

  Explore the Graduate School FGB on Canvas
  Tailored for PhD candidates, supervisors, and Candidate Advisors, this Canvas site is a collaborative effort with insights from the PhD council and PhD candidate advisors. Enrollment is open to everyone interested.

  What to Expect:
  The Canvas site is thoughtfully organized to offer a comprehensive collection of links, training materials, and resources crucial to your doctoral journey. Engage in discussions through the dedicated board for questions and feedback. You can also share events, courses, and proposals.

  Module Overview:

  1. Introduction: Get acquainted with Graduate School FGB.
  2. Start: Essential information for VU employees.
  3. Prepare: Insights into Hora Finita and your TSP.
  4. Plan: Guidance for initiating your research project.
  5. Sign Up: Discover available courses.
  6. Search: Explore the resources at the VU library.
  7. Explore: Learn about travel grants and additional perks.
  8. Reach Out: Access (mental) support and expand your network.
  9. FAQ: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

  Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any queries or require further clarification. Your engagement with these modules is highly encouraged.