Appointment/duration.
PhD programmes at VU Amsterdam generally last three to four years, depending on the scientific discipline, type of appointment and funding. The VU Doctorate Regulations and the admission procedure apply to all PhD candidates, regardless of their type of appointment. The Doctorate Regulations cover matters as admission to the PhD programme and the responsibilities and authority of those involved in the programme.
The admission process begins when an employee is hired as an internal PhD candidate, or, in the case of researchers with a scholarship, externally financed PhD candidates, or external PhD candidates, when the supervisor agrees to supervise the PhD candidate. Generally, graduate schools/departments are responsible for the admission process. The admission process starts after the application for the doctorate is successful.
Registration
The PhD candidate and the supervision team are registered in the registration and tracking system Hora Finita. Follow-up steps in the PhD programme are also registered in this.
Training and supervision plan (TSP)
As soon as possible after registration, the agreements about supervision, research and education are registered in the training and supervision plan (TSP).
Education
The educational programme for PhD candidates provides for a variety of activities that strengthen the academic, professional, and general skills of PhD candidates. During the doctoral period, each PhD candidate must obtain 30 EC. Guidelines for following PhD candidate education can be found here.
Supervision
Good supervision of PhD candidates is crucial; it contributes to the well-being of PhD candidates and an open, safe and inclusive research culture, high research quality, and it prevents delays and dropout of PhD programmes. To facilitate adequate supervision for PhD candidates and supervisors, Golden rules for supervision have been established. There are also suggestions for a go/no go procedure at the end of the first year.
For supervisors of PhD candidates, a PhD supervisors starting page has been prepared with eight relevant links. A training course on supervising PhD candidates is available for supervisors. Junior supervisors with less than five years of supervisory experience are required to take the training. For supervisors with minimally five years of supervisory experience there is a course Inspired Supervision.
Thesis and Plagiarism Scan
Guidelines and suggestions for dissertation composition and scope can be found here. Authorship of scientific articles should be well agreed upon between PhD candidate and supervisors. A presentation on authorship can be found here.
All PhD candidates starting from 1 September 2022 are required to submit one written product in the first phase of the PhD programme to a plagiarism check. In addition, all PhD candidates, who started before September 2022 can voluntarily use the tool up to once a year.
