Training Programme (regulations, forms and courses)

For every PhD candidate it is important to deepen their knowledge and skills, enabling them to become fully qualified scientists.

Since January 2023 the PhD coordination and administration has moved away from AIMMS back to the departments – in accordance with VU policy.

For Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CPS), dr. Daan Geerke and Yvette Schipper will be the PhD coordinators. Yvette Schipper will be the point of contact for new (and current) PhD students for all questions. She will be your new contact person and you can reach her via: phdcoordination.sf@vu.nl

For the groups that will be part of A-LIFE, Jurgen Haanstra will remain the PhD coordinator. From January onwards you can reach him via: phdcoordinator.a-life@vu.nl

What does this mean for the AIMMS PhD students that started before January 2023?
Not much: your TSP and all the current regulations will remain valid for you. Jurgen will remain the PhD coordinator for all other PhD students. Yvette will be the new contact person for CPS PhD students. Jurgen and Yvette will be in close contact about the TSPs and portfolios of PhD students that started under AIMMS and they will also still be able to contact Jurgen for the remainder of their PhD program when they want to (via his new email address).

What does this mean for new PhD Students that start after January 2023?
Their PhD trajectories will be handled via the departments. In the beginning the old AIMMS regulation will apply, but they may be further adapted within the respective departments over time.

REGULATIONS AND FORMS

A 4-year PhD student should acquire 30 ECs. Within 3 months of the PhD start date, the AIMMS PhD Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) should be filled in according to the guidelines (see below).
In the PhD Actions and Timeline document you can find an overview of all (administrative) actions that need to be performed within the PhD programme. PhD students are advised to keep track of the timeline themselves.

- PhD Actions and Timeline Checklist

- Guidelines PhD Training and Supervision Plan (TSP)

- PhD Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) Table

All TSPs need to be approved by the PhD coordinator of the graduate school (i.e. the AIMMS scientific director) at the start and at the end of your PhD. Please sent TSPs to this address: mt@aimms.vu.nl. TSPs should first be sent to the AIMMS director before uploading it in Hora Finita, otherwise you risk that your registration will be rejected. Note that TSPs will be checked every two weeks.

SUPERVISION AND EXTERNAL ADVISOR

PhDs appointed within AIMMS are supervised by at least one supervisor, preferably two. The daily supervision will be the responsibility of the direct supervisor, who is one of the staff members of the AIMMS division. This can be the promotor or one of the associate/assistant professors. In addition, you will need an external advisor, who will meet with the candidate and his/her promotor at least once during the PhD trajectory. This advisor should be from outside the research section, but can be from within the department or other departments within AIMMS. This external advisor will help keep track of the progress and can ensure that the thesis is sufficient to comply with standards in the field. Details should be given in the TSP table.

COURSES

A 4-year PhD student should acquire 30 ECs. Points can be awarded by means of different activities. An overview of all activities can be found in the Guidelines PhD Training and Supervision plan.

Among these activities are courses. An overview of available courses can be found here.

- VU courses

- AIMMS courses

- External courses