IVM’s educational philosophy is to train students with excellent academic backgrounds to address real-life sustainability problems and to prepare them for successful careers in research or in the public, private and civil society sectors.

All PhD Candidates are supervised by at least one professor and one senior researcher. PhD research subjects are embedded in the projects and research lines of the four IVM departments. A PhD Candidate at IVM is embedded in an international atmosphere, as we host over 100 PhD Candidates and 200 MSc students from all over the world.

A substantial share of the PhD Candidates also bring their own funding, either scholarships from their own country or from international organisations such as NUFFIC and the EU (Marie Curie Program). There are also external PhD Candidates, carrying out their PhD part-time while working elsewhere. A prerequisite to be able to participate in the section’s PhD programme is the availability of funding. Once enrolled in the PhD programme, the Candidate will become a member of the SENSE Research School, and be able to follow the wide range of courses this research school offers.

The IVM PhD Programme offers excellent supervision by senior researchers, membership of IVM’s research community; a training programme, including courses at VU Amsterdam, as well as SENSE and other research schools, such as the Tinbergen Institute; a personal computer; access to facilities at VU Amsterdam such as libraries; sports facilities and cultural activities; and assistance in arranging accommodation and visas.

See also:

• PhD enrolment
• PhD programmes of the departments
• PhD researchers and theses