Doing a PhD with an occupational disability

Are you graduated or are you working on your master's degree, do you have a disability for which you are on the target group register and are you interested in working as a PhD student at VU Amsterdam? Then keep a close eye on the VU vacancies in your field of study. It is also a good idea to contact Evelien Wolf (e.t.wolf@vu.nl) to express your interest and discuss this with her. Individuals with a disability who are on the target group register and are doing or have done their master's at a university other than VU are also eligible. 

Are you studying with a disability and do you not yet have a target group registration? You may be eligible for this. Check the UWV website. If you have any questions about this, you can contact the Participation Service Point: participatie.hrm@vu.nl.

Are you thinking of opening the vacancy for your PhD project to a PhD student with an occupational disability and want to be eligible for the funding and extra guidance? 

Then these are the conditions:

The vacancy text and the application process should explicitly state that exceptions are made for PhD students with target group registration compared to regular PhD students on the following points:

• A PhD student with a target group registration may apply for min 0.7fte, because a full-time participation job is about 0.7 regular fte. There are people with a disability who can work more than a full-time participation job, therefore it is possible to work more than 0.7 regular fte.
• A PhD student with a target group registration may be given priority over a regular PhD student if suitable because of disadvantage.
• There is one year of additional funding for the PhD trajectory, this funding consists of the salary cost for the first year, a bench fee and the cost for an additional supervisor.
• An extra supervisor is available for PhD students with target group registration and their promoters.
• A maximum of 10 PhD projects (minimum 1 and maximum 2 projects per faculty) are eligible for this funding and extra guidance.

If you have any further questions, please contact Evelien Wolf (e.t.wolf@vu.nl). 

The extra support comes from the Participation Service Point and from the specially appointed supervisor of PhD candidates with an occupational disability: Evelien Wolf. Evelien herself has an occupational disability and is in the final phase of her PhD trajectory. She also has extensive experience as an internship tutor supervising students doing their clinical internship for the master's degree in Clinical Neuropsychology, which includes frequent discussion of personal pitfalls. From both her professional and personal experience, she shall support future PhD students with an occupational disability who are on the target group register in successfully completing the PhD track.