Doing your PhD in Holland
Mar 30, 2011
Why do your PhD in Holland?
- Holland ranks 2nd worldwide in number of publications per researcher
- Holland ranks 3rd worldwide in impact of research publications
- Holland has excellent graduate schools
- There is a large variety of research fields
- There are 14 research universities
- A PhD is not regarded as a study but as serious research
- PhD candidates and their supervisor work in close collaboration
- There is a great amount of interdisciplinary collaboration
- PhD researchers are often paid employees
In Holland, research is carried out by research universities, research institutes and by companies. Only the research universities can award PhD-degrees. However, since other research institutes generally work in close collaboration with these universities, they can also provide positions to PhD candidates.
In addition to the standard PhD-degree, the three universities of technology also offer design and technological design programmes in a number of engineering fields. These consist of advanced study and a personal design assignment. Technological design programmes require two years of study to complete and graduates obtain the degree of ‘Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng)’.
What is doing a PhD in Holland like?
The aim of doing a PhD is to complete a dissertation based on original research. In Holland this requires a minimum of four years of doing research and writing. PhD research projects and dissertations must of course always be original work, as candidates are required to make an original contribution to the body of knowledge in their field. The dissertation is made public and parts of it are often used as articles in international journals. In general Dutch dissertations are held in high esteem since they live up to the highest academic standards.
Once the research is complete the supervisor judges whether the dissertation is ready for publication and oral defence. Then a committee of professors is appointed to read and approve the dissertation and to question the candidate during the traditional, centuries old oral defence ceremony.
Research schools and graduate schools
Doing a PhD in Holland is a hands-on activity and involves little course work. PhD students start doing research from day one. This allows them to develop their own ideas and priorities in their research while having close contact with their supervisor. All PhD students are part of a graduate school or research school. These schools provide them with an inspiring research environment. They offer tailor-made study programmes, master classes, seminars and conferences.
In research schools, multiple research universities and research institutes join their forces and knowledge. At the level of a subject area universities and institutions work closely together in offering in-depth knowledge. Within a research school, you will meet PhD candidates and advanced researchers in your field from your own and other Dutch universities.
Graduate schools, by contrast, are organizations within universities. Like research schools, they provide challenging study and network environments. They can take different shapes. Some graduate schools are interdisciplinary, other graduate schools focus on a few or one discipline.
Each PhD student is assigned a supervisor who will provide daily guidance through the entire research period. Most often this supervisor will be an associate professor or a full professor.
For more information, please download the Study in Holand - PhD leaflet.