PhD Office
Whether you are commencing your PhD journey or reaching its culmination, the PhD Office, a division of Academic Affairs, serves as your primary point of contact. We maintain a comprehensive record of all your documentation and stand ready to assist with any organisational inquiries throughout your academic pursuit. When you are preparing for your public defence we are your initial point of contact. We offer guidance on all essential paperwork, facilitate communication with your supervisors and promoter, coordinate the logistics of the event (whether online or in-person), and provide dedicated support, allowing you to concentrate on your defence.
We are a small team of six people located at the Minderbroedersberg. You are always welcome to visit us or contact us via e-mail. Within these pages, you will find comprehensive guidance on the practical matters that need attention both before and during your doctoral research. We also provide detailed instructions on the process of preparing for your PhD defence.
More information on PhD defence ceremonies
Overview of upcoming PhD defences
FAQ and Support for PhD Candidates
Contact
Address
Minderbroedersberg 4-6
6211 LK Maastricht
043-3883096 | 043-3882551
phd-office@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Working days
Monday - Friday | 09.00 -17.30 hrs.
The PhD defence
The PhD defence is a formal occasion characterised by strict protocols dictating the roles, responsibilities, and language used by each participant. It bears a resemblance to a trial, hence the term 'PhD defence'. The ceremony begins with the gathering of the degree committee members presided over by the pro-rector. The pro-rector chairs the ceremony and ensures the protocol is followed.
The defence team comprises the candidate's supervisor and co-supervisor, both of whom have guided the candidate through the project and granted approval for an official PhD defence. Opposite them sit experts in the candidate’s field of research who assume the role of critical examiners, posing questions to assess the candidate's preparedness for a PhD.
The structure of the ceremony unfolds as follows: The candidate delivers a 15-minute presentation, followed by a 45-minute period during which the opposition questions the candidate. Subsequently, the degree committee members adjourn for a confidential evaluation of the defence.
Please consult the Model Letters on the Support for PhD Candidates page for more information on how to apply for you defence.
Upcoming PhD defences
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25 Apr13:00
PhD Defence Antonio Criscuolo
"Ordo ab chaos: Timing cognition with Waves"
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25 Apr16:00
PhD Defence Kuni Vergauwen
"Physical activity, participation and health-related quality of life in chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple osteochondromas"
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26 Apr10:00
PhD Defence Nicky Adinda Beelen
"Natural killer cells in the tumour microenvironment: Enhancing immunotherapy by exploring the communication between NK cells and tumour cells"
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26 Apr13:00
PhD Defence Doris Lijsbeth van Abbema
"Bridging the age gap Impact of age on treatment, survival and patient outcomes in older patients with cancer"
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02 May16:00
PhD Defence Jennifer Margaretha Klasen
"Allowing Failure as an Unspoken Pedagogy in Residency Training"
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06 May10:00
PhD Defence Jorg Tanis
"Effects of Implementation Intentions on Binge Eating"
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08 May10:00
PhD Defence Valerio Stallone
"Blockchain Reactions: The Marketing Trek from Knowledge to Decision"
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08 May13:00
PhD Defence Matthias Heinrich Busch
"Inflammation and Hypercoagulability in Anti-neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody associated Vasculitis: Lessons learned from COVID-19"
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13 May13:00
Online PhD Defence Poornima Gopal
"The AGE-RAGE axis and accelerated ageing in COPD"
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13 May16:00
PhD Defence Guleid Jama
"Do Our Children Have Rights? Children’s Rights in the Unrecognised State of Somaliland"
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14 May10:00
PhD Defence Evangelia Beslika
"Cardiac Hypertrophy: A translational journey from large animal models to the human disease"
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14 May16:00
PhD conferral Alessandro Cianfoni
"Stent-screw-Assisted Internal Fixation (SAIF): Minimally-Invasive Vertebral Body Reconstruction in Extensive Neoplastic and Osteoporotic Lesions"
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15 May10:00
PhD Defence Bartholomeus Godfried Helena Latten
"Autopsy …Lost in time? Have a look inside!"
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15 May16:00
PhD Defence Hoi Yau Chan
"Enhancing Efficiency in Epilepsy Care: A Health Technology Assessment Perspective"
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16 May10:00
PhD Defence Jordy Marinus Maria Kocken
"Molecular Directors: Non-Coding RNA and Extracellular Vesicles in Right Ventricle Remodeling"
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16 May13:00
PhD Defence Valeria Saar-Kovrov
"Tackling the Complexity of CKD-associated Cardiovascular Disease From Small Molecules to Proteins"
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16 May16:00
PhD Defence Jeroen Klaas Jacobus Bossen
"Shared decision making in orthopedic surgery: Implementation of tools and training in clinical practice"
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17 May10:00
PhD Defence Cornelis Maarten de Mooij
"Towards improved staging and axillary response prediction with hybrid imaging in breast cancer"
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17 May13:00
PhD Defence Daniël Janssen
"Surgical site infections of orthopaedic implants"
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21 May10:00
PhD Defence Oriol Gisbert Marti
"Essays on the Structure of Supply and Demand"
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21 May13:00
PhD Defence Anouk Anna Maria Antonia Lindelauf
"Non-invasive optical methods for perioperative flap monitoring in plastic and reconstructive surgery"
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21 May16:00
PhD Defence Michele Delera
"Essays on global value chains, technology diffusion, and the environment"
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23 May10:00
PhD Defence Philippos Koulousakis
"Hugging it out: Targeting Oxytocin in Alzheimer’s disease"
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23 May13:00
PhD Defence Vanessa Lea Freund
"Still waters run deep: Below narcissism’s surface"
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23 May16:00
PhD Defence Rémi Scoupe
"Conceptualising, measuring, and supporting students' employability competences in higher education: The potential of portfolio practices"
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24 May10:00
Promotie Rachel Maria Johanna van der Velden
"Integrating mobile health innovations into the care for patients with atrial fibrillation"
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24 May13:00
PhD Defence Lisa Susan Elisabeth Harms
"Involving parents in lifestyle interventions for children. Where is the fun in that?"
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27 May10:00
PhD Defence Sem Markus Maria Hermans
"Sacroiliac joint dysfunction: Is fusion the solution?"
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27 May13:00
PhD Defence Ruud Willem Hendrik Wetzels
"A New Point of (re)View: Broadening the Arsenal of Review Papers in Marketing"
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27 May16:00
PhD Defence Ruud Droeghaag
"Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in lumbar spine surgery"
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29 May10:00
PhD Defence Anita Josefina Wilhelmina Maria Brouns
"Understanding the impact of bone metastases in non-small cell lung cancer: implications for treatment optimization"
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29 May13:00
PhD Defence Idah Mokhele
"The Development of a Contextually Relevant Motivational Interviewing Counselling Training Program for Lay Counsellors in South Africa"
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29 May16:00
PhD Defence Paul Kornelis Bokern
"Measuring is Knowing? Eliciting Preferences in the General Population"
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30 May10:00
PhD Defence Angelina Pavlic
"Targeted treatment of vascular calcification"
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30 May13:00
PhD Defence Priscila Preciado Rojas
"Intradialytic monitoring of blood pressure, oxygen saturation and relative blood volume: relation with outcomes"
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31 May10:00
PhD Defence Elizaveta Lavrova
"Quantitative neuroimaging with handcrafted and deep radiomics in neurological diseases"
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31 May13:00
PhD Defence Gido Metz
"Cyclic evaluation of web-based public health interventions"
More information
Below you will find additional information such as frequently asked questions and practical information.