Expected support by supervisors and the graduate school or the research institute

Supervisory team

A supervision team needs to consist of 2-3 (co-)supervisors, each of them having at least a doctoral degree. At least one person in the supervision team must be a professor or an associate professor at UM or another Dutch university and has ius promovendi (i.e., the right to supervise PhD candidates). At least one person of the supervisory team is appointed as your daily supervisor, which provides ongoing guidance and support to the researcher on a day-to-day basis. One person on your supervisory team will be your principal supervisor, which takes care of the administrative aspects of the PhD trajectory. Potential changes in your supervisory team should always follow the procedures according to the doctoral regulations.

If you are an external PhD candidate performing your research abroad, communication mainly takes place by long-distance means, and a local supervisor may also be part of the supervision team.

The supervisory team is responsible for the quality of the research, the quality of the doctoral thesis, the development of skills and competencies of the PhD candidate, and the availability of resources, including budget for the entire PhD trajectory.

The supervisors will assess the quality of your work and vice versa. The way in which these assessment meetings are organised differs depending on faculty. Please check with your faculty how this process is arranged.

Training and supervision plan

One of the aspects set down of the doctoral regulations is that you will develop a Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) at the start of your PhD trajectory. Such a TSP is a document outlining the agreements between you as a PhD candidate and your supervisory team regarding the research project, training, and supervision during the PhD trajectory. It's a dynamic, personalised plan, ideally regularly updated throughout the PhD trajectory to support your development into an independent researcher. You will develop this TSP in collaboration with the supervisors, which includes a timeframe and research goal(s).

For more information on specific requirements from your graduate school, research institute or the TSP, please visit the website of your graduate school or research institute.

Go or no-go meeting

Every PhD candidate has a "go or no-go meeting" at UM. This is a formal review process, typically occurring around one year after the start of a PhD project, where the candidate's progress is evaluated to determine if they can proceed with the research. It's a crucial checkpoint to ensure the research is on the right track and that the candidate is likely to successfully complete their PhD.

Budget

Within UM, there is no fixed (personal) travel budget or guaranteed amount available for PhD candidates to participate in international conferences. This may differ per faculty and per type of PhD candidate (check with your PhD coordinator at your graduate school or research institute). However, there are guidelines for reimbursing expenses incurred for business trips. These guidelines are largely summarised on the Business Trips theme page. There you will find information about: 

• How to book a business trip.
• Reserving hotels and taxis.
• How to claim travel expenses. 

Joint or double PhD degree

Joint doctorates mean that you are fully registered at two universities, having to comply with admission requirements and assessment regulations at both institutions and that it will result either in two PhD degrees (double PhD) or one jointly-awarded PhD (one diploma with the two university logos). If you are a PhD candidate who is conducting a joint doctorate, please ask your supervisors and/or the PhD coordinator of your graduate school what you need to consider, as this may differ per faculty.

Timeline

Formally, a PhD trajectory is meant to take four years. In practice, however, it is noticed that a PhD trajectory may take longer. 

It is the responsibility of both the supervisory team as well as you as a PhD candidate to ensure timely PhD completion. It is therefore important to disclose any potential delay that may occur. When a potential delay is noticed on time, actions can be taken to avoid it – i.e. short sick leave is not a reason for a contract extension, while pregnancy/partner/parental leave is. Please ask your PhD coordinator for the latest policy on potential delay.