Final phase of the PhD project

Step 1-6

1. Make sure your research data are stored in Dataverse

After you published a study, but in any case before you defend the PhD thesis, your anonymized data needs to be made available on the Dataverse platform (www.dataverse.nl). The SHE data manager can assist in this process. 

2. Discuss the members of the assessment committee 

Discuss with your team of supervisors which assessors could be involved in the assessment committee. When your team of supervisors perceive the PhD thesis to be of sufficient quality, it will be presented to the assessment committee. The committee consists of at least four and no more than five members: two or three from Maastricht University (internal reviewers; one of them is the chair of the committee), two external members, and the majority should be full professor. This is detailed in the Maastricht University doctoral regulations referred to above. The promotor (principal supervisor) approaches and invites the assessment committee members.

3. Write impact paragraph 

The impact paragraph is a reflection of 500 to 2000 words, in layman’s terms (for a wide target group), on the scientific impact of the results of the research described in the thesis, as well as, if applicable, the social impact anticipated or already achieved. More information about the impact paragraph can be found in the regulations. 

Four questions are provided that can serve as a guideline for drafting the impact paragraph: 

• (Research) What is the main objective of the research described in the thesis and what are the most important results and conclusions?
• (Relevance) What is the (potential) contribution of the results from this research to science, and, if applicable, to social sectors and social challenges?
• (Target group) To whom are the research results interesting and/or relevant? And why?
• (Activity) In what way can these target groups be involved in and informed about the research results, so that the knowledge gained can be used in the future?

4. Edit or layout your thesis 

Before the PhD thesis can be sent to the assessment committee, it should be edited. The layout of the document sent to the assessment committee preferably does not differ from the layout of the final thesis. Have a look at thesis examples and see the page “Guidelines for thesis layout” for further details. PhD candidates can layout the thesis themselves or they can ask an official publisher for help; such as Ipskamp Printing, Gildeprint or Proefschriftmaken.nl.

5. Send manuscript to the assessment committee 

The version for the assessment committee should contain at least: 

• title page;
• names and affiliations of supervisors and assessment committee members;
• table of contents;
• introductory chapter;
• chapters reporting the studies;
• discussion chapter;
• impact paragraph;
• English summary. 

Once the team of supervisors approves this version, the promotor will send the manuscript to the SHE PhD office and the chair of the assessment committee, who will share it with the assessment committee members. The assessment committee will assess the quality of the thesis and will decide whether the thesis is of sufficient quality to be defended at Maastricht University. The committee will need at least four weeks to give their judgment. The committee has the possibility to approve the thesis or to ask for minor revisions, which will be executed under supervision of the supervisor (i.e. the thesis will not be resubmitted to the committee). In very exceptional cases, the committee may reject a thesis, after which the candidate can resubmit a new version within six months.

6. Finalize your thesis 

Meanwhile, you can work on finalizing additional elements of the thesis. The final version should in addition contain: 

• Formal title page about the defense ceremony (this will be page 3 of the thesis). Before the thesis can be printed, this page must be officially approved by the UM PhD office. The same holds for page 4, the reverse title page, on which the names and affiliations of the team of promotors and the assessment committee members are included. See section “Guidelines for thesis layout” for further instructions. Send the formal title page and reverse title page to the SHE PhD office.
• Dutch summary. Non-Dutch-speaking candidates can contact the SHE language editor to translate their English summary into Dutch.
• Brief Curriculum Vitae of the author
• Acknowledgements
• SHE dissertation series. Contact the SHE PhD office for the most recent SHE dissertation series.
• (for ICO PhD candidates only) ICO dissertation series. These can be found on the ICO website.
• In addition, the thesis should contain a separate leaflet that includes 8-11 propositions (see Step 7 for proposition requirements).
• The thesis may contain a separate invitation to the public defense ceremony.

Step 7-12

7. Write propositions or statements 

A minimum of 8 and a maximum of 11 propositions or statements should be added to your thesis. Four propositions must be related to the subject of the dissertation. Three propositions must be related to the candidate’s discipline, with the exception of the subject of the thesis. One proposition must be related to the impact of the results of the research for science and/or society. Any other propositions do not have to be related to the subject or the discipline. Make a longer list, so your team of supervisors can indicate which propositions they prefer. Your team of supervisors must approve the final list of propositions. Start in time with thinking about your propositions; preferably collect them during the course of your project. During the defense, questions can be asked about your propositions. You should be able to defend them.

8. Prepare printing of PhD thesis after approval 

After the thesis has been approved by the assessment committee, and the formal title page and reverse title page have been approved by the UM PhD office, you can continue with further preparing the printing of the thesis. Check and re-check layout and tables etc. before you print the thesis. A printed version of the PhD thesis should be sent to the assessment committee members at least three weeks before the defense. The number of PhD theses to be sent to the SHE secretary is about 20, which includes 6 copies for the Deans’ office, 3 for your supervisory team, 5-7 for the assessment committee and 4-5 for SHE. It is up to you to order any amount of theses to be printed on top of these 20. Typically, your collaborators, close colleagues and family receive a copy. Nowadays it is common to send a digital version to other colleagues and researchers who request a copy. 

The costs for layout and printing the PhD thesis are to be advanced by the PhD candidate. However, these costs (up to EUR 2000 including the reception costs) can be claimed to Maastricht University. A claim form can be submitted. This information will also be shared with you by the UM PhD office.

9. Requests from University Library and UM press office 

You will be asked to send a digital version of your dissertation to the University Library before the PhD defense. You have to submit a Statement of Approval, signed by your promotor, in order for the thesis to be accessible worldwide. More information will be sent to you by the UM PhD office. Also, you will be asked to perform a voluntary plagiarism check for your thesis, and you will be able to request a ISBN and DOI from the library. Furthermore, you will be asked to provide your dissertation title and a short description of the dissertation to the UM press office.

10. Schedule the defense ceremony and reception 

As a final step, the thesis has to be presented and publicly defended in a one-hour session. This ceremony has to be scheduled in advance. It is only allowed to make a reservation for the day of the defense at Maastricht University after the assessment committee has approved the PhD thesis. Exceptions can be made considering special circumstances. The date reservation is made by the SHE PhD office after the PhD candidate has been consulted about a possible date and the SHE PhD office has checked which date is appropriate for the team of supervisors and the assessment committee members. The assessment committee members will not be paid any fees or travel costs to participate in the PhD ceremony by SHE. If travel of an external member needs to be covered, the PhD candidate must find financial resources themselves. If certain committee members cannot attend the defense ceremony, additional examiners have to be found. This has to be discussed with the team of supervisors at least one month prior to the defense. The promotor has to ask for approval of the composition of the defense committee at the UM PhD office, and has to invite the examiners. 

The thesis will be publicly defended in a one-hour session in which members of the assessment committee and possibly additional examiners question the candidate on various aspects of the research. The defense is an open ceremony and may be attended by relatives, friends and colleagues of the candidate. The PhD degree from Maastricht University is awarded after the ceremony. The defense will take place at Minderbroedersberg 4-6, Maastricht (in the city centre). A hybrid form, where some of the members of the assessment committee join online, is possible as well. 

After the (onsite) defense, the PhD candidate is required to organize a (small) reception to celebrate the achievement. You can choose to organize this onsite at Minderbroedersberg or at another location. The PhD candidate will receive an email with information about the possibilities to organize this onsite. There is a possibility to claim the costs of the reception to Maastricht University, using the PhD ceremony allowance.

11. Prepare a presentation and prepare for the defense 

Prepare a (PowerPoint) presentation to be presented during the defense for max. 15 minutes. This time limit is strict! The powerpoint should summarize your thesis and is meant to inform the (lay) audience. Ask your peers and team of promotors for feedback on the presentation. In order to prepare well for the defense, start thinking about possible questions that could be asked by the assessment committee members and think about your answers. You could also arrange a session with some colleagues in which you present your PowerPoint and defend the questions raised by your colleagues (i.e. mock defense). You could for example divide the chapters among your colleagues and ask each colleague to prepare one question, and ask them for feedback on your answers. 

A few days before the defense, the PhD candidate can check the powerpoint in the building where the defense will take place, Minderbroedersberg 4-6. An email will be sent to the PhD candidate to make an appointment. In case of an online defense, instructions about the ceremony will be shared with the candidate well in advance. 

12. Select “Paranimfs” 

During the defense two persons will support the candidate. They are called “paranimfs”. They will sit next to the PhD candidate during the defense and have no further role. They could be asked to read aloud one of the propositions during the defense. The PhD candidate can choose these persons; it could be relatives, friends or colleagues. In online defense ceremonies there are no paranimfs.

Guidelines for thesis layout

In order to promote the School of Health Professions Education (SHE) dissertations, PhD candidates within SHE are requested to use the following structure for first and last pages of their thesis. 

Page 1: Title thesis 

Page 2: The research reported here was carried out at Maastricht University / MUMC+ (use logo), in the School of Health Professions Education (use SHE logo), and, if applicable, in the context of ICO (use ICO logo), and if applicable, supported by funder (use funder logo) (download example here)

ISBN, DOI, copyright and credits to cover design, layout and printing can be mentioned on this page.

The Maastricht University logo and the SHE logo can be found in the 'SHE Group' in UMployee.

Page 3: Formal title page: Information about the public defense ceremony, see example thesis (this can be in Dutch or English) 

Page 4: 
Name(s) and affiliations of the promotor(s) 
Name(s) and affiliations of the co-promotor(s) 
Names and affiliations of the assessment committee members, starting with the chair and then in alphabetical order. For internal supervisors and members “Maastricht University” is mentioned as affiliation. For external supervisor and members the institution and country are mentioned.  

Second-to-last page: SHE dissertation series, check the most recent version with the SHE PhD office. 

Last page (only for ICO PhD candidates): ICO dissertation series (available from ICO)

Jeroen van Merrienboer PhD Thesis Award

About 15 PhD candidates defend their thesis at SHE each year. Many of the theses are of very high scientific quality. To honor our PhD candidates and to celebrate scientific progress in health professions education, SHE offers the annual Jeroen van Merrienboer PhD Thesis Award for the best PhD thesis defended in a particular year. The winner is announced at the SHE social gathering at the annual AMEE conference.

SHE Alumni Community

When you’ve successfully defended your thesis you will become part of the SHE alumni community. The SHE alumni community facilitates activities for and by SHE alumni. This community provides a sounding board for professionals who share the same interests. It aims to contribute to a continuation of the collaborative learning that took place during the SHE education programmes. 

SHE alumni members all have either a Master in Health Professions Education (MHPE) degree or a PhD degree from the School of Health Professions Education and share the advantages of being part of the SHE Community network. SHE alumni constitute a worldwide bridge between the graduate school and society, making them our best ambassadors. They continue to be part of the academic community and provide a strong link to the health professions education community and societal institutes. 

As a SHE alumni you: 

• Continue to be part of the scholarly community—an important and useful network—and can rely on a bond of collegiality and friendship in which both SHE and alumni actively participate; 
• Have access to participation in alumni activities; 
• Exchange knowledge in health professions education and collaborate in projects; 
• Receive regular updates on educational and research developments within SHE; 
• Above all: enjoy staying in touch with former classmates, returning to Maastricht once in a while, reminiscing together and forging new friendships.