The training programme consists of at least 30 EC (840 hours) and prepares you for the rigorous research standards that apply to your doctoral research agenda and beyond. Its content is determined on an individual basis, depending on your previous education, academic competencies and area of specialization. Topics must pertain to general research skills and in field-specific research skills and subject areas. The programme consists of both mandatory courses and electives. All course work needs to comply with the so-called Dublin descriptors (third cycle).
Substitution or exemption
If you have a Research Master's degree, you are exempted from the 30 EC requirements. However, you are encouraged to follow parts of the programme.
Requests for substitution or exemption need to be substantiated by you and your supervisor. Substitutions and exemptions are taken up in your Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) and are to be approved by the Director of the Graduate School, if necessary in consultation with the Dean of Research.
MANDATORY COURSES (11-12 EC)
1. PhD Research Design (6 EC, online)
Next registration deadline: 1 January 2021
This course is available as an online course and includes the modules on Academic Integrity (2 EC), Methodology (2 EC) and Proposal Writing (2 EC). It lets you reflect on how to conduct research on PhD level and what is necessary to make your particular research project a success. In order to reach this greater goal, by the end of the term, you will be able to:
- find adequate literature for your own research project;
- recognize the difference between rhetorical and scientific argumentation;
- evaluate and write at different levels;
- evaluate literature that discusses your research topic;
- apply methodological literature;
- write a coherent, well-defined and methodologically correct research proposal;
- integrate feedback from peers, supervisors, and tutors.
Normally, this course is taken as a whole, but it will be possible to receive an exemption for part of the course. This all depents on the arrangements made in your Training and Supervision Plan, and the requirements for your particular project. Please note, that in all cases you will have to produce a research proposal for approval by the Doctorate Board (which this course leads you up to).
The course is offered twice a year; registration deadlines are 1 August and 1 February.
If you want to follow this module (or part of it) or have any further queries about this course, please send an email to Dr E.V. (Katya) Tolstaya (coordinator). Before starting the course, please read the Syllabus carefully.
To register, please fill in this application form.
2. Two visits to academic conferences (3-4 EC)
The conferences must stretch over several days. One conference visit must include a presentation of your research (2 EC), the other can include a presentation (without presentation: 1 EC, including presentation 2 EC). (Thus, in total, 3 or 4 EC).
Please use the Record of Attendance Form.
3. Transferable skills (2 EC)
Transferable skills are the personal skills you have acquired during your education and professional life, such as leadership skills, teaching, project management and organization, research and information management, written and oral communication skills, and so on, with an emphasis on career development and professional development (see some of the courses instanced below). Please note that requests for exemption need to be substantiated from your CV and/or relevant certificates.
A special opportunity to earn credits for transferrable skills is to follow a valorisation training (2 EC). Valorisation entails the creation of social and/or economic value from scientific knowledge for domains outside the scholarly community (societal relevance) and is an important way to make your research profitable for a wider non-specialist audience. More information on our valorisation policy, including best practices, can be found in the VU Valorisation Guide / VU Valorisatiegids. As a follow-up to this training, extra credits can be earned by a valorisation project linked to your PhD project (6 EC).
For terms and conditions, please contact our faculty's valorisation officer, C.R. (Miranda) van Holland (c.r.van.holland@vu.nl).
For Dutch-speaking candidates living in the Netherlands, it is also possible to be involved in the Emoena project (on leadership in a multireligious context, coordinated by prof. Marianne Moyaert). For more information, go to www.emoena.nl.