A month after the expansion of the ius promovendi at the UG, applications have already come in from several faculties.
Dean Kees Aarts of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences (BSS) received three applications. ‘All three are still being processed’, he says.
The law faculty received one or two. ‘There hasn’t been a rush of applications, as there aren’t that many assistant professors and associate professors that have already helped two or more PhD students graduate’, says dean Wilbert Kolkman.
Track record
On February 29, assistant professors, like associate professors, were granted the right of promotion – or ius promovendi. The same rules that have long applied to associate professors apply to them. For instance, the candidate must have a proven track record in research. They must also be good supervisors.
This means that the candidate must have supervised at least two PhD students as co-supervisor or in a similar role. They must have completed at least one track in the past five years. The candidate must also regularly supervise PhD students and have completed supervisor training.
Finally, the dean will have a number of people in the faculty test whether the candidate meets the criteria before having the application finally assessed by the College of Deans.
Medical sciences has received ‘a few’ applications, says spokesperson Lex Kloosterman. ‘However, we’ve had to put that on hold for now because we still need to fine-tune the procedure.’ He anticipates that ultimately around ninety people will qualify.
Still silent
At other faculties, things are quiet for now. At the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) and Arts, no one has yet applied. The same goes for the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB).
That’s not that strange, says FEB dean Peter Verhoef. ‘We strongly promoted PhD rights for associate professors in the last four or five years’, he says. ‘I do see that very much reflected. Last month there were four or five applications.’
But you still have to have supervised two PhD candidates, says Verhoef. ‘Most people who start with us as assistant professor have just been promoted themselves. They first focus on publications and only start supervising PhDs at a later stage in their career. So effectively, not much changes with us.’