The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) aims to create more opportunities for a three-year PhD trajectory.
Candidates must demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the subject, mastery of necessary techniques, and familiarity with the research group they will join.
It is not the faculty’s intention to shift towards three-year programmes, dean Joost Frenken emphasised during the faculty council meeting on Wednesday. ‘We apply the same standards to all candidates in terms of quality and quantity’, he said.
He acknowledged that most PhD students take longer than four years to complete their research.
International context
However, three-year PhD programmes are often the norm abroad. European grants—such as the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions—typically do not cover the fourth year. As a result, Groningen often cannot accept candidates with such European grants. ‘This programme is intended to make these exceptions possible,’ Frenken explained.
Candidates will need to meet strict requirements. ‘Someone can only follow a three-year trajectory if they’ve already done the equivalent of the first year’, said the dean. This could mean that a PhD candidate has completed a master’s degree closely aligned with the research topic or has already contributed to the research in some other way.
Candidates must possess the required technical skills and have a thorough understanding of the research group they will join. Additionally, it must be ensured that the necessary datasets are available.
Challenges
The Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) must also clearly outline how the candidate will complete their research within three years and how potential setbacks will be managed.
This summer, the university’s executive board announced that it would fund 50 percent of the fourth year for PhD students with a three-year grant from the MSCA-Doctoral Networks.