Training programme and courses

General information

Employed and scholarship PhD students are expected to follow an educational programme of 30-36 ECTS credits, consisting of a variety of training elements and networking activities. At least 6 ECTS credits should be spent on the acquisition of transferable skills (such as project management, scientific writing, presentation skills etc.). More field-specific courses are organised by the research schools (see a list of relevant research schools). Credits can also be given for other activities, for instance an internship at another lab or participation in a master class or summer school. Credits can also be obtained for the organisation of symposia, workshops etc. Moreover, PhD students need to write an introductory essay within the first months of their project.

The precise form of the educational programme is highly individual, and should be developed by the PhD student together with his supervisors. PhD students who have completed the educational programme can ask the Graduate School Office for a certificate. This certificate can be useful as a proof of skills acquired, to be used for instance in job applications.

Financing your training programme: the Individual Training Budget

PhD students belonging to the GSS receive an annual Individual Training Budget (ITB) of €675 per year. More information about the ITB and how to spend it.

Registering your ECTS credits

In order to be eligible for a certificate, please register the ECTS credits you have received for training activities with the Graduate School of Science. You can do this by filling out your training journal as part of the regular progress meetings. Only whole and half credits can be given. For courses offered by the GSS and other university organisations, only the standard credits assigned to the course can be listed. For other training activities, the credits obtained have to be agreed upon with the supervisor. As a rule, the number of credits awarded is based on the amount of time spent on the activity (ca. 28 hours per credit). Guidelines are available here.

Attending courses

As a PhD student of the Graduate School of Science, you can follow courses ranging from general skills courses to courses that are related to the subject of your PhD thesis. General courses are organised by the Graduate School of Science but also by other organisations within the University (for an overview see the menu to your left). Field-specific courses are organised by the research institutes and research schools.

As to the registration procedure for courses, please follow the registration procedure indicated by the organisation by which the course is organised. For courses organised by the Graduate School of Science , you can register by filling in the registration form available with the course description (courses without a registration form are still being planned and not yet open for registration). All our courses are taught in English (with the exception of the courses learning Dutch) so as to make them accessible to all PhD students at the Graduate School of Science. All courses are assigned ECTS credits (referring to the European Credit Transfer System) on the basis of 1 EC=28 hours of study.

The Graduate School Office’s contact person for all Course issues is Marike Vos (e.m.vos@rug.nl).