PhD candidate employed by the UG

At the faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, we regularly offer PhD positions to talented candidates who are enthusiastic about research. These positions become available all year round. Candidates with a master's degree in a relevant field can apply to the positions that we advertise online. For more information on currently available PhD positions, please visit the corresponding university website .

Candidates who are selected for these positions receive a contract and are employed by the University of Groningen. They become so-called PhD fellows. All rules and regulations that apply to staff members of the faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences also apply to PhD fellows who are employed by the faculty. Apart from these general rules and regulations, there are other matters of specific interest to PhD fellows.

What is expected of you?

A PhD fellow is expected to perform scientific research resulting in a thesis and a doctorate degree. If the PhD fellow works full time, it usually takes 4 years to achieve these goals (5 years if the PhD fellow works 80%). Besides their tasks in research, most PhD fellows also perform teaching tasks. These teaching tasks should not exceed 15% of their employment engagement.

Position profile

All Dutch universities use the UFO system (Dutch: Universitair FunctieOrdenen, English: Organisation of University positions). All position profiles within the universities are included in this system, including the profile of a PhD fellow position. This position profile describes the objective, the main activities and the intended results of the PhD position.

Collective labour agreements (special provisions for PhD fellows)

The legal position of our employees is described in the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities . The corresponding salary scale can also be found there.

Research budget

A budget is available for the 4-year PhD research period. This budget will at least include entries for the performance of the research, for your training and for conference attendance. The University of Groningen subsidizes the printing of the dissertation with €750.

Employee participation

One PhD fellow is a member of the faculty council.

Performance and assessment interviews

The PhD fellow and the supervisory team have annual progress meetings. During these meetings, the PhD fellow’s progress in the PhD training courses and the PhD research are discussed. Also, any occurring problems are discussed and – if possible – solved. In addition, there will be an assessment interview with the PhD fellow after nine months. The decision to either prolong or terminate the PhD fellow’s appointment is based on this assessment interview.

The end of the appointment

At the end of the appointment period, the PhD fellow will receive support and guidance from the university to find a new job. Also, PhD fellows can apply for unemployment benefit, because they were employed at the university.