PhD candidate with own scholarship

I nternational PhD candidates who have been awarded a competitive scholarship in their country of origin can do a PhD project at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. These candidates may be eligible for a financial supplement to their scholarship, within the context of the PhD scholarship programme.

Typically, for their scholarship application process international PhD candidates contact a supervisor at our Faculty who is willing to collaborate with and supervise the candidate. The Graduate School helps PhD candidates with the visa application, if applicable. The Immigration Service Desk assists international PhD candidates with all sorts of practical questions.

What is expected of you?

As a PhD candidate with your own scholarship, you will attend the doctoral training course of the Graduate School of Behavioural and Social Sciences. Part of the curriculum of this training course is the performance of scientific research. The course takes four years and finishes with a thesis and a PhD thesis defense. Contrary to a PhD candidate employed by the University of Groningen, a PhD candidate with an own scholarship does not have teaching obligations.

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.

Performance and assessment interviews

The PhD candidate and the supervisory team have annual progress meetings. During these meetings, the PhD candidate’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 a progress meeting with the PhD candidate after nine months. The decision to either prolong or terminate the collaboration with the PhD candidate is based on this progress meeting.