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University Medical Center Groningen

Application form and procedure

MD/PhD programme application form
MD/PhD programme application form

Procedure for submitting an application for an MD/PhD programme
1. The student has found a PhD supervisor(/research supervisor) and they complete the application form together, in English. Because it is a personal application, obviously the student himself or herself will write most of the application. It must be made clear in the application that the student has done demonstrable prior work in the research line of the PhD research. Commitment is proved by at least one publication or manuscript with the student as first author (original paper, no review, no shared authorschip) that has been submitted to an international journal . The organizational context of the PhD research must be one of the five research institutes (GUIDE, BCN, SHARE, CRCG and Kolff Institute) of the UMCG’s Medical Sciences Graduate School. The student has not fallen behind with the training programme by the end of year 4 (M1), the point at which an MD/PhD programme is submitted. Complete applications must be combined into a single PDF and emailed to a.hartman umcg.nl. Incomplete applications will be rejected immediately.


2. Along with the application form, the student writes a job application (in English) including a curriculum vitae addressed to dr. Sophia Bruggeman.


3. The application must include the student’s work plan and the planned starting date of the student’s clerkships (approval by dr. Sophia Bruggeman is required).


4. To supplement the MD/PhD appointment, the UMCG Board also makes a 'bench fee' available. Should the project budget exceed this, then it is assumed that the department will provide the rest of the funding. The application must include a budget.


5. The deadlines for submitting applications for MD/PhD programmes are 3 October 2022, 04.00 P.M. (16.00)


6. We will first check that the applications are complete. Incomplete applications (see check list application form; i.e. no "proof of submission", no first authorship, no signatures) will be rejected immediately. Then the MD/PhD Assessment Committee assesses the applications. Candidates must give a short presentation (in English, and with a maximum of 3 power point slides) and are in person (a.o. no skype interviewed by a few members of the Committee. It is important to realize that an application for an MD/PhD programme is a personal application. The MD/PhD programme is intended to improve the career opportunities of a future physician-scientist. This means that the candidate herself or himself is at least as important as the research plan. The Committee will assess the applications on the basis of the elements referred to above (the candidate’s CV, his or her presentation during the interview and the candidate’s results in the preceding period (publications)), and of course the quality and feasibility of the research proposals. Then the Assessment Committee makes recommendations to the Director of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences who will discuss the proposal with the Dean of Research and the five scientific directors (GUIDE, BCN, SHARE, CRCG and Kolff Institute), who together make the final decision about approving the applications.

Additional information

Dr. Sophia Bruggeman
e-mail: s.w.m.bruggeman umcg.nl

Last modified:20 April 2023 09.30 a.m.