‘Rector supports our initiative from day one’

The PhD Network Twente (P-NUT) organizes a ‘PhD day’ to celebrate their official status as an association registered at the Chamber of Commerce on Friday 16 September. Marloes van Amerom chats with board members Juan Amiguet and Silja Eckartz on the reasons for this move to a formal association. Just as Eckartz’ laptop starts displaying a neat overview of P-NUT’s intended new direction, Amiguet shifts in his chair at the meeting room in the Zilverling. ‘One of the reasons for becoming an association is to further increase our membership.’ Amiguet starts the conversation with enthusiasm. ‘Now our meetings, informative meetings or social activities, are visited by PhD candidates of which some return and some don’t. This can make it difficult to represent PhD candidates, who comprise a highly diverse group and are not always easily reachable. In the new system, PhD students have to pay a small membership fee, which may increase their formal connection to P-NUT.’ Eckartz highlights an additional reason: ‘Professionalization. As a registered association, we can provide legal assistance to PhD students if they run into a serious conflict with the university. Many PhD students who want to join P-NUT will now need to register offers us a clearer view of the people we aim to represent, which will help to facilitate the representation of our association within the university.’ Amiguet nods in agreement: ‘We will become an established part of the UT institutional landscape. Thus far, it seemed rather random whether or not PhD students found out about us. I know of PhD students who never heard of P-NUT during their work at the UT until the very last moment. In the current political climate in the Netherlands, where the government may replace PhD salaries with bursaries, it seems important PhD candidates know that there is an organization representing them’. At the upcoming PhD day, UT Rector Ed Brinksma is a keynote speaker and will stay on to mingle with PhD candidates. Does P-NUT feel supported by the UT Executive Board, which they continue to depend on for subsidies in their move to become an association? ‘Oh, Rector Brinksma was behind P-NUT’s move towards professionalization from day one,’ said Eckartz. ‘He indicated he was happy with the change. He now has a defined group to communicate with, consisting of only PhD candidates. And he is able to put faces behind the names ―so to speak.’ Amiguet also speaks of another advantage for the UT: ‘I guess it also means something to the university to have a well-organized and recognized PhD network. It is the sort of thing you can put on your website.’ The new membership fee of €12 a year seems affordable. Still, not every PhD candidate may sign up as a member. Does this create representation issues? ‘I don’t think so,’ says Amiguet, after a brief pause. ‘Take for instance issues like the possible introduction of a bursary system in the Netherlands which will have a big affect on all PhD candidates,’ Eckartz agrees: ‘We also attend meetings of national and European PhD networks, during which we detect issues that seem generally a problem for PhD students. Or we put issues that we’ve detected at the “UT-ground level” on our agenda.’ Gaining representation remains but one task of P-NUT, stresses Eckartz, adding: ‘Connecting PhD candidates across schools and departments through fun activities continues to be very important goal, the same goes for informing PhD students of career possibilities, during, for example, lunch meetings. At the end of the day, P-NUT has but one goal: making UT life for PhD students run as smooth as possible.’ For further information on P-NUT’s PhD day and the full program, visit utwente.nl/p-nut/ Marloes van Amerom Amiguet (left) and Eckartz: ‘Thus far, the Dutch system for PhD students is still relatively good when comparing it to the bursary systems that countries like the UK employ. But with ongoing cutbacks at a national level and at the UT this could easily change.’ Photo: Arjan Reef